Charles "Kippy" Brown, who helmed the Memphis Maniax in the only season of the early 2000s version of the XFL, passed away this week. He was 71.
The announcement was made on social media by the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, a team for which Brown was on the staff as receivers coach from 2010-2014. That was his last professional coaching job. The Seahawks website included a lengthy obituary.
Brown had extensive NFL assistant coaching experience when he was hired to guide the Maniax. He left the Green Bay Packers, where he was running backs coach, for his first - and as it turned out, only - head coaching stint, in the XFL. Brown was a hire with local ties, as he attended the University of Memphis, and his first coaching job was at Memphis State.
"This situation? This is a dream," he told the Memphis Flyer in 2000 about getting to be a head coach in the XFL. "When this opportunity came about, I thought it was right for me, at this point in my career. I'm excited about it, my family is excited about it."
Brown led the Maniax to a 5-5 record in 2001, including two wins over the team that would go on to win the league championship, the L.A. Xtreme. When the XFL folded, Brown reentered the NFL ranks, hired on as the receivers coach for the Houston Texans. Though he was never a head coach anywhere else, Brown was an offensive coordinator for two seasons under legendary head coach Jimmy Johnson with the Miami Dolphins during the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
Brown coached for seven NFL teams during his career and three colleges, including three separate stints at the University of Tennessee. He is survived by his wife, Deon, and two children, Jerome and Jennifer.