New outside linebackers coach brings pro pedigree
Navy football suffered a big loss in late February when defensive assistant Joe Coniglio left for the Los Angeles Rams.
Coniglio’s departure came less than a month before the start of spring practice, putting Navy head coach Brian Newberry into a bit of a bind. Newberry feels very fortunate that he was able to quickly hire Ricky Brown to replace Coniglio as outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator.
Newberry lured Brown away from fellow American Athletic Conference member Tulsa where he was hired in January to serve as special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach.
“It was tough losing Joe, who is a really good football coach and brought a ton of value while he was here,” Newberry said. “We got lucky with Ricky Brown as far as the timeline goes. Things really fell into place and we got that done pretty quickly.”
Recently-promoted defensive coordinator P.J. Volker has known Brown since grade school in Cincinnati and have maintained their relationship ever since. Brown also worked with newly-hired passing game coordinator Eric Lewis at Boston College.
Brown has been working furiously to learn the Navy defense and get to know the players ever since arriving in Annapolis. Newberry has been impressed by how well Brown has settled into the role , calling it a seamless fit.
As outside linebackers coach, Brown must work with the hybrid positions of striker and raiders. In Navy’s scheme, strikers are responsible for rushing the passer and dropping into coverage. Raiders are similar to stand-up defensive ends, charged with setting the edge on run plays and getting after the quarterback on pass plays.
“Coach Brown has picked everything up really quickly. It’s not easy to coach those two positions because they’re very different and he’s done an awesome job,” Newberry said. “I couldn’t be more pleased with that hire and the job he’s done so far.”
Brown was a standout linebacker at Boston College from 2002-05, recording 184 career tackles. The Oakland Raiders signed Brown as an undrafted free agent in 2006 and he spent six seasons with the organization. He had brief stints with the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens before retiring after the 2012 campaign.
Brown initially chose to capitalize on the finance degree but felt unfulfilled in the financial industry.
“I missed the locker room, missed the camaraderie, missed the team atmosphere,” Brown said. ““I figured I should probably get into coaching and help shape young men.”
Brown speaks fondly of the many coaching mentors he encountered as a player, beginning with his collegiate position coach Bill McGovern. He learned how to play linebacker at the NFL level under Don “Wink” Martindale and has great respect for his former Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.
Brown now has new mentors in Newberry, Volker and Lewis. He is also leaning on veteran assistants such as Jerrick Hall (defensive line) and Robert Green (cornerbacks) for advice.
“To be honest, I’m bouncing questions off all the defensive coaches,” Brown said. “Coach Newberry and Coach Volker have assembled a staff of really humble men who are willing to roll their sleeves up and go to work.”
Brown acknowledged he is “drinking water through a firehose” as far as learning the defensive system and getting to know all the players at his position groups. As special teams coordinator, he must eventually get to know all the players in order to determine who can help out in those areas.
Navy lost just two starters on defense and both just happened to play the positions Brown is coaching — John Marshall and Nicholas Straw.
Newberry purposefully did not issue a depth chart prior to spring camp, declaring that every player has a clean start and all jobs are wide-open. Brown was reluctant to single out any specific outside linebackers, choosing to praise the entire group.
“We have a really good outside linebacker room and a really good team culture. These kids are so tough, so blue collar and it’s an honor to work with them,” he said. “The energy and overall attitude they bring to meetings and practices is fantastic.”
Brown’s task of setting the outside linebacker depth chart is made more difficult by the fact few players at either position have much experience. Rising senior Xavier McDonald and rising sophomore Turner Stepp closed the 2022 season on the depth chart at striker, but neither got many meaningful game repetitions behind Marshall.
It’s a similar story at raider where sophomores Jordan Sanders and Nazir Rogers closed the season on the depth chart, but primarily played solely on special teams. Rogers is sitting out spring camp while recovering from an injury, while Sanders has been limited due to nagging ailments.
During scrimmage situations, McDonald and James Perkins have been getting most of the first-team repetitions at striker and raider, respectively. McDonald said the competition has been stiff between himself and Stepp, while noting that Colin O’Connor, Matteo Bianchi, Trace Jewell and Michael Mack have all done good things.
“We’re just trying to focus on improving ourselves. We’re helping each other instead of trying to beat each other out. We’re all working together to put the best player on the field whoever that is,” McDonald said. “We all understand as a group that someone has to step up. The coaches know we don’t have a lot of game experience, so they are making sure they prepare us so we go out there confident and know what we’re doing.”
Perkins, an impressive specimen at 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, served on the scout team last season after suffering an injury prior to the opener. The Alabama native is relishing the opportunity to showcase his skills over the course of 15 spring practices.
“It’s a big deal for me. I’ve been looking forward to this for the last eight months,” Perkins said. “When you get on the field you have to prove that you belong out there — that you know what you’re doing, know your job and can execute at a high level.”