By Evans Erilus

The departure of Don Brown is a real loss for all parties involved (except for UMass-Amherst, who got an outstanding head coach), but it only highlights the fact that all sports, on all levels, are influenced by factors outside of the arena.

Sports are a business. This is especially true as one travels up the ladder in athletic competition, and when you compete in 17 Division-I sports, you’re talking pretty big business.

So why did Brown really leave Northeastern University for UMass, after signing a contract extension with the university (and essentially reneging on a contractual obligation)? If one reads in between the lines, certain things are obvious. It is more difficult to see through other issues, but with the aid of an unnamed source deeply rooted within Athletics, it isn’t very difficult to figure out.

Attempts to contact Athletic Director Dave O’Brien were unsucessful.

Facilities: This one isn’t hard to figure out. Northeastern plays at Parsons Field, which seats a couple thousand people on a good day. Compare that to UMass’ McGuirk Stadium, which has been known to seat 10,000 or more on a given weekend.

Northeastern relies on vans to transport players to the practice field, which takes away precious practice time from the program. According to the source, Brown openly complained about this issue, as the hour commute drained on his players, as did the concerns over sharing practice time. UMass, on the other hand, has a facility in close proximity to the students’ living quarters.

None of this should be a problem, however, as Northeastern has talked openly about constructing a new facility to attract more people and bring greater attention to the university, right? Not so fast. After the team won the Atlantic-10 championship, talk of a new facility was in full swing, with the President supposedly promising the players as much. After last year’s 8-4 campaign however, the source says that administration was more lukewarm to the idea, and alluded to 2002 being a fluke season.

Now, if administration were truly dedicated to building a new athletic facility, would there have been three new residence halls and a health science center raised in the last few years? Would there be plans for the opening of another residence hall and a computer science center in fall 2004? Brown probably didn’t think so, no matter how hard he pushed for one.

Incentive: For Brown, a Spencer, Mass. native, going to Amherst was a homecoming of sorts. He starred as the defensive coordinator at Massachusetts in 1998 and 1999, and won a national championship with the Minutemen in the former campaign. The university was coming off of a conference title, and had a successful coach, Mark Whipple, who appeared to be in it for the long haul. A sudden turn of events gave Whipple a job as quarterbacks’ coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and opened the door for Brown to return closer to his central Massachusetts roots.

Throw in the fact that UMass has aspirations of moving up to the I-A level and, according to a source, bought Brown a $2.9 million home in the western Mass. area, and the offer proved to be too good to pass up. Northeastern, on the other hand, had talked about making lateral moves (to the Colonial Athletic Association) or moving down competitively in recent years (see President Freeland’s interview in the university magazine from a few years back).

The one incentive Brown had to stay was his players, who served as his surrogate family. But if read carefully, one could see through this. According to the source, Brown told his players that he was aware of the rumors, and would not be leaving Northeastern any time soon. Still, Brown always stressed the importance of family, school and football … in that order. As important as his players were to him, a job at UMass represented an opportunity to move his family back to its true home, and a place where they felt comfortable.

Administrative: Brown is man of honesty, accountability and integrity; there is a reason why he left Northeastern and did not tell his players … he wasn’t allowed to. According to the source, Brown and O’Brien didn’t see eye-to-eye on many issues. Whether it was switching from Reebok equipment to Nike (because according to the source, Reebok “stinks,” as it breaks down easily and doesn’t offer proper support) or the haggling over other things, there was always something. According to the source, Brown signed his extension with Northeastern before Whipple left for Pittsburgh. Northeastern denied UMass permission to speak to Brown, but UMass did so anyway. There were also allegedly stipulations in the contract that said Brown was not to have contact with UMass. Finally, according to the source, the Athletic Department essentially banned Brown from talking to the players once he accepted the deal, so he was not permitted to notify his athletes of the decision.

Future: The source indicated that current Temple Tight Ends coach Rocky Hager is a favorite for the Northeastern coaching position. Another source points out former Husky and current Boston College defensive line coach Keith Willis as an ideal candidate. His local ties and his reputation as an up and coming recruiter would serve the university well.

Don Brown leaving Northeastern could be considered the reneging of a promise, an opportunity for him to move up the coaching ladder, or a chance to better the life of his family. While all this may be true, this was, is, and always will be about business.

— Evans Erilus may be reached at [email protected] He can be heard every Friday from 3-6 p.m. on WRBB 104.9 FM’s “Dog Pound Sports Sound.”