Will Brown is stepping down as GM/coach of the Patroons, will seek a college or pro position
Brown said he made his decision within the past week and notified new Patroons owner Sam...
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It'll be interesting to watch. I think if Brown gets another shot somewhere, he'll have to make some adjustments to his approach because he was trending down post-2018. The guy knows how to recruit junior colleges, where more players who have talent are headed because of the portal being used to fill in roster holes not, JUCOs. If he's smart and adjusts in the portal as well and goes out and finds his type of guys he can compete...but some of those guys need to be able to consistently score the basketball because you can't win every game 53-48 anymore. His last few years, and with a bit of injury bad luck if I recall, really did him in because Albany just had nobody that was a go-to scorer type.
So, is he only looking within the region? That also could be limiting. There probably will be some openings in D1 within the AE/NEC/MAAC which are leagues he'd be okay in, but would he put himself out there for say...the North Florida job? Charleston Southern? Green Bay? I don't know if he'd be a fit or a success there, but I'd imagine if you're trying to get back in you want 10-12 options, not waiting for 3-4. The other thing: he's a 50-year-old white guy too who isn't a sexy hire on paper (despite having winning overall/conference records), so who knows what ADs think.
The article says he's open to all levels. I can't tell you what D2 and D3 jobs would be open, and I wouldn't know where he'd fit in some cases, however...regionally, it's really hard to unseat D2/D3 coaches. Either they're successful and win a lot and stay for 30 years (and usually hand it off to an assistant/former player who likely will do the same), or they're just good enough for what the school wants and they get to stick around for 10-15 years provided they don't have any off-court stuff going on. Bad coaches usually get 6-7 years at those schools too. That too likely means extending the search beyond New England/Mid-Atlantic. I think he'd be great at a D3, coach, get a job as an assistant AD, and enjoy a pretty solid living.
Also, saying it would take something really unique to consider being a D1 assistant might be pretty limiting for Brown too...but also he's basically never been an assistant coach in his life, so I'm not surprised by that statement. But, if an opportunity came up to be an assistant coach at a P5/Big East type school where you can earn $200k or much more (after having presumably banked away a nice chunk of cash getting a six-figure salary for a decade plus), you have to listen, right? Some of those jobs you just get a different title and don't even have to go out and recruit and make a lot of money.
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