Charles "Kippy" Brown, part of the coaching staff that helped the Seahawks win their first Super Bowl title, died this week at the age of 71.
Brown, a standout quarterback at Memphis State (now known as the University of Memphis), began his coaching career at his alma mater in 1978, launching a long coaching career that included stops with seven NFL teams, the last of which was the Seahawks.
Brown joined Pete Carroll's coaching staff in 2010, coaching receivers for five seasons before retiring after the Seahawks' second consecutive Super Bowl appearance.
"He was a great friend to everybody, because he had such a positive, good, fun-loving spirit," Carroll said in a phone interview. "Everybody loved being around Kip. And he had a light about him, he wanted to have a good time and have fun and make things pleasant for everyone around him. That's why so many people have rallied around him in this last month or so and reached out to (his wife) Deon, being supportive and loving. He was a wonderful person, and my heart goes out to Deon and the family. It's a beautiful family."
Under Brown's tutelage, Seahawks receivers were an underrated part of the team's championship success, with undrafted free agents Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse developing into starters and leaders on the early Carroll-era teams. In Seattle's 43-8 win in Super Bowl XLVIII, Baldwin and Kearse both had touchdown receptions to cap a season in which they, along with Golden Tate and Sidney Rice, made big contributions that were often overshadowed by of the Marshawn Lynch-led running game and the team's dominant defense.
"Kippy was the perfect person for us, for our group of guys who came in at that time—myself, Ricardo (Lockette), Jermaine, Golden, Sid," Baldwin said in a phone interview. "Kippy and Sidney Rice paired really well together as being the elder statesmen in the room, helping us young guys get onboarded into the NFL life.
"For me as a young person to have him as my rookie coach, I know I would not have been the player I was if it wasn't for Kippy. I owe a great deal to him as a coach who helped me develop as a player, but also the man that he was, the way that he held us accountable as young men, doing it in a way that was considerate, and we knew he was only doing it because he loved and cared about us, I wouldn't be the man that I am today without Kippy Brown."
Brown not only helped make Seattle's young receivers better, he also was able to manage the big personalities of the competitors in his position group to help get the most out of them.
"He was a coach that could calm things and soothe things through hard times and difficulties and all of that," Carroll said. "That's why guys turned to him and leaned on him and counted on him to come up with the right observations at the right time. That's why guys like him so much. He made you feel good to be around him."
Baldwin recalled the way Brown would be tough on his players but also do it from a place of love, and Brown always had his players' backs.
"Kippy, more so than a great coach, he was just a great man and a great mentor," Baldwin said. "He shot us straight, he told us the truth, he was willing to stand on the table for a lot of us. When the team was contemplating if they were going to keep Jermaine as long as they did, I know Kippy stood on the table for Jermaine multiple times. Knowing how valuable Jermaine is in the history of the Seahawks, it speaks for itself that Kippy recognized who Jermaine was not only as a player, but as a person in the locker room, as part of our culture. That's one example of the person Kippy was and how important he was to our team."
Brown also had a way with words that could both get a laugh out of his players and also drive home an important message.
"He had all these one-liners and this wisdom about him that was just so palpable," Baldwin said. "He would always joke with us and talk about how hard-headed we were and how difficult it was to have players from all over the country and different colleges. He would always make fun of Ricardo and I, saying how much alike we were, but he would say, 'You know how hard it is to coach a player out of Stanford who thinks he knows every (expletive) thing? Then I got this guy from Fort Valley State who don't know s--t.' Just the way he would joke around with us, but he would always build us up in a very grounded way."
One of Baldwin's favorite Kippy Brown lines was when he told players, "'If I tell you a duck can pull a truck, don't ask me how, just hook the mother(expletive) up.' It was basically him telling us, 'I've got your best interests in mind, trust me.' And that always held to be true.
"Kippy was always so fond of us, he loved on us so much. I'm just grateful for that experience, it's something I carry with me to this day, and something I'm sharing with my children, and my future grandchildren if I'm blessed to have them, and all the young folks that I have the opportunity to be around. There's a lot of wisdom and love that Kip showed me that I get to model now for younger folks that I get to be around. I'm very grateful for his example as a man."
