Brian Norwood (born August 12, 1965) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He currently serves as defensive backs coach, assistant head coach, and defensive passing game coordinator at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. Prior to that, he most recently was the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach with

Navy Midshipmen football The Navy Midshipmen football team represents the United States Naval Academy in NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) college football. The Naval Academy completed its final season as an FBS independent school (not in a conference) i ...

. Previously, Norwood served as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach with

Bill Snyder William D. Snyder (born October 7, 1939) is a retired college football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Kansas State University from 1989 to 2005 and again from 2009 to 2018. Snyder initially retired from the p ...

Kansas State Wildcats football The Kansas State Wildcats football program (variously Kansas State, K-State or KSU) is the college football, intercollegiate football program of the Kansas State University Kansas State Wildcats, Wildcats. The program is classified in the NCAA Di ...

and

Philip Montgomery Philip Montgomery (born December 21, 1971) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Auburn. He is the former head coach of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team. ...

Tulsa Golden Hurricane football The Tulsa Golden Hurricane football program represents the University of Tulsa in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. Tulsa has competed in the American Athletic Conference (The American) since the 2014 ...

. This was after holding the position of assistant head coach to

Art Briles Arthur Ray Briles (born December 3, 1955) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach for the Guelfi Firenze in the Italian Football League. Briles was the head coach of the Houston Cougars from 2002 to 2007 and the Baylor Be ...

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

. Both Norwood and Briles served as assistants to Mike Leach at

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

in 2000. Norwood was also an assistant to

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

from 2001 to 2007. Norwood grew up in

Prince George's County, Maryland ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobroo ...

, where he attended

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

basketball camps and met then-coach John Thompson. With his father serving in the Air Force, his family moved to Hawaii in Norwood's sophomore year of high school. Norwood played cornerback and safety at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

and graduated with a bachelor's degree in communication in 1988. In high school and college, he was best friends with

Ken Niumatalolo Kenneth Va'a Niumatalolo (born May 8, 1965) is an American football coach and former player. He is the former head coach of the Naval Academy from 2007 to 2022, accumulating the most wins in program history. Niumatalolo played college football at ...

, now the head coach who hired him at Navy. After college, Norwood worked for United Airlines for a year before playing football the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

with the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

. His football playing career came to an end when he was diagnosed with diabetes.

Family

Norwood and his wife, Tiffiney, met and started dating in high school in Hawaii. They have five children: Gabe, Jordan, Levi, Brianna and Zac. Norwood's son Gabe, was a member of the

George Mason Patriots men's basketball The George Mason Patriots men's basketball team represents George Mason University. The Patriots play at the EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia, on the George Mason campus. Team records * Most wins – 27 during the 2005–06 and 2010–11 se ...

team that advanced to the 2006 NCAA Final Four. He is currently playing for the

Rain or Shine Elasto Painters The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association owned by Asian Coatings Philippines, Inc. It debuted in the league in the 2006–07 PBA season after acquiring the franchise righ ...

in the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

and a current member of the

Philippine national basketball team The Philippines men's national basketball team ( fil, Pambansang koponan ng basketbol ng Pilipinas), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipi ...

. His second son,

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, played wide receiver at

and was a wide receiver for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

. His third son, Levi, was a receiver for Baylor University. His only daughter, Brianna, attended George Mason University, where she studied sports management and was on the dance team. Brianna worked for the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

during the 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons, meeting Nationals center fielder

Michael A. Taylor Michael Anthony Taylor (born March 26, 1991) is an American professional baseball center fielder for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). Taylor was drafted in the sixth round (172nd overall) of the 2009 MLB draft by the Washingto ...

, now her fiancé. His youngest son, Zac, played basketball for

Midway High School Midway High School is a public high school located in the city of Waco, Texas, Waco, Texas, United States, USA and classified as a 6A school by the University Interscholastic League, UIL. It is part of the Midway Independent School District (McLen ...

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

References

External links

Baylor profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norwood, Brian 1965 births Living people American football defensive backs Canadian football defensive backs Arizona Wildcats football coaches Baylor Bears football coaches Calgary Stampeders players Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players Kansas State Wildcats football coaches Navy Midshipmen football coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches Richmond Spiders football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches Players of American football from Portsmouth, Virginia African-American coaches of American football African-American players of Canadian football African-American players of American football Admiral Arthur W. Radford High School alumni UCLA Bruins football coaches 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople