Seabreeze hires Father Lopez's Pat Brown as next head coach

Ormond Beach Observer
Sports

After nearly a two month search, 40 applications and six qualified candidates, Seabreeze High School's varsity football team has its next head coach.

Former Father Lopez defensive coordinator Pat Brown was pegged to be the Sandcrabs' next head coach, according to Seabreeze Athletics Director Brad Montgomery.

His hiring comes after the resignation Troy Coke on Dec. 3. Coke went 6-24 in his three seasons as head coach. The Sandcrabs finished 1-9 this fall and missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.

The 30-year-old Brown joined Father Lopez's staff in 2017. With Brown in charge of the defense, the Green Wave advanced beyond the first round of the FHSAA playoffs for the first time since 1984. In addition, the team's defense surrendered 42 points per game before Brown's addition. They allowed 13.7 ppg when he took over as defensive coordinator.

Before beginning his coaching career, Brown was a wide receiver at Rutgers and Bethune-Cookman and played professionally in Canada and Germany. Brown caught 33 passes for 518 yards and four touchdowns during his college career, according to the NCAA’s statistical archives.

Brown has been in the area since 2010. He's also coached Pop Warner in Daytona Beach and Port Orange, which he said helped him understand the area's kids and and community.

This is Brown's first time as a varsity head coach. He'll also be the Sandcrabs' defensive coordinator. He's still interviewing coaches for his new staff.

"We're trying to turn the program around," he said. "Some of the things that were accepted by the previous regime are not going to be tolerated. I have one universal rule: Do what you're supposed to do when you're supposed to do it."

The biggest change, Brown said, is the work load he's going to expect his players and coaches.

"We coaches don't do this for the money. We put in a lot of time. The players are going to put in a lot of time," he said. "We're going to hold people accountable... . It's going to be the hardest they've ever worked in their lives, that's for sure."