http://blogs.foxsports.com/MrVolunteer/4445
KIPPY BROWN NEGOTIATING TO RETURN TO THE HILL
Dec 15, 2005 | 10:41AM | report this KNOXVILLE -- Ole Miss tight ends coach Matt Luke has been hired by Tennessee Head Coach Phillip Fulmer and new Offensive Coordinator David Cutcliffe to coach that same position at Tennessee. Luke, who played at Ole Miss for Tommy Tuberville as captain of the 1998 team and was named most valuable senior in that same year, was hired to return to his alma mater by Cutcliffe in 2002. He had previously coached at Murray State.
Luke, a native of Gulfport, comes from an Ole Miss family that includes both his father and older brother that also played for the Rebels. He should be a valuable recruiting asset.
Even though Luke was also the Ole Miss recruiting coordinator, that title will be retained at UT by Greg Adkins, who has already been promoted to offensive line coach, replacing Jimmy Ray Stephens, who was terminated after Tennessee's season-ending game against Kentucky in Lexington. Adkins coached the OL for Jim Donnan at Georgia. This was a move that first reported by this source a month ago. Adkins' promotion to offensive line coach was announced Wednesday. Expect both Luke and Adkins to be on the road in their new positions recruiting at full tilt this weekend.
It has also been learned through our sources on The Hill that UT will try to hire Kippy Brown, who is currently making $250,000 annually with the Houston Texans, to return to Knoxville to coach wide receivers, replacing the fired Pat Washington. If the Vols are able to get him, it would be a substantial upgrade for that position in both recruiting and coaching.
Since the NFL season runs into January, that hire will be postponed until that time, if it is able to be worked out. If Brown chooses to stay in the NFL or take another job, look for UT to hire former Vol Wide Receiver T.D. Woods, who also coached for Cutcliffe at Ole Miss, as their WR coach, as reported nearly a month ago.
Brown is reportedly asking for $300,000 annually, which is what newly-hired Offensive Coordinator David Cutcliffe is making. He also wants assurances that he will be in line to become Offensive Coordinator should Cutcliffe move on to another head coaching position as he had at Ole Miss last year.
Brown also has been contacted by Arkansas as a possible addition to their staff. Even though his current team, the Texans, may wind up with the worst record in the NFL this year and the entire staff, headed by former another former UT coach on Johnny Majors' staff, Dom Capers, may be fired, Brown is still in demand as a coach. He his an excellent receivers coach and has offensive coordinator experience with the Miami Dolphins during the Jimmy Johnson era. He has made a lot of coaching stops and no doubt has come across new ideas.
Brown would be deja vu for UT again, in that he was also formerly on Majors' staff in his former days on The Hill from 1983 to 1989. The 1977 graduate of Memphis was rehired previously by Fulmer in 1993 and 1994 as Assistant Head Coach. He has coached receivers virtually his entire career. Thus, it would be his third separate stint with the Vols.
Brown coached Pro Bowler Andre Johnson with the Texans, along with Jabar Gaffney and Derick Armstrong. Brown served as head coach of the XFL’s Memphis Maniax. Prior to being there, he spent one season with the Green Bay Packers as their running backs coach, Pro Bowler Ahman Green achieve his first 1,000-yard season.
Before that, Brown spent four seasons with the Dolphins under Johnson. Brown, in his first year as running backs coach, helped Karim Abdul-Jabbar become the first Dolphins to rush for 1,000 yards in a season in 18 years. Abdul-Jabbar tied for the NFL lead in rushing touchdowns with 15 the next year. He also worked with Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino as OC. helping the Dolphins earned a playoff berth in both his seasons as a playcaller.
Brown served one season as the running backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1995. Prior to that, he was in his second term at UT. The Volunteers outscored their opponents 847-383 over those two seasons en route to an 18-6 mark. He helped tutor future No. 1 draft pick Peyton Manning as a freshman.
Brown’s first NFL coaching stop came in New York, where he spent three seasons (1990-92) as the running backs coach for the Jets. In 1991, the Jets ranked fifth in the league in rushing and advanced to the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.
In Brown’s initial stint at Tennessee, he helped develop such prolific Vols receivers as Anthony Miller, Tim McGee, Alvin Harper and Carl Pickens. Prior to arriving in Knoxville, Brown coached wide receivers at Louisville, including future Dolphins standout Mark Clayton.
Brown launched his coaching career at his alma mater, Memphis State, coaching running backs in 1978 and wide receivers in 1979-80. Brown was a starter for the Tigers at quarterback. He graduated from MSU in 1977 with a degree in communications.
Brown prepped at Sweetwater High School, leading his charges to consecutive state titles in 1972-73. A native of Sweetwater, Brown will be coming back home to East Tennessee with his wife, Deon, and their two children, Jerome and Jennifer.
Fulmer will call on Associate Director of Student-Athlete Welfare Judy Jackson, as he has in the past when he has had an opening on his staff, to go out on the road recruiting both with him and on her own. Jackson has proven to be an effective recruiter in her own right and is a valuable asset in this period of instability on the Vol staff, as she is well-liked by recruits and their parents alike.
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