A native of Cookeville, Tennessee, Watson Brown did it all at his high school in Putnam County. As quarterback, his football team went 11-0, he was Mid-State MVP, All-State, and Prep All-American. He was also an honored baseball shortstop and basketball guard.
Upon graduation, he attended Vanderbilt University where he played short-stop on the baseball team but is best known for his memorable football career. Brown was a standout quarterback for Vanderbilt from 1969-72 and is perhaps best remembered for leading Vandy to a 14-10 upset over Alabama in 1969.
For his efforts, he was named Sports Illustrated Player of the Week and was also chosen SEC Player of the Week twice (against Kentucky and Davidson).
Brown began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Vanderbilt in 1973. He was assistant coach for East Carolina, Jacksonville State and Texas Tech before making his head coaching debut at Austin Peay State.
At age 29, he was one of the youngest head coaches in the nation and was runner-up for Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year honors twice. Returning to his alma mater, Brown served as offensive coordinator at Vanderbilt for two seasons (1981-82) where his offense set 57 school records and the Commodores posted an 8-3 record and made a Hall of Fame Bowl appearance.
After assistant coaching at Mississippi State and Oklahoma, Brown was the head football coach at Vanderbilt from 1986-90. A veteran of almost 30 years in the coaching profession, Brown just completed his 8th season at the helm at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he is the head football coach and has also been named Interim Director of Athletics. Brown coached UAB for 12 seasons before resigning to become the head coach at Tennessee Technological College in 2009. He coached at Tennessee Tech until his retirement in 2015.