Brown, Paul Eugene, 1908–91, American football coach, b. Norwalk, Ohio, B.A., Miami Univ., 1925, M.A., Ohio State Univ., 1930. After coaching high school teams, he coached Ohio State (1941–44), winning a national championship in 1942. Drafted in 1944, he served as coach of the Great Lakes Naval Training Station Bluejackets. With the Cleveland team in the new All-America Football Conference (AAFC), which against his wishes was named the Browns, he won four consecutive championships (1946–49), after which the AAFC dissolved. The Browns joined the National Football League and won the 1950, 1954, and 1955 championships. Fired in 1963 after disputes with the team's owner, he was hired (1968) as coach and general manager of the Cincinnati Bengals of the American Football League (merged into the NFL in 1970). Brown retired in 1975, having initiated the use of a full-time coaching staff, new scouting techniques, extensive classroom study, and other innovations.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Sports: Biographies
