Defensive backs coach Hurlie Brown's wealth of experience at both the major college and professional levels was a main reason why head coach Don Strock sought his expertise for the coaching staff.
“Hurlie is a young coach who is doing a heck of a job,” said Strock. “He relates well with the kids and they really look up to him after his days playing major college football. I think he has developed into a great college coach.”
Formerly the defensive back/special teams coach at Florida's Merritt Island High School, Brown brings four years of coaching experience and seven years professional playing experience?including one year each with the Washington Redskins and the San Francisco 49ers?and a college career played under Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson at the University of Miami.
Brown was a football and academic standout as a student at Merritt Island High, where he graduated in 1987, and he earned a scholarship to Miami.
He was drafted by the Redskins in 1991, signed as a free agent by San Francisco the following year and later went to play for the Sacramento Gold Miners, the San Antonio Texans and the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League from 1992-97.
Brown, however, transitioned to the sidelines very early in his career. He served as an undergraduate assistant to Erickson, coaching defensive backs at UM in 1991. After leaving Montreal in 1997, he began working at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, with special teams and defensive backs.
In 1999, he returned to his prep alma mater under head coach Gerald Hodges before joining FIU in 2001.
Brown's disciples at FIU have included Nick Turnbull, a two-time All-Independent performer, preseason I-AA All-American, 2005 second-team All-Sun Belt Conference pick and priority free-agent signing of the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL, Greg Moss, who last year played with the Ottawa Renegades, and Kevin Timothee, a free agent with the Tennessee Titans, New York Giants and NFL Europe's Amsterdam Admirals.
Brown's coaching philosophy is simple?let his athletes do what they do best. “I want to allow my defensive backs to play. That's one of the biggest things I have learned over the years. It is my job as a coach to put my players in the right position to make a play.
“Sure, there are going to be some mistakes, but mistakes can be corrected. As long as more good plays are made than bad plays, we should be all right.”
