The wife of former UMass head coach Don Brown has blasted the school’s decision to fire her husband after pointing to its astonishing lack of NIL money compared to other teams.
Brown was fired by UMass earlier this week after going 6-28 in his second stint as head coach, having previously taken charge from 2004 to 2008. He also spent time as a defensive coordinator for the Minutemen from 1998 to 1999.
Saturday’s 35-34 loss to the Liberty Flames proved the final straw, with the school announcing they had parted company with the 69-year-old on Monday.
Yet while he departs with a poor 2-8 record this season, Brown’s wife Deborah has fumed that her husband was actually performing miracles with the roster at his disposal after claiming UMass’s roster falls well below the NIL value of its rivals.
She wrote on X: ‘The combination of NIL money of the teams UMass played this season is a combined $48,798,653 million dollars to our $36,000. And we played how many teams so close?!’
One user replied: ‘360K did you mean? Has to be more than 36K.’
Ex-UMass HC Don Brown’s wife claims he was working miracles with the roster at his disposal
Deborah Brown spoke out in defense of her husband, who was fired by UMass on Monday
But Deborah confirmed: ‘Correct amount !’
Other fans were left in disbelief after the NIL revelation, with one writing: ‘Yeah that was a impossible situation’.
Another said: ‘NIL in its current form is ruining college athletics… UMass will always be UMass and never win anything meaningful… but this disparity is just gross’.
While one simply posted: ‘Coach Brown is a wizard!!’
Brown has over 40 years’ coaching experience in college football after taking his first job as a defensive coordinator for Mansfield back in 1983.
He previously served as a DC under Jim Harbaugh – now head coach of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers – for five seasons at Michigan.
