Since the day he signed on, Eric Brown’s linebackers have been making names for themselves. In doing so, h e made a name for himself as a 2016 choice as an AFCA 30 Under 30 honoree -- a distinction given to college football's brightest up-and-coming stars of the coaching world.
From the start (2013), he coached Idaho’s top tackler in linebacker Marc Millan, who led the team with 91 total tackles (70 solo and 21 assists). Millan also had 11 tackles for loss (second on the team) and four sacks (third on the team).
In Brown’s second season, Millan again led all-tacklers for Idaho with 102 total stops. He had 72 solo tackles and 30 assists. Among those tackles were 15.5 tackles for loss and a single-game best of 18 total tackles – 17 solo and one assist.
The story was the same for the 2015 season when the Vandals’ top three tacklers – Broc Westlake, Kaden Elliss and Millan, came from his linebacking corps. Between them, they combined for 233 tackles and 14 tackles for losses totaling 47 yards.
The theme repeated in 2016 with sophomore Tony Lashley the tackle leader with 107 total stops – 70 solo and 37 assists, to go with 10 tackles for loss (second on the team). Fourth and fifth on the team, respectively, were sophomores Ed Hall and Kaden Elliss. Hall had 70 stops and Elliss finished with 65 tackles with five interceptions, eight tackles for loss and three sacks. All told, the 2016 linebacking crew accounted for four of the top eight tacklers on the team with 264 total tackles, 26 tackles for loss, seven sacks, six interceptions, five fumble recoveries, four passes defensed, and one hurry and one blocked kick.
Elliss picked off five passes in 2016, the most by any FBS linebacker. He was third in the conference in interceptions (13th nationally) behind teammate Jayshawn Jordan who led the league and was seventh in FBS with his six from his cornerback position.
Brown, like head coach Paul Petrino, grew up with football. The son of the late Dan Brown, the long-time defensive coordinator at Fresno State, Eric Brown came to Idaho from Indiana State University.
“Eric is a coach’s son,” Petrino said. “You can tell he’s been around football all his life.”
That inherent knowledge of the game is something Petrino prizes.
“He’s probably one of the greatest young minds in college football,” Petrino said.
Brown played for and graduated from Fresno State University. After graduating in 2011, he was a graduate assistant for the Bulldogs. He helped guide Bulldogs’ defensive tackle Logan Harrell to first-team all-Western Athletic Conference honors in 2011 – a season during which Harrell recorded 16 tackles for loss.
At Indiana State, Brown was the outside linebackers coach. Among the players under his guidance were two players ranked in the top three in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and top 25 in the Football Championship Subdivision in tackles per game, as well as the league’s No. 5 player in quarterback sacks. The Sycamores were ranked third nationally in total defense in 2012. He also coached Connor Underwood to a Freshman All-American season.
