It's likely not as glamorous a life as his previous NFL tenure as a player, but former Patriots safety Corwin Brown is at least temporarily back in professional football. This time around though Brown is part of the NFL's Minority Coaching Fellowship Program. A special teams coach on Al Groh's staff at the University of Virginia, Brown has joined the Patriots coaching staff for the summer to gain experience through the league's internship program.

Since being created in 1987 more than 800 coaches have taken part in the fellowship program that has brought Brown to New England. Last season 83 coaches took part in the program, the most in its 15 year history. Notable coaches to come through the ranks of the program over the years include current Jets head coach Herman Edwards, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis and Patriots inside linebackers coach Pepper Johnson. Johnson joined Bill Belichick's staff in the fellowship program in the summer of 2000 and earned a full-time position on the staff for the following season.

Working as part of training camp coaching staffs, the coaches in the fellowship program work side by side with full-time NFL assistants. They perform duties and gain experience that according to NFL.com includes planning and directing workouts, formulating scrimmage and game strategies, breaking down video tape, evaluating players and the other various aspects of the coaching profession. The Patriots as an organization have been active participants in the program in recent years.

Brown, originally a fourth-round draft pick by New England out of Michigan in 1993, completed his eight-year NFL career with the Lions in 2000. He spent the first four seasons of his career in New England and then two with Jets before finishing up in Detroit. He played in 120 games with 20 starts at safety while being a consistent special teams contributor.

Now in his third season with the Cavaliers Brown began his coaching career as a volunteer at Boston University while he was still a player and also assisted the Jets coaches at the 1997 and 1998 NFL scouting combines.

Notes

Former Patriots seventh-round draft pick Owen Pochman was released by the Giants earlier this week. Pochman missed the entire 2002 season with a knee injury after being used primarily as a kickoff specialist in 2001. … In case you missed it, there was a much shorter and less-impressive list of names of players cut following June 1. Aside from the two big-name quarterbacks that were released, Denver's Brian Griese and Cincinnati's Akili Smith, the list included mostly players either on the downside of their careers or with injury questions. Chiefs cornerback Ray Crockett, Giants center Dusty Zeigler, 49ers receiver J.J. Stokes and 49ers defensive tackle Junior Bryant rounded out the list of cuts. … Looking ahead at the regular season, the Patriots have the 8th toughest strength of schedule. New England's opponents have a combined 135-121 record with 7 2002 playoff teams on the schedule. The Jets, Cowboys and Eagles, all Patriots opponents, tie for the toughest strength of schedule. … 18 veteran NFL players finished up requirements and received degrees from their colleges this spring through the Continuing Education Program of the NFL Player Development Department. The program is headed by former Patriots cornerback, NFL Hall of Famer and current NFL Vice President of Player and Employee Development Mike Haynes. More than 170 players have earned degrees through the program in the last five offseasons and at least 250 players enroll in courses each year. Notable members of this year's group of graduates includes Packers running back Ahman Green, Buccaneers quarterback Jim Miller and Seahawks cornerback Shawn Springs. … A limited number of single-game tickets for the 2003 season will be available through Ticketmaster this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. The tickets will be very limited and are available at Ticketmaster.com, any Ticketmaster outlet or by calling 617-931-2222. Tickets will not be sold at the Gillette Stadium Ticket Office. … The Patriots will hold a mandatory three-day mini camp starting tomorrow. There will be morning and afternoon practice sessions, the first five of which will be open to the media. While all the practices are closed to the public, Patriots.com and Patriots Video News will have text and video updates throughout the three-day camp.