What’s In A Title?

When I think of Corwin Brown, I’ll never forget November 25, 2008. It was the Tuesday before the USC game, and per usual the media had access to some of Notre Dame’s assistant coaches, including Brown and then offensive coordinator Mike Haywood.

I remember coming away from those interviews with a certain belief that somehow a former Michigan Wolverine was a better fit on Notre Dame’s coaching staff than someone who had once donned the Blue and Gold.

While Haywood’s focus seemed distant, and understandably so since he was reportedly pursuing and interviewing for head coaching positions at other schools, Brown’s was squarely with the Irish and the seemingly impossible task at hand – beating USC. Though I had openly questioned Brown’s role as the defensive playcaller, especially with a 27-year veteran as a defensive coordinator on Charlie Weis’ staff in Jon Tenuta, I knew then that I would never question Corwin Brown’s commitment to the Irish or Notre Dame.

That commitment could have been tested in mid-February, however, when Weis announced changes to his staff that included a switch of the defensive playcalling duties from Brown to Tenuta for the 2009 season. And while some, including myself, believe such a move is in the best interest of maximizing the strengths of the coaches on staff, it would have been reasonable for Brown to disagree. After all, it’s no secret that he aspires to one day be a head coach, and such a move could have been perceived as a setback to his career path.

If Brown does truly see it that way, he’s certainly not letting on.

“Honestly, I don’t even think about that,” he said. “I’m trying to beat Nevada and trying to see if we can run the tables and win a whole bunch of games. If we do really well, at the end of the day, that’s what I want.”

Basically, Brown and Tenuta have swapped bigger picture roles from last season (Brown will still coach the defensive backs and Tenuta the linebackers). Tenuta no longer carries the Assistant Head Coach/Defense tag from a year ago, and now Brown will serve as Weis’ Associate Head Coach instead. Each is listed as a Co-Defensive Coordinator for the 2009 season, though again, only Tenuta will call the plays on Saturdays.

“I’ve got no problem with that just like he didn’t have a problem with it last year,” Brown acknowledged, even finding some silver lining with the fusion of his approach with Tenuta’s. “There are things that I like to do that he didn’t necessarily do the same way. And so we put the two together and said, ‘Man, that is a pretty good idea,’ or, ‘This does work.’

“It’s helping me. I’m getting to watch ‘JT.’ He’s done it for over 25 years. So, it’s good for me to be back watching him. I watch him work.”

But Brown isn’t the only one extrapolating positives from the coaching role changes, as Charlie Weis also expressed his satisfaction with the opportunity to work closely in more one-on-one situations with the young defensive coach.

“Well it has helped me tremendously first of all because we sit down, I don’t know how many times a week but today was one of them, we sat down and talked about bigger issues than just the Xs and Os,” said Notre Dame’s head coach. “Today’s conversation was about captains and leadership committee. So instead of having to talk to everyone about it, I say, ‘How do you see this? How do you see that the team sees this? How does the coaching staff see it?’

“It has been a very good liaison for me. I don’t know how he sees it, but I’ll tell you what, it’s working out fine for me.”

There shouldn’t be any question how Brown sees it, because if he accurately represents himself with the words that come out of his mouth, he’ll do whatever is best for the team.

“The thing I try to focus on is what the team needs,” he said. “How can we be more cohesive as a staff? How can we be more cohesive as a team? How can we develop our young leaders to be leaders? How can I help whoever? How can whoever help me? And then that way, we’ll put a better product on the field. That’s really all I think about.

“You can only have so many chiefs. You do need some Indians. I know one thing, I’m a pretty good Indian. I would like to think I could be a pretty good chief.”