Paul Brown

In this edition of Game Changers we have Author Jonathan Knight visiting the Pigpen to tell us about Coach Paul Brown and his book on the legend titled Paul Brown's Ghost.

We are truly privileged in this edition of the Pigskin Dispatch Hame Changers series to have a sportswriter from Ohio that has written ten books on Cleveland Sports, Jonathan Knight. Today we will focus on his book, Paul Browns Ghost.

Jonathan Knight has written ten books on Cleveland sports. Called "one of the most articulate and devoted sportswriters in Ohio" by the Akron Beacon Journal, Knight has been praised by the Plain Dealer, Cleveland Scene, Cleveland Magazine, and ESPN's Grantland.com. He's a graduate of Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and a member of the Society for American Baseball Research. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his two sons.

Today we are going to focus in on the author's book titled, Paul Brown's Ghost.

We have crossed the path of the legendary Coach Brown multiple times in our football journeys back through time. The earliest period of Brown's football life came through on our Massillon and McKinley High School rivalry episode we did with historian George Bozeka. George shared with us that Paul Brown was originally from Massillon and not only coached at Massillon High School but played there as a youngster as well. Prior to his high scool level coaching stint, Brown graduated from Miami University in 1925 with a bachelor's degree in education and from The Ohio State University in 1930 with a master's degree in education. Soon after graduating from Ohio State, Paul embarked upon a career as a football coach. He first coached at the Naval Academy's preparatory school in Maryland. In 1932, he returned to Ohio, where he coached at his high school alma mater. In that Massillon vs. McKinley episode of the Pigskin Dispatch Podcast with George Bozeka we learned that Brown led the Tigers during his nine-year tenure at Massillon, to a coaching record of 80-8-2. That first season provided half of his coaching losses and half of his tied games. He figured out how to win right after that inaugural year.

The great coach was so successful at Massillon that his peers urged him to receive the head coaching job at Ohio State University, and in fact he accepted the role just prior to World War II. Brown coached the Buckeyes from 1941 through the 1945 seasons and sported an OSU record of 18-8-1 and in 1942 led the Ohio State program to its first National Championship. Soon after the 1945 season was over Arthur McBride persuaded Coach Brown to leave OSU to coach his newly formed Cleveland franchise in the new All-American Football Conference. The team would soon be known as the Browns.

Paul Brown was an innovator and made coaching what it is today. The concepts of hiring a full time, around the year coaching staff as well as hiring scouts to go over college talent a couple of items Brown came up with. He also started the idea of film study of his players, and had his players study in class room setings as well as study game film themselves. He sent plays into the huddle by shuttling guards in and out and also was the first to try a radio transmitter in a quarterback's helmet. His career coaching record in the AAFC and NFL was a whopping 167-53-8 and he had but one losing season in 17 years at the helm of the Browns. Paul Brown's teams won four AAFC titles and 3 NFL championships.

His coaching tree is exceptional. Players and assistants that were guided by Coach Brown's tutlilage have some very big names. Weeb Ewbank, Chuck Noll, Don Shula, Lou Saban (Yes Coach Nick Saban's father), Joe Collier, Sam Rutigliano, Red Miller, Dick Macpherson, Rich Kotite and Marty Shottenheimer among others.

After Art Model fired the legendary Brown from his Cleveland position, Brown looked for new oppotunities in football. Finally in 1969 he found one as he was awarded an NFL franchise on the other side of the state of Ohio in Cincinnati with the Bengals. Paul Brown was not only the Bengals owner but at times he also served as their head coach.