{"id":701145,"date":"2026-01-24T09:31:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T09:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/701145\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T09:31:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T09:31:13","slug":"former-georgia-rb-named-as-nfl-head-coach-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/701145\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Georgia RB named as NFL head coach candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Updated Jan. 23, 2026, 6:27 p.m. ET<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Former <a href=\"\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Georgia Bulldogs<\/a> running back Thomas Brown is a candidate to be the <a href=\"https:\/\/cardswire.usatoday.com\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Arizona Cardinals&#8217;<\/a> next coach. Brown is in the middle of a playoff run with the New England Patriots, who are playing the Denver Broncos in the AFC championship on Sunday with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Brown has served as the Patriots&#8217; passing game coordinator and tight ends coach. He has helped New England quarterback Drake Maye have a breakout season under first-year coach Mike Vrabel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Brown served as the Chicago Bears&#8217; passing game coordinator, offensive coordinator and then interim coach in 2024. The Bears elected to move on from Brown after <a href=\"http:\/\/ugawire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/college\/bulldogs\/football\/2025\/01\/24\/chicago-bears-georgia-football-running-back-thomas-brown\/77923993007\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">hiring Ben Johnson as their coach<\/a> last January.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The Patriots&#8217; assistant was also considered for the Los Angeles Chargers&#8217; offensive coordinator role. However, the Chargers are expected to hire former Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"gnt_em_img_i\" style=\"height:440px\" fetchpriority=\"high\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/78007050007-31-94345.jpeg\" data-gl- decoding=\"async\" alt=\"CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - AUGUST 25: Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown looks on during the first quarter of a preseason game against the Detroit Lions at Bank of America Stadium on August 25, 2023 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">At this time, it appears Brown is focusing on AFC championship game preparations and would consider interviewing for the Cardinals&#8217; job after Sunday. Arizona does not have the league&#8217;s most attractive coaching vacancy because of the Cardinals&#8217; quarterback situation with Kyler Murray and the difficulty of playing in the NFC West.<\/p>\n<p>Need a news break? <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":body nav (play)|e|auto spike click:5|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_sp_a\" href=\"https:\/\/play.usatoday.com\/?itm_source=SPIKE&amp;itm_campaign=PLAYSPIKE&amp;itm_medium=ONSITE\">Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Brown served as an <a href=\"http:\/\/ugawire.usatoday.com\/2023\/01\/19\/former-georgia-bulldog-thomas-brown-interviews-texans-head-coach-role\/\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">offensive assistant with the Los Angeles Rams<\/a> under Sean McVay before serving as the Carolina Panthers&#8217; offensive coordinator in 2023. Brown is highly respected across the league. Brown rushed for 2,646 yards and 23 touchdowns in his <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/ncaaf\/teams\/georgia-bulldogs\/3473\/\" data-autotag=\"3248d159-97eb-4f61-bd09-3a6f38114d58\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Georgia<\/a> career from 2004-2007.<\/p>\n<p>Brown named as Arizona Cardinals head coach candidate<img class=\"gnt_em_cp_cw_i\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769247073_92_88267156007-2185633497.jpg\" data-gl- decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Follow UGA Wire on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ugawire\/\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.threads.com\/@ugawire\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Threads<\/a> for more college football coverage!<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated Jan. 23, 2026, 6:27 p.m. ET Former Georgia Bulldogs running back Thomas Brown is a candidate to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[95878,375,390,2604,1327,7,6,99667,96358,95882,95887,96027,96127,98588,96853,95899,96099,96100,96071,95884,95883,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-701145","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-cardinals","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-arizona-cardinals","11":"tag-arizonacardinals","12":"tag-cardinals","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sstssportscollegebulldogsfootball","16":"tag-sstsnfootball","17":"tag-tagamerican-football","18":"tag-tagamerican-football-conference","19":"tag-tagcollege-sports","20":"tag-tagdrake-maye","21":"tag-taggeorgia-bulldogs-football","22":"tag-tagmike-vrabel","23":"tag-tagoverall-neutral","24":"tag-tagsec-conference-football","25":"tag-tagsec-hub","26":"tag-tagsmg-timely","27":"tag-tagsports-coaching-training","28":"tag-tagsports-news","29":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115949383571668652","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}