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Notre Dame analyst Dre Brown earns praise: ‘His football mind is unreal’

photos -jpgby:Ashton Pollard•04/08/22•

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Offensive analyst Dre Brown (far right) joined the Notre Dame staff last summer. (Photo: Danny O'Neil/@danny_oneil18)

Notre Dame offensive analyst Dre Brown is one of the biggest up-and-coming minds in college football — both in coaching and recruiting — and on Friday, he received a shout out for it.

“We’ve visited about 40 D1 schools in the last year,” the tweet from C3 Elite National 7 on 7 reads. “Dre Brown is already one of the best recruiters in college football! And his football mind is unreal! Thank you for hosting some of our guys!”

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In the photo with Brown are three recruits in the 2024 class: Gulf Breeze (Fla.) Navarre linebacker Zavier Hamilton, Indianapolis (Ind.) Cathedral quarterback Danny O’Neil and Hannibal (Mo.) High athlete Aneyas Williams. The three sophomores play for the C3 Elite National 7 on 7 team, and Hamilton is the only one who currently has a Notre Dame offer. O’Neil and Williams are on Notre Dame’s radar for potential offers.

Dwayne Carter, brother of former North Carolina and current New York Jets running back Michael Carter, sent out the tweet. He played running back at Harding University in Searcy, Ark. Like Hamilton, he played high school football at Navarre.

More on Brown, his impact at Notre Dame

Brown arrived at Notre Dame in July 2021 after six months at Tennessee as the football recruiting coordinator. He is a Midwest native originally from just over an hour west of Chicago in DeKalb, Ill. and played running back at Illinois. 

He served as the Irish’s offensive director of recruiting last season, and while he moved into an analyst role this season, he still plays a large role in recruiting. Prospects such as 2023 running back commit Sedrick Irvin Jr. and 2023 receiver target Malik Elzy have developed a very close relationship with Brown and speak very highly of him. 

“He’s always showing love,” Elzy, a Chicago native, said of Brown. “That’s my guy. As soon as I got the Notre Dame offer, he was the one I was talking to. He’s been the main coach talking to me ever since they started recruiting me.”

With the current team, Brown has a hand in running back coaching. 

“Brown is a rising star in the coaching and recruiting profession,” Blue & Gold’s Mike Singer said. “I believe that it’s just a matter of time before he lands a job coaching running backs at an FBS school, and his background in the Notre Dame recruiting office will allow him to add a recruiting coordinator tag, too.”

A tumultuous Illinois career ends on a high note

After ACL injuries hampered Brown during his freshman and sophomore seasons, the 5-11, 210-pound running back got back on his feet in 2017 and had a very productive Illinois career. 

As a senior, Brown led the team in all-purpose yards and was the Big Ten’s top kick returner, per Pro Football Focus. He ultimately earned All-Big Ten third team kick returner (coaches) and All-Big Ten honorable mention kick returner (media) after averaging more than 25 yards per return. Brown was also a finalist for the Campbell Trophy, otherwise known as the “academic Heisman.” Finally, his teammates named him Illinois’ offensive MVP that season.

Brown finished his career for the Illini with 162 carries for 902 yards (5.6 yards per carry) and seven touchdowns. He also caught 11 passes for 90 yards. 

The Illinois native graduated with an undergraduate degree in Recreation Sports and Tourism in 2018 and earned a master’s degree from Illinois as well in Business, Management, Marketing and Related Support Services in 2020. After he graduated with the second degree, he briefly worked as a commercial banking analyst before re-entering the college sports world.

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