 Brown, circa 1922 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1900-07-31)July 31, 1900 Star, Idaho, U.S. |
| Died | June 23, 1965(1965-06-23) (aged 64) Caldwell, Idaho, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1920–1922 | Idaho |
| Position(s) | Back |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1923–1924 | Idaho (assistant) |
| 1925–192x | Lewiston HS (ID) |
| 1932–1934 | Burley HS (ID) |
| 1935–1940 | Moscow HS (ID) |
| 1941–1942 | Idaho (assistant) |
| 1945–1946 | Idaho |
| 1947–1955 | Nampa HS (ID) |
| 1958–1964 | College of Idaho |
| Basketball | |
| 1925–192x | Lewiston HS (ID) |
| 1932–1935 | Burley HS (ID) |
| 1935–1941 | Moscow HS (ID) |
| 1941–1942 | Idaho (assistant) |
| 1942–1946 | Idaho |
| 1947–1956 | Nampa HS (ID) |
| 1956–1961 | College of Idaho |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1943–1946 | Idaho (interim AD) |
| 1956–1965 | College of Idaho |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 27–54–2 (college football) 134–127 (college basketball) |
James Allen "Babe"Brown (July 31, 1900 – June 23, 1965)[1] was anAmerican football andbasketball coach and college athletics administrator. He was the head coach in basketball and football at theUniversity of Idaho inMoscow, and later a three-sport coach andathletic director at theCollege of Idaho inCaldwell. He also coached multiple sports at four high schools in Idaho:Lewiston,Burley,Moscow, andNampa.[2]
Born in the farming community ofStar insouthwestern Idaho, Brown graduated fromBoise High School in 1919 and was a multi-sport athlete at the University of Idaho in Moscow, where he lettered in football,wrestling, andbaseball.[3][4] He was a hard-hittingfullback on the football team under head coachesThomas Kelley andR.L. "Matty" Mathews.[5][6] His senior season was Idaho's first as a member of thePacific Coast Conference. He was also a member ofKappa Sigmafraternity.[3]
Following his playing days, Brown was an assistant at Idaho under Mathews,[5] then became a high school coach in 1925 atLewiston High School, and won the state title in basketball in 1926.[7] After several years with the Bengals, he left coaching for two years to work in private business in southern Idaho, then returned to coaching in 1932 atBurley High School for three seasons. He returned to north Idaho to coach atMoscow High School in 1935, taking over the Bears' program from Gale Mix.[8]
After six years at MHS, Brown was hired across town as the freshman football coach at theUniversity of Idaho in 1941. Brown moved up to the varsity as an assistant to head coachFrancis Schmidt in 1942, but the football program went on hiatus prior to the 1943 season. In the meantime, he became acting head basketball coach in December 1942[9] and acting athletic director in 1943, whenGuy Wicks[10] and George Greene joined thenavy.[11][12] Brown led theUI basketball team to the northern division title of thePCC in his fourth and final season in 1946.[13] TheVandals met southern division winnerCalifornia in a three-game series inBerkeley;[14] Idaho lost game one in a near-riot,[15] won game two,[16] but lost the third.[17] After Schmidt's death in September 1944, Brown was the interim head coach for the abbreviated 1945 football season and was named head coach in March 1946.[18] The Vandals posted one win in each of the two seasons for an overall 2-15 record[19] and Brown resigned at the end of November.[18]
After a dozen years residing in Moscow and six years as a collegiate coach, Brown returned to thehigh school level in 1947 back in southwestern Idaho atNampa High School, where his teams won titles in football and basketball during his nine seasons with the Bulldogs. His 1950 basketball team won the state championship.[7]
In 1956, Brown was hired at theCollege of Idaho in Caldwell as athletic director, and also served as the head coach for basketball and baseball. When head football coachEd Troxel resigned in 1958 to go to the newBorah High School inBoise, Brown took over as head football coach of the Coyotes.[20] He stepped down as head basketball coach in 1961,[1] and as football coach and athletic director following the 1964 football season.[21][22]
Brown died in his sleep at age 64 of an apparent heart attack in June 1965 at his home in Caldwell,[6] a week before his official retirement date.[21] He and his wife LaVerne (1898–1961) are buried at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens in Caldwell.
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho Vandals(Pacific Coast Conference)(1945–1946) | |||||||||
| 1945 | Idaho | 1–7 | 1–5 | 9th | |||||
| 1946 | Idaho | 1–8 | 0–5 | 10th | |||||
| Idaho: | 2–15 | 1–10 | |||||||
| College of Idaho Coyotes(Northwest Conference)(1958–1964) | |||||||||
| 1958 | College of Idaho | 3–6–1 | 1–3–1 | 5th | |||||
| 1959 | College of Idaho | 6–3–1 | 2–2–1 | 3rd | |||||
| 1960 | College of Idaho | 2–8 | 0–5 | 6th | |||||
| 1961 | College of Idaho | 4–4 | 3–2 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1962 | College of Idaho | 5–4 | 2–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1963 | College of Idaho | 3–6 | 1–4 | 5th | |||||
| 1964 | College of Idaho | 1–8 | 0–5 | 6th | |||||
| College of Idaho: | 25–39–2 | 9–24–2 | |||||||
| Total: | 27–54–2 | ||||||||
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho Vandals(Pacific Coast Conference)(1942–1946) | |||||||||
| 1942–43 | Idaho | 14–20 | 1–15 | 5th(North) | |||||
| 1943–44 | Idaho | 7–16 | 5–11 | 3rd(North) | |||||
| 1944–45 | Idaho | 13–20 | 3–13 | 5th(North) | |||||
| 1945–46 | Idaho | 23–11 | 11–5 | 1st(North) | PCC Finals[24] | ||||
| Idaho: | 57–67 | 20–44 | |||||||
| College of Idaho Coyotes(Northwest Conference)(1956–1961) | |||||||||
| 1956–57 | College of Idaho | 11–15 | 7–8 | T–4th | |||||
| 1957–58 | College of Idaho | 14–14 | 8–7 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1958–59 | College of Idaho | 17–9 | 8–7 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1959–60 | College of Idaho | 16–13 | 8–7 | 3rd | |||||
| 1960–61 | College of Idaho | 19–9 | 10–5 | T–2nd | |||||
| College of Idaho: | 77–60 | 41–34 | |||||||
| Total: | 134–127 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||