J.B. Brown - Football Coach - University of Michigan Athletics

J.B. Brown

Title:
Special Teams Coordinator

J.B. Brown is in his second season as Special Teams Coordinator for the Michigan Football program in 2025. He was named to the position on February 2, 2024, following three seasons as an analyst (2021-23).

Under Brown, Michigan's special teams have remained a strength of the program. Brown helped develop the plan of attack in the kicking and kick coverage phases, resulting in a number of accolades for U-M specialists. In 2024, kicker Dominic Zvada was a first-team All-American, the Big Ten's Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year, and a Lou Groza Award semifinalist following a record-setting season. Zvada converted 21-of-22 field goal tries (95.5 percent), including 7-of-7 from 50-plus yards, setting single-season and career marks at Michigan for conversions at that distance. Zvada tied the single-season record for Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors (four). Both he and long snapper William Wagner were first-team All-Big Ten selections, and Wagner was a finalist for the Patrick Mannelly Award given to the nation's top long snapper.

Michigan's special teams units ranked No. 3 in ESPN's College Football Power Index Efficiency Rankings. U-M ranked eighth in the NCAA in kickoff return defense and blocked three kicks, finishing 17th in special teams SP+ and fourth in special teams FEI, an opponent-adjusted efficiency rating system.

In his analyst role, Brown helped advise Michigan's special teams for a stretch in which the group ranked third, second, and 27th in FEI, ranking second, third, and seventh in special teams SP+ in that same stretch.

The kickoff defense unit ranked first nationally in 2021 (12.4 yards per return attempt), 26th in 2022 (17.6), and 18th in 2023 (16.53), and U-M was top-25 in net punting twice (fifth, 2021; 22nd, 2023). Opponents returned just 20 percent of all punt attempts against U-M from 2021-23 (28 returns on 140 punts). The Wolverines also blocked four punts and two field goals across those three seasons.

Kicker Jake Moody was the program's first-ever Lou Groza Award winner (2021) and a two-time finalist (2022). He set U-M records for career points (since broken), field goals, and 40-plus field goals, among several single-season marks, and was two-time Bakken-Andersen Big Ten Kicker of the Year. Punter Brad Robbins was a Ray Guy Award semifinalist and honorable mention All-Big Ten, finishing No. 2 in single-season average in 2021. In 2023, James Turner scored 119 points, the second-highest total by a kicker in program history, and had a stretch with 13 straight field goal conversions. He also set a single-season program record with 65 PATs. Long snapper William Wagner was a semifinalist for the Patrick Mannelly Award. Both Moody (2022) and Turner (2023) earned Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week awards.

Brown began his career in college football at the University of Kansas as a graduate assistant for two seasons (2015-16). He worked with the special teams units, running backs, and linebackers, helping the defense finish second in the Big 12 in tackles for loss with linebacker Cameron Rosser ranked among the league's sack leaders. The Jayhawks ranked second nationally in kickoff coverage in 2015.

Brown spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons at Houston where he worked with the special teams units and secondary, helping the team reach the Hawaii (2017) and Armed Forces (2018) Bowls. He helped safeties Khalil Williams (second team) and Terrell Williams (honorable mention) earn AAC honors in 2017. Terrell Williams signed with the San Francisco 49ers and cornerback Isaiah Johnson was a fourth-round draft pick by the Raiders. The 2017 Cougars finished second in the league in pass defense efficiency and 23rd nationally in red zone defense. The next year, UH was second in the league in interceptions. UH ranked third in the AAC in punting and kickoff return yards in 2017.

Brown was special teams coordinator for two years (2019-20) at Texas Southern, helping the Tigers rank seventh in punt return defense in both seasons and eighth in net punting in 2020.

Brown attended Alvin High School in Alvin, Texas, and went on to be a standout baseball player at the University of Pacific. He was a second baseman for three years (2008-10) and posted a .344 career batting average in 151 career games. He was drafted in the 14th round of the 2010 MLB Draft by the New York Mets and his four-year minor league career included stops with the Brooklyn Cyclones, St. Lucie Mets, and Savannah Sand Gnats. He spent the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons as a baseball graduate assistant at Pacific, completing his communications degree along the way.

He and his wife, Jessica, have two sons, James Thomas Brown III, and Jaxson.

THE BROWN FILE
Full Name: James Thomas Brown II
Birthdate: April 30, 1989
Hometown: Alvin, Texas
High School: Alvin
College: University of Pacific (Communications, 2015)
Wife: Jessica
Children: sons James Thomas III, Jaxson

COACHING EXPERIENCE

Year	Team	Position
2015-16	Kansas	Graduate Assistant (Special Teams/RB/OL)
2017-18	Houston	Graduate Assistant (Special Teams/Seconday)
2019-2020	Texas Southern	Special Teams Coordinator
2021-23	Michigan	Analyst (Special Teams)
2024-	Michigan	Special Teams Coordinator