Ray Brown begins his second season on Head Coach Jake Dickert’s staff, serving as cornerbacks coach. Brown is no stranger to Pullman as he spent the 2013 season as a defensive graduate assistant on Mike Leach’s staff.
During the 2022 season, Brown was part of a defense that ranked third in the Pac-12 Conference in scoring at 22.9 ppg. He coached Chau Smith-Wade to 2022 All-Pac-12 Conference Honorable Mention honors as the sophomore earned the Pac-12’s third-best defensive grade among all cornerbacks according to PFF College. Cougar cornerbacks accounted for four interceptions on the season and only allowed more than two passing touchdowns in a game twice on the season.
Brown spent the 2021 season coaching cornerbacks at Utah State, helping the Aggies to an 11-3 record and a victory over Oregon State in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl. The win capped an incredible turnaround for the Aggies, after going 1-5 during the 2020 season.
Prior to Utah State, Brown spent two seasons (2019-20) as the cornerbacks coach at Troy and three seasons (2016-18) at Abilene Christian, where he coached the defensive backs.
In 2020, Brown coached Terence Dunlap to second-team all-Sun Belt Conference honors at Troy as he finished sixth in the league with three interceptions and 11th with nine passes defended.
In his first season with the Trojans, Brown coached Will Sunderland to first-team all-Sun Belt honors as he intercepted four passes, returning one for a touchdown. Following his collegiate career, Sunderland signed a free agent contract with the Green Bay Packers.
While at Abilene Christian, the Wildcats were among the best in the nation defensively in 2018 and set a school record with 13 interceptions, paced by all-Southland Conference honorable mention selection Adonis Davis’ four picks, as he led the league and ranked ninth at the FCS level in passes defended. Brown also coached Bolu Onifade to second-team all-Southland Conference honors that season.
In 2018, the Wildcats ranked sixth nationally in fourth-down defense (26.3 percent), 15th nationally in third-down defense (30.3 percent) and 16th nationally in rushing defense (113 yards per game). Additionally, Abilene ranked third in the Southland Conference in scoring defense and red zone defense. That season, the Wildcats knocked off No. 11 Nicholls State as the Abilene defense held the Colonels to just 12 points.
In his second season at Abilene Christian, Brown’s secondary posted the top passing defense in the Southland Conference, allowing just 196.7 yards per game, an improvement of 81.8 yards per game from the previous season. That season, Brown coached Brandon Richmond to all-Southland Conference honorable mention honors.
Prior to his stint at Abilene Christian, Brown spent a pair of seasons as a graduate assistant at Arizona State (2014-15) working with the Sun Devils’ cornerbacks. Arizona State won the 2015 Sun Bowl and completed just the second back-to-back 10-win seasons in school history, while cornerback Kareem Orr earned Freshman All-America honors. The Sun Devils ranked 23rd nationally in interceptions during his second season and 29th his first season.
Brown also played a key role in Arizona State signing the No. 1- and No. 2-rated junior college cornerbacks in the country, along with Orr, who led the Pac-12 in interceptions as a freshman.
Additionally, Brown coached Damarious Randall, who was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft with the 30th selection.
Brown began his Division I coaching career as a graduate assistant working with the safeties at Washington State in 2013, when the Cougars made their first bowl appearance in 10 years. Safety Deone Bucannon earned All-America honors, was rated the top strong safety in the country by NFL.com, and was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft with the 27th selection.
Following his playing career at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, as a four-year starter at cornerback, Brown served as the running backs coach and run game coordinator at his alma mater for two years (2010-11), before taking over as the special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach at Oklahoma Baptist for the 2012 season.
Brown received his bachelor’s degree in business marketing from East Central in 2009 and his master’s degree in sports administration from East Central in 2011.
Brown and his wife, Amber, have three children, Gavin, Rylin and Peyton.
