Joseph Ralph Brown (April 27, 1926 – December 13, 2016) was 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 ...

player and coach. He served as the head football 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 u ...

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 ...

from 1959 to 1961, compiling a record of 9–18.

Playing career

Brown played as a

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

in 1946 at Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College—now known as

Oklahoma State University–Stillwater Oklahoma State University–Stillwater (officially Oklahoma State University; informally Oklahoma State, OK State, OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma. OSU was founded in 1890 under the Morrill Act. Originall ...

. The next year, he transferred to the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

to play center. He did not play his last two years of college because of a back injury.

Coaching career

Brown began his coaching career in the high school rank in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

he was the head football coach at Sublette High School from 1950 to 1952, Junction City High SChool in 1953, and

Emporia High School Emporia High School is a public secondary school in Emporia, Kansas, United States. It is the sole high school operated by Emporia USD 253 school district, and serves students of grades 9 to 12. Emporia has an enrollment of approximately 1, ...

from 1954 to 1957. In 1958, he was hired as head track coach and assistant football coach at

. After service a year as line coach under Dick Godlove, Brown was named the 26th head football coach at Washburn University, serving for three seasons, from 1959 to 1961, and compiling a record of compiling a record of 9–18.Washburn University
Sports history

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Ralph 1926 births 2016 deaths American football centers American football fullbacks Kansas Jayhawks football players Oklahoma State Cowboys football players Washburn Ichabods football coaches High school football coaches in Kansas People from Newton, Kansas