By Peter Conroy
As if the news itself wasn’t bad enough, that head football coach Don Brown had left Northeastern in order to take the same position with Atlantic-10 rival Massachusetts, the way defensive end Matt Campopiano, and many other Huskies, heard the announcement added insult to injury: he read it online.
“I would think [Brown] would have the common decency to tell us, instead of it just being on the Internet,” Campopiano, who redshirted last season, said.
Campopiano isn’t the only one fuming over Brown’s exodus; Northeastern Athletic Director Dave O’Brien released a statement yesterday that opened the possibility of legal action against UMass.
The statement read in full:
“It is with great regret and disappointment that we heard of Coach Don Brown’s resignation today. Just last Wednesday Coach Brown announced a terrific recruiting class. Additionally, on Jan. 14 the Board of Trustees formally approved a new contract for Coach Brown. This action was in response to an inquiry for his services from another institution and included a contract extension, a pay raise for him and his staff, as well as other substantive program enhancements. The board took this action based on Coach Brown’s agreement on the terms of the contract and his commitment to forego an interview opportunity and stay at Northeastern.
“Following this action, a University of Massachusetts athletic official called seeking permission to speak with Coach Brown. Pursuant to our contractual right with Coach Brown and the fact that we had just agreed on an extension, increased compensation, and other program enhancements, we did not grant them permission to speak to him, and explained those reasons to UMass.
“Obviously, they intentionally spoke with Coach Brown in direct contravention of our employment contract. We intend to review our legal options in addressing the ethical and legal concerns stemming from UMass’ actions.”
O’Brien said he was contacted by a UMass official shortly after Jan. 23, when their football coach, Mark Whipple, left the team to become the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterbacks coach. The official expressed interest in the Husky coach, but, according to O’Brien, permission was never granted to speak with Brown. Yet, less than three weeks later, Brown was on his way to Amherst.
Speaking with the Boston Globe, Brown called the chance to head the UMass program “an opportunity I can’t pass up.” Why moving from the head coaching job at one A-10 to another is an opportunity that can’t be missed is unclear. But, it could have something to do with the rumors that newly-hired Athletic Director John McCutcheon will move the Minuteman football program up to Division I-A.
McCutcheon, who could not be reached for comment, did exactly that at his old job as AD of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, moving the football program from D I-AA to D I-A.
Brown isn’t a stranger to the Amherst campus, he was Whipple’s defensive coordinator in both 1998 and 1999. In 1998, the Minutemen won the D I-AA national championship behind Brown’s staunch defense.
Upon taking a job on Huntington Avenue in 2000, Brown revamped a Husky squad that was coming off a 2-9 record and had posted only two winning seasons in the past dozen years.
Two years later, the Huskies were ranked 11th nationally, won the Atlantic-10 and earned a playoff berth by finishing 10-4. Last year NU finished 8-4, missing another playoff trip by a hair.
“I spent two of the best years of my life [at UMass] as the defensive coordinator and I am really looking forward to coming back as head coach,” Brown said in a statement posted on the Minuteman Athletics Web site. “This is an outstanding opportunity for me and my family. We could not be more thrilled to be returning to Amherst.”
Left out of the equation are the 71 returning Husky players, not to mention the 16 recruits signed by Brown in one of his last moves as NU’s coach. The team has had no contact with their former coach since the announcement was made, but junior cornerback Jeremiah Mason called a players-only meeting yesterday to address some issues.
“We had a meeting today and decided to stick together, because it’s players that win championships, coaches can only take you so far,” said Bismarck Osei, a sophomore cornerback. “[When] we heard he was a candidate for the UMass job and a couple of us went up and asked him about it. He said that he had to deal with Northeastern and that he wasn’t going to leave. This was where he wanted to be.”
Other Huskies expressed similar sentiments.
“The last time we saw him, we had a group meeting. [Brown] talked about how there were rumors that he was leaving and he said, ‘I’m not going anywhere,'” said Dan Defour, who transferred from Colgate and sat out all of last season in accordance with NCAA rules. “He told me before I made a commitment that he wouldn’t be going anywhere. When I found out, I was pissed. He’s just known as an excellent coach.”
“There’s a bunch of good guys on this team, and we’ll keep working hard. We’ll be all right,” said Campopiano. “I just can’t wait to play UMass.”
— News Staffer Jeff Powalisz contributed to this report
