EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T State University Director of Athletics Earl M. Hilton III formally introduced head football coach Vincent Brown to the media, alumni, faculty and staff on Monday at Deese Ballroom inside the campus Student Center.
Brown takes over the Aggies program after spending four seasons as William & Mary's associated head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. In 2022, the Tribe went 11-2 overall and 7-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The Tribe won a share of the regular-season title and reached the NCAA Division I-FCS playoff quarterfinals.
Brown is the 22nd head coach in program history. He takes over a football program with a rich tradition. In 47 seasons in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the Aggies won five conference titles. In 50 seasons in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), A&T claimed 11 MEAC titles. The Aggies also have nine black college football national championships, including four in the past seven seasons.
Press Conference Transcript
Coach Brown on players entering the transfer portal: "We are always recruiting. I've been evaluating players since before this was officially announced. I understand what our needs are. I saw the kids that were signed in the early signing period ... some really talented players. I will convene with the existing staff and talk about our remaining needs, and we'll go out and find the very best players to complement what we have already lost."
Coach Brown on putting together his staff: "The business of football can be very challenging. And I am certainly cognizant of its impact on coaches' lives in their families. But my charge is to build an elite program, and we will put the staff together in the best way possible to achieve that goal. It may mean retaining some of the existing staff members. It may mean bringing in outside staff members, but we're going to make sure that we put the development of the student-athletes as our highest priority and comprising in composing our staff."
Coach Brown on when he plans to have his staff completed: "Yesterday, in an ideal world ... sooner rather than later. But it is more important to get the right mix of younger men, mentors and teachers than to rush to some mistake."
Athletics Director Earl Hilton on former Coach Sam Washington: "You're probably going to be disappointed in my answer because we're not going to spend much time talking about that. It is Coach Brown today, but I will say the questions about alignment factored. Alignment of vision and perspective factored into that decision."
Chancellor Harold L. Martin on Athletics: "Earl and I talk extensively about all athletics on a regular basis. There are probably no weeks to go by where we aren't discussing areas of opportunity for growth and alignment. Competitiveness. Areas where we need to make more investments. We spoke multiple times every week following the football season. And so a significant level of conversation just the two of us, talking about the future of athletics in general, football in particular. And Earl's response reflected the outcome that was very significant and very tough discussions that we did have following this past football season."
Coach Brown on A&T's readiness to enter the CAA: "The CAA is a tremendous league. Tremendous coaches. They allocate significant resources to recruiting very talented players. And having a chance to look at the A & T program and the talent level, we'll be able to step into the conference and be extremely competitive. There are a lot of talented players in this program, many talented players that I've watched compete against CAA-caliber teams. So I am confident and comfortable that we will do our absolute best to make this transition as seamless as possible."
Coach Brown on why A&T was the right fit for him: "There are a couple of reasons. The academic reputation speaks for itself. I've been fortunate over my college coaching career to have worked at some very, very fine academic institutions. The focus on academics here, especially in the STEM programs, was very attractive, knowing that we can get the kind of student-athletes we want with our program. Secondly, the football tradition in the history of success here. It's phenomenal. Lastly, it is just the history of this great university in developing people to change lives, and I feel like at this point in my coaching career, I didn't want to take a job because I wanted to be a head coach. It had to be a perfect alignment from an academic, an athletics excellence, and a cultural perspective."
Coach Brown on what A&T football will look like during his era: "The team will be disciplined. It will be tough. It will be focused on eliminating things that cause you to lose games. If you can eliminate the things that cause losing, your chances of winning go up exponentially. The things that cause losing are mental mistakes, turning the ball over on offense, dumb penalties on defense, poor tackling on the back end, getting the ball thrown over your head and dumb penalties. We plan to build a focused, passionate team. We will always fit the scheme around the talented players down here. If we have a dynamic quarterback and a bunch of receivers, we'll be wide-open and throw the ball around. If we've got great running backs and a strong offensive line, we're going to line up and pound the rock. You have to tailor your schemes around the talent in your program rather than the other way around."
Coach Brown on former NFL players coaching on the collegiate level: "I can't speak for the other guys. My career has been to put my head down and learn as much as possible about coaching and developing the young men that I'm charged with coaching, and it's been a 20-plus-year journey. And I never really tried to capitalize on my past career as a player. I wanted to earn my way up the ladder as a coach. My appointment is different from others because I've been doing this for 20-plus years and not just a year or two."
Coach Brown on the difference between A&T and William & Mary: "I think in both environments, people are passionate about their football programs. Here, that passion is elevated to another level. People feel really connected to this football program. They feel that they're part of everything that's going on. And that's truly the difference between the two you got the fans, and then you have family members that feel attached to the program.
Coach Brown on family: "I've been in an environment where faith, family and football were the highest priorities. And as, as I mentioned, family is very important to me. And when we recruit kids, I always talk about my family. When we say, education is at the forefront of what we're doing. I talk about my kids. We instill in them what it is to become educated and what that can do for you. We want to create an environment of openness where you tell the kids I am here for you. My door is always open. We are here for the student athlete's development, not the other way around. Once they understand that, it creates a bond that becomes very, very difficult to sever."
Coach Brown on an HBCU playing in the CAA: "The fact that we play football in the Colonial Athletic Association will not diminish who this institution is and what the institution is all about. The development of our student-athletes is what our program is all about. That's not going to change. It will never change. You don't become the No. 1 HBCU in the land by being minimal to outside influences to change who you are. The leadership will maintain its focus on being the No. 1 HBCU in the country. And from our perspective, we're trying to coach the kid to be the absolute best to compete at an elite level in the CAA and beyond. Because that's the goal to compete for conference and national championships."
Athletics Director Earl Hilton on improvements to athletics: "There have been commitments assurances made regarding what it will take for us to become competitive not just in football, but across all of our sports in the CAA. And that's a conversation that began long before this particular action occurred. Coach Brown has helped us look at our needs from a facility standpoint and an equipment transportation standpoint, so we're going to make some of those changes immediately. As Coach Brown has suggested, our opportunity to succeed in this space is independent of our historical perspective. We will always be the No. 1 HBCU in America, regardless of where we compete. And excellence is colorblind. And we're going to be excellent in everything we do. And we're going to make the investments and commitments and surround ourselves with the people that allow us to be excellent. That's the charge that I get from my boss. That's who he is, and that's who we are. So we're going to continue to build not just in football but in all of our sports; we're going to be excellent."
