Recruiting Areas: Central and Southern Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana
Ricky Brown is in his first season as the linebackers coach on John Garrett's coaching staff.
A former NFL player with the Oakland Raiders, he spent the last four seasons at his alma mater, Boston College. For three campaigns (2017-19), he was the special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach. In 2016, he worked as the Director of Football Initiatives, serving in a quality control role on defense and specials teams. In 2019, he oversaw a unit that ranked 29th in the country in average punt return defense (5.52 yds/return).
In 2018, he coordinated a unit that ranked first in the nation with three three punt returns for touchdowns, was fifth in the country with five blocked kicks, 16th in the country in average punt return yards (14.00 yds/return), 19th in the country in average kickoff return yards (23.77 yds/return) and 30th in special teams efficiency. He coached All-America returner Michael Walker, who led the nation in combined kick and punt return yards and earned All-ACC Second-Team accolades. He coached OLB Isaiah McDuffie who led the BC defense in solo tackles (48) and finished second on the team in total tackles (85), good for 12th in the ACC among total tackles.
In 2017, he oversaw a special teams unit that ranked 11th in the nation (third in the ACC) in punt returns (13.11 avg.) and 22nd nationally in kickoff return yards (946 yards), while ranking 26th in the NCAA in special teams efficiency. In that season, Walker led the nation in combined kickoff and punt return yards with 1,203 yards and was sixth in the country (first in the ACC) in punt returns (13.11 avg.) and 12th in the country (second in the ACC) in total kickoff return yards (734 yards).
In his first season back at Boston College, the defense had 47 sacks (fourth in NCAA) and a third-down opponent conversion rate of 31.9% (12th in NCAA). On special teams, BC had an opponent kickoff return average of 17.24 yds/return (seventh in NCAA), an opponent punt return average of 5.41 yds/return (33rd in NCAA), a kickoff return average of 23.59 yds/return (21st in NCAA) and a punt return average of 13.74 yds/return (10th in NCAA).
Prior to coaching at BC, Brown served in a quality control role on defense at USC from 2014-15. In 2014, the Trojans’ defense ranked among the nation’s top 20 in turnover margin, red-zone defense and third-down conversion defense, as the program earned a trip to the Holiday Bowl. In 2015, the Trojans won the Pac-12 South title and made a second consecutive appearance in the Holiday Bowl. They scored five defensive touchdowns on the season to finish third nationally.
Before getting into coaching, Brown worked for Morgan Stanley as a wealth advisory associate in downtown Los Angeles, obtaining the Series 7, Series 66, and life insurance licenses as well as a firm designation of Financial Planning Specialist. Prior to working in finance, Brown played six seasons (2006-12) as a linebacker with the Oakland Raiders after entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent. He finished his career with the Baltimore Ravens on injured reserve in 2012-13.
Brown’s outstanding collegiate career spanned 2002-05 at Boston College. The outside linebacker was the winner of the Scanlan Award in 2005, the highest honor bestowed upon a BC football player, which recognizes accomplishments on the field, in the classroom and in the community.
In four seasons, he recorded 184 tackles (118 solo) with 4.5 sacks. In his junior year, Brown had 81 tackles, and had a career-high 10 solo tackles, 13 total, and two tackles for a loss against Syracuse. He finished the 2004 season with five stops in the Continental Tire Bowl victory over North Carolina. He also took home Big East All-Freshman Team honors from The Sporting News in 2002, Big East All-Academic Team honors in 2004 and ACC All-Academic honors in 2005. The Cincinnati, Ohio native graduated with a degree in Finance in 2006.
