HUNTINGTON, W.Va.– First-year running backs coach Thomas Brown has been there and done that. Brown, starred in the backfield for the University of Georgia , rushing for 2,604 yards from 2004-07. Now, he’s taking what he learned running through defenses in the SEC and passing that information on to The Herd’s deep and talented backfield.
“The great thing about this group of guys is they’re very talented and one thing you can’t do is coach a bad player how to be good,” says Brown.
Marshall has plenty of depth in the backfield and each back brings his own unique skill set to the offense. Kevin Grooms and Steward Butler possess great straight-line speed and quickness and can get lost behind the bulky offensive line. Grooms and Butler are also explosive in space and will win most foot races if they break into the second. On the other hand, Remi Watson and Essray Taliferro have a bit more size and can be more physical runners.
“It’s a great group of guys to work with and I just try to keep them motivated and focus on fundamentals and we’ll see what happens,” says Brown.
The Herd’s running game may also benefit from the different perspective Brown brings to the position. Having been a successful running back in the best league in college football, Brown has instant credibility with the backs.
“He brings more of the running back aspect to the game,” says Remi Watson. “JaJuan (Seider) was a quarterback so he was more of an offensive coordinator to us but we’re getting the mental and physical part of running back down with Coach Brown. It’s helping us a lot. It comes more natural what he’s teaching us.”
“I’ve just tried to do the best I can to compete and push each other and build a team first mentality,” says Brown. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to win, whether that means throwing the ball a bunch or running the ball.
To Brown being balanced doesn’t mean The Herd will run he ball 50 percent of the time and throw it the other 50 percent.
“We want to be as balanced as possible and in my opinion that means being able to run when you want to run and throw when you want to throw,” insists Brown.
Brown’s toughest job may be settling on the top two running backs who will get the majority of carries this season. He’s not keen on the idea of a backfield by committee and wants to rotate two backs, not three or four. That means each rep in practice is especially important in the battle for playing time.
“It’s competition. You preach to those guys you’ve got to bring it every day,” knows Brown.