Thank LA Rams RB coach Thomas Brown for early rushing success

Fans can thank LA Rams RB coach Thomas Brown for early success running the ball

When the LA Rams hired Thomas Brown as the running back coach, not much was known about him. What was know is that he was hired by head coach Sean McVay from the coaching staff of the South Caroline Gamecocks. In fact, his college coaching career included time where he coached college running backs at Chattanooga, Marshall, Wisconsin, Georgia, Miami, and South Carolina.

Now, the impact of Brown at these schools is on record as some of the best running offenses in the NCAA.  To his credit, he has helped to develop some of the finest running backs in the NFL today, including Melvin Gordan and Nick Chubb.  So is it any wonder that the LA Rams running game is effective once more?

More than a football coach, he’s a class act

Thomas Brown is more than just an X’s and O’s kind of guy. He is someone who gives his all, and someone who raises the bar on and off the field.  In the crazy zaniness of 2020, NFL teams have been at the crossroads of a national pandemic, social injustice, and a custom-constructed set of NFL rules and regulations that were forged to address the myriad of new issues threatening the 2020 NFL season.

Through it all, Thomas Brown was one voice of reason for the LA Rams. Brown stepped up and helped the entire team through some very difficult times. Head coach Sean McVay leaned heavily upon Brown as the team worked towards actionable change.  Leading a team towards actionable change is not on a running backs coach job description, and yet there was Thomas Brown. He had just arrived on the team weeks earlier.

Leading the team in the direction they need to go

That’s why Brown was hired to the coaching staff.  The LA Rams needed a coach who could advance the current running backs progress, develop rookie running backs, and give valuable input to help the Rams add blocking in the backfield with a tight end or second running back to help in both running and passing plays.

In fact, it was the addition of Brown to the Rams coaching staff which contributed to the expectation of the Rams signing up a fullback for this season.  Instead, the Rams have expanded the roles of the tight end to include lining up in the backfield as an upback. That block/run/pass role was something the LA rams had to develop on the fly.  And Thomas Brown has been right there through it all.

Brown won’t be stopped by injury

On Thursday, October 15, Coach Brown was injured during practice. After examination and diagnostic imagine, it was determined that Brown has suffered from a torn Achilles Tendon, and would require surgery.  But he never missed a beat. In fact, he plans to be back on the field in a boot after the injury as well.

Now he’s coaching in a boot in the week leading up to the most important game on the early schedule. But it won’t stop him. In fact, it simply adds more fuel to the fire. And it’s that fire that makes him so indispensable so quickly to the Rams coaching staff.

The Rams running game is responding to the passion of the new running back coach.

The LA Rams have put up 698 rushing yards in the first five games this season. Per ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry, that is the most yards gained by the Rams on the ground in five games since 1987.  That comes off of a season where the Rams struggled to run the ball, and that impacted the Rams entire offense.  Now the Rams are running the ball well, which has energized the entire offense once more. Fans can thank Coach Brown for the early success of the running game.  But be sure to wish him a speedy and complete recovery too.