} Christopher J. Brown (born July 3, 1974) 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 and former player. He is the head football coach for

Fort Hays State University Fort Hays State University (FHSU) is a public university in Hays, Kansas. It is the fourth-largest of the six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents, with a total enrollment of approximately 15,100 students. History FHSU w ...

; a position he has held since 2011. He played for

Pittsburg State University Pittsburg State University (Pitt State or PSU) is a public university in Pittsburg, Kansas. It enrolls approximately 7,400 students (6,000 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students) and is a member of the Kansas Board of Regents. History P ...

Pittsburg, Kansas Pittsburg is a city in Crawford County, Kansas, United States, located in southeast Kansas near the Missouri state border. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and southeast Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the ci ...

, from 1992 to 1995. He became the head coach at Fort Hays State in 2011.

Playing career

Brown is a 1996 graduate of

. As a player for the

Gorillas Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

, he recorded 470 tackles in 43 starts during his career at free safety. Brown is one of only three Gorillas to earn All-American honors three times. As a player, Brown was a unanimous All-American First Team selection his senior year, was named the

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NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

National Player of the Year in 1995, and was named to the NCAA Quarter Century Team for all players from 1975 to 1999 at free safety. Brown recorded a record 21 tackles in the NCAA Division II National Championship as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

against Jacksonville State and was inducted into the Pittsburg State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.

Coaching career

High school and college assistant coaching

After completion of his playing time at Pittsburg State, Brown returned to his hometown

Liberal, Kansas Liberal is the county seat of Seward County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 19,825. Liberal is home of Seward County Community College. History Early settler S. S. Rogers built the first house ...

to be an assistant coach at Liberal High School from 1999 until the end of the 2001 season. He then became an assistant coach at

Washburn University Washburn University (WU) is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,100 ...

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...

under head coach

Craig Schurig Craig Schurig (born March 2, 1965) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach for Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas and he held that position since the 2002 season. He is the 40th person to hold the ...

from 2002 until completion of the 2010 season.

Fort Hays State

Brown was named the head coach for the

Fort Hays Tigers The Fort Hays State Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Fort Hays State University, located in Hays, Kansas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division II ranks, primarily competing in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athl ...

located in Hays, Kansas beginning with the 2011 season. His team went 4–7 in the first season. The first game of the season was a 27–17 victory over cross-state rival Emporia State. In 2017, Brown broke a school record by leading the team to an undefeated regular season, the first in 100 years.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Fort Hays State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Chris 1974 births Living people American football safeties Fort Hays State Tigers football coaches Pittsburg State Gorillas football players Washburn Ichabods football coaches High school football coaches in Kansas People from Liberal, Kansas Coaches of American football from Kansas Players of American football from Kansas