Emmanuel “Jay” Brown has a long and successful history coaching football at the collegiate level and in Texas high schools, including the last six years as an assistant coach for the Nacogdoches Dragons.
On Thursday, Brown was named head football coach and athletic director at NHS.
“I want us to win, and I want us to have incredible success with all of our athletic teams,” Superintendent Grey Burton said. “And I can remember when our teams did great things – it wasn’t that long ago.
“But it’s just as important to do things the right way. We want our students who participate in athletics to learn what it means to give great effort, what it means to be a great teammate and what it means to prepare properly for competition. That’s what we wanted to find in a head football coach and athletic director, and that’s exactly what we will have with Coach Brown.”
Brown was head coach and athletic director at Palestine High School in 2014 and 2015. He was also head football coach and athletic director from 2002 to 2009 at Texas College, helping revive the NAIA program in Tyler after the school took a 40-year hiatus from the sport. The Steers won two conference championships during Brown’s tenure.
“I’m honored and grateful for the opportunity to lead this athletic program. It has been a private desire of mine for quite some time to be a head coach at a top school district,” Brown said. “It’s also a wonderful opportunity. We have great students and great staff at Nacogdoches High School, and the chance to do great things in each sport.
“My goal is to establish a culture of winning in everything we do. And we’re going to do it the right way. Athletics is all part of the education process. Our players can be taught what it means to prepare properly, give 100 percent effort, take care of their assignment, and support their teammates, all things that translate well not only to the classroom, but their future job opportunities.”
In addition to Texas College, Brown’s other college coaching experience includes stops at Mississippi Valley State University (defensive coordinator/assistant head coach and special teams coordinator), New Mexico State University (running backs and defensive line), and as a graduate assistant coach at Stephen F. Austin State University, his alma mater.
Brown was the defensive coordinator at Henderson High School from 2011 to 2013 and was on staff when the Lions won a state title in 2010. He also has stops at Denton Ryan High School, Tyler High School and Oak Ridge High School in Conroe.
Brown came to Nacogdoches in 2019 and has twice served as interim head coach. During his stay at NHS, Brown has been defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator for the Dragons.
In 2024, he added head track coach to his assignment. Last spring, Brown coached Dragons high jumper Micah Lockett, the Texas State High School Indoor Champion and Outdoor Champion and the current national leader and school record holder.