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COACHING

Thomas Brown joins the Patriots as tight ends coach and passing game coordinator. He most recently served as the interim head coach of the Chicago Bears in 2024 when Chicago made a head coaching change after Thanksgiving. Brown began the season as offensive passing game coordinator this season with Chicago, his first with the organization.

Brown was the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers in 2023 and assumed play-calling duties mid-season. In a poll of players, Brown was named one of the top offensive coordinators in the league by the NFLPA.

Brown went to Carolina after spending three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams from 2020-22. He began as running backs coach in 2020 before being promoted to assistant head coach in 2021, the year the Rams won Super Bowl LVI. Brown held that title for two years (2021-22), while also coaching running backs in 2021 and tight ends in 2022. In the Rams' Super Bowl-winning season, Brown played a key role in an offense that tied for seventh in the NFL in points scored (460) and points per game (27.1) and ninth in total yards (6,325) and yards per game (372.1). The Rams were one of six teams to have two running backs rush for over 680 yards with Sony Michel (845 yards) and Darrell Henderson (688 yards). In his first season in Los Angeles in 2020, the Rams' rushing attack finished 10th in the league with 126.1 rushing yards per game.

Prior to joining the NFL coaching ranks, Brown spent nine years in college football. In 2019, Brown was the running backs coach at South Carolina, where two players rushed for over 500 yards. From 2016-18, Brown served as the Miami Hurricanes' offensive coordinator and running backs coach. In 2018, the Hurricanes rushed for 2,489 yards, averaged 5.2 yards per carry and scored 25 rushing touchdowns. Brown also coached running backs Travis Homer and Mark Walton to All-ACC honors throughout his tenure in Miami, with Walton becoming the program's 11th 1,000-yard rusher.

In returning to his alma mater, Georgia, in 2015, Brown tutored both future pros RB Nick Chubb and RB Sony Michel as the duo combined for 1,900 rushing yards. At the University of Wisconsin in 2014, Brown coached Heisman Trophy runner-up RB Melvin Gordon, who rushed for 2,587 yards and 32 total touchdowns. Gordon's season was the second-best ever by a running back at the time, and he combined with RB Corey Clement to rush for 3,536 yards on the year, which broke a single-season FBS record for rushing yards by teammates. Wisconsin's 6.91 yards per rushing attempt average was the fourth-best mark in FBS history.

Brown also served stints as running backs coach at Marshall (2013) and the University of Tennessee Chattanooga (2012). His coaching career began as a strength & conditioning coach at Georgia in 2011.

PLAYING

Brown was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the sixth round (172nd overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft. He spent the 2009 season with the Cleveland Browns before retiring to pursue coaching opportunities.

A standout running back and kickoff returner at the University of Georgia from 2004-07, Brown finished his college career as the fifth-leading rusher in Georgia history with 2,646 career rushing yards. He led the team in rushing in 2005 and 2006, and he helped the Bulldogs reach the 2005 SEC Championship game. Brown totaled 26 career touchdowns, a combination of rushing, receiving and kickoff return touchdowns. In 2004, Brown was a freshman All-SEC selection after totaling 172 carries for 875 yards and 8 touchdowns, as well as 16 receptions for 150 yards (1,043 all-purpose yards). He had four 100-yard rushing games that season, earning him team honors of Offensive Newcomer of the Year and the Victors Club Award. In his final season at Georgia, Brown earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors after rushing for 180 yards and 3 touchdowns against Ole Miss.

PERSONAL

A native of Tucker, Georgia, Brown attended Tucker High School, and he graduated with a bachelor's degree in speech communications from Georgia. He and his wife, Jessica, have three children: Orlando, Tyson and Judah.