The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Benedictine grad enjoying return to NDC
When Jahmal Brown’s football playing days were over, he was intent to stay connected with the game but in what capacity he wasn’t sure.
For nearly a decade, he’s dipped his toes into many areas of the football pool. That’s led him back to Notre Dame College, where he’s helping the football program reach unprecedented heights in 2018.
This season has undoubtedly been a success story. NDC has an offense that can score with the best in Division II, but its defense is right on par, and as defensive coordinator, that’s where Brown comes into the fold.
His unit has been critical down the stretch as the 12-0 Falcons host Slippery Rock on Dec. 1 in an NCAA quarterfinal game. In its last five regular-season games, the NDC defense has allowed just 9.8 points per game, and were stingy again on Nov. 24 in a 19-14 second-round playoff win against Hillsdale. The defense allowed just -2 rushing yards and had six sacks.
“It’s been amazing,” said Brown about watching this
season unfold as a coordinator. “We knew what had a chance to be pretty good … each week we’ve gotten better and better and it’s been amazing to witness.”
Brown’s football acumen and knowledge can be traced back to the early part of this century, when as a two-way star at Benedictine he was a member of two state championship teams. Before embarking on a standout career at Bowling Green — where he was a four-year starter at defensive back — Brown had also been a four-year starter for the Bengals.
He played in a 2002 state championship game as a freshman, but it was a game Benedictine lost. The next two seasons, the Bengals were state champions, and Brown’s best moment occurred in the 2004 state title game. In that 27-14 win over St. Mary’s Memorial, Brown rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown.
Flash forward another four years, Brown graduated from BG with an exercise science degree with the hopes of being a strength coach.
“I was young and still trying to find out exactly what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to coach some way,” said Brown.
The next football season, Brown returned to BG as graduate assistant, and eventually received a master’s degree in sports administration. While on BG’s staff, the Falcons won the 2013 Mid-American Conference championship. When he was done at BG, he spent two years as an assistant at Saginaw Valley State before landing at NDC in 2016 as co-defensive coordinator.
In 2017, he made another stop but not on the college level. He returned to Benedictine to serve as assistant athletic director and defensive coordinator for the Bengals.
Then, when the defensive coordinator job at NDC became open, Coach Mike Jacobs pushed to bring back Brown.
“It was a natural fit,” said Jacobs. “He was running our system at Benedictine, and had already been here. He studies the game. He’s cerebral in his approach.”
Brown admits his return to his high school alma mater caused some head scratching among his friends. Even he accepted the positions with some nervousness.
“But I’m glad I did it because it really prepared me to call the defense here (at NDC) this year,” said Brown.
A few miles down Taylor Road at John Carroll, another defensive coordinator and fellow Benedictine and Bowling Green grad Joe Schaefer is not surprised with Brown’s success. Schaefer and Brown were Benedictine teammates for two seasons (Schaefer was two years ahead of Brown), then again in college at BG. Also part of that team in college was Willoughby South grad and former Brush coach Jeff Fink, the current offensive coordinator at JCU.
Said Schaefer: “Jahmal’s always been a leader, and there’s no question you could see he had what it took to be a coach.”
“We knew what had a chance to be pretty good … each week we’ve gotten better and better and it’s been amazing to witness.”