With football in a nebulous position and the recruiting process in a relative holding pattern, we at Golden Bear Report are looking to do interviews wherever we can. This week, we got Cal defensive line coach Andrew Browning on the line to discuss going from how he recruits, what he looks for in a recruit, and his time at Cal so far.
This is part two of an interview that has been transcribed and lightly edited for clarity.
Previous Installments: Justin Wilcox, Part One | Justin Wilcox, Part Two | Charlie Ragle, Part One | Charlie Ragle, Part Two | Peter Sirmon, Part One | Peter Sirmon, Part Two | Aristotle Thompson, Part One | Aristotle Thompson, Part Two | Angus McClure, Part One | Angus McClure, Part Two | Tim DeRuyter, Part One | Tim DeRuyter, Part Two | Andrew Browning, Part One
TT: What connection led you down to UTEP?
AB: It’s another connection from Boise, my senior year there was coach Pete’s first year at Boise as the head coach, he had been the offensive coordinator for a long time, but his initial staff he’d put together, coach Wilcox was the defensive coordinator, coach Yates was there and our offensive line coach was Sean Kugler, who was a tremendous coach, a tremendous offensive line coach. He was there my senior year, and I got to know him around the building, in practice going against his guys, and interacted a bunch, had a lot of respect for him.
He left Boise after that year to go back to the NFL, where he’d been before he was at Boise. I kept in contact with him, he had played at UTEP in the 80s and coached there in the 90s, and he had an opportunity to become the head coach. I think he was the offensive line coach of the Steelers at the time. He took the job at UTEP, I was fortunate enough to stay in contact with him and fortunate enough to get a phone call and an opportunity. Because he was the head coach and I had a tremendous amount of respect for him, I jumped at the opportunity.
TT: That had to be akin to jumping into the deep end, going from Boise to there, even just geography wise…
AB: Sure, coming from the Pacific Northwest, growing up and living there for 18 years, then basically living in Boise on and off for 10 years, I’d gotten accustomed to living in that part of the country. Moving down to El Paso, my wife and I had a tremendous experience, met a lot of really great people and kinda fell in love with the desert, especially the sunsets in the desert. The combination of working for coach Kugler, the staff we had there, the town itself and the people we met, I look back on that time really fondly.
TT: Did some of your experience at Boise teach you about recruiting to UTEP, where you maybe have to find guys who are more under the radar?
AB: Yeah, the biggest thing that I learned, both as a graduate assistant and in my time at UTEP, and it’s probably universal, is how important the evaluation process is and how much to trust your evaluation process. Everybody would love to recruit all the five stars all the time, but sometimes, that’s not a reality and so I think the more you trust what you see on film and as you get to know a player and their family and you get to know what makes them tick, I think that is really important, to trust your evaluation, don’t worry about who’s offered them and how many stars they have, it’s important to know them as a person, know their family, and know them as a player.
TT: Is there anything in particular that you look for first when you’re evaluating a guy or is it more of a holistic process?
AB: There’s certain things, on the defensive line, a thing I want to see jump off the tape is the motor and the physicality, those are the things you love to see. Then, the physical traits, the explosiveness, the ability to change direction and bend. All those things, then you start getting into the size, and it’s a blend of all those things. It comes down to who they are as a person too, it’s a big part that’s underrated, how motivated they are, how passionate they are about football, how motivated they are to develop and push themselves, I think that’s a part of the process that’s underrated.
TT: A recruiting story coach Wilcox told the media on signing day was that you, coach Tui and Wilcox all went to Stanley McKenzie’s house during the contact period and had what was described as the meal of a lifetime and an uncomfortable flight back thanks to eating that much, can you talk me through that night from your perspective?
AB: That was a lot of fun, we’d developed such a great relationship with Stanley and his family. To go over there during the contact period and sit down and eat with him and his family, that was a tremendous experience. The food just kept rolling in. I know we sat down and ate for about two and half or three hours. It was a pretty big gathering, there was more food than there was people, I can tell you that. It was a celebration for Stanley and his family, and we were just excited to be there. The side part was how great the food was.
TT: After UTEP, how’d you end up getting hooked back up with Cal in 2018 as a quality control coach?
AB: I had kept in contact with coach Wilcox, and after the 2017 season, I had reached out to see if there were any opportunities. He had gotten back to me and said there was an opportunity for me as a quality control coach, and it worked out.
That first year was a really great experience for me, getting to learn from the defensive staff and all the coaches that were here, but being in the defensive meetings with coach DeRuyter, coach Tuioti, coach Sirmon and GA, that was a really great experience for me, and I learned a lot. That was a big year for me in terms of my development, getting to take a step back and really observing.
TT: What are some of the finer points of being a quality control coach that people wouldn’t know about from the outside?
AB: A lot of film, a lot of opponent breakdown, a lot of working with an individual coach on projects, a lot of preparing materials for teaching. You’re doing a lot of stuff, with the exception of getting to coach the players on the field. There’s so many ways that people approach coaching, and to be able to observe that many coaches my first year there, it was a great experience for me.
TT: The process to bump you up to DL coach was pretty quick after coach Tuioti left, if I’m not mistaken?
AB: I feel like I’m very fortunate, and things happen very quickly in football, coach Tuioti had an opportunity for him and his family, and I was fortunate enough that coach Wilcox promoted me to coach the defensive line. It did happen relatively quickly and it was exciting and I was very thankful that coach (Wilcox) trusted me with that opportunity. It means a lot to me, to be a part of Cal and to have an opportunity to coach on this staff with these players, I was very happy.
TT: The players were obviously happy for you as well at that point, because you’d been around them for a while at that point, how was that reaction for you?
AB: I’ve said this before, I feel like I’m the luckiest football coach in America, because we have a great group of kids on our team, specifically that defensive line, it’s a group of special kids. It helps that I wasn’t a complete outsider coming in, having that relationship with them already really helped a ton. Those guys were so great to me, they were excited and welcoming, they put their heads down, grinded, and I’m so thankful to be around those guys.
TT: On another note, coach Thompson said you were the first person from Cal to contact him about the RB coaching job being open, was it an instance of paying it forward or how did that happen?
AB: I’ve known coach AT for a while, going back to, we didn’t play together, but we had crossed paths quite a bit at Boise. When we had an opening come up, I have a lot of respect for him, and I reached out. I wouldn’t say I had a big part in it, but I wanted to see how he was doing and if he had interest, and the rest is history. I wouldn’t say I had a huge hand in it, that’s a position he knows a lot about, he has done a heck of a job, reached out to him and gauged his interest, it all worked out and it was great.
TT: For you, why Cal?
AB: I think Cal’s a really special place, I really do, start with the location, I don’t think it gets much better than the Bay Area and Berkeley and then obviously the education speaks for itself, it’s second to none, it’s world class. With coach Wilcox and the staff, I believe we’re building something special, coach (Wilcox) is building something special, and I think it’s just a good time, I’m really excited for the future of Cal Football.
It’s why I leapt at the opportunity to be here, there’s so many positive things about Cal.
