Former Rams coach Thomas Brown initially doubted Aaron Donald’s greatness

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Thomas Brown is finally getting his chance to be an offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers after spending the past three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic recently released an intriguing podcast series called “The Playcallers” and in the third episode, Brown recounted his first impressions of Aaron Donald.

“I remember I was a coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes. They would ask us to give advice to our future pro guys on what to prepare and how to prepare, what to expect at the next level,” Brown said. . “So they go on about Aaron Donald and his process, how relentless he is, and how good he is. And I’m like, ‘I’ve been around first-round defensive linemen and he’s good, but he’s not can be that good.’ I played with Geno Atkins, you mentioned Charles (Johnson) before, I played with some big-time dudes, I played with David Pollack, and I’ve seen elite players before.”

Before beginning his coaching career in 2011, Brown played college football at Georgia and was drafted in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons. Brown played with many great players during his time at Georgia, and was in the NFL for three years with the Falcons and Cleveland Browns.

After starting as a strength and conditioning coach at Georgia in 2011, he bounced around multiple programs. He would be the offensive coordinator of the Miami Hurricanes from 2016 to 2018 before joining Sean McVay’s staff in 2020.

“So I got there in 2020, first offseason, so I was sitting in our staff meeting and we were working on the offense. And Sean (McVay) kept going on about AD and I was like, ‘Man, this is crazy. , everyone keeps talking about this guy like he’s unstoppable.’ I’m skeptical, not gonna lie, I’m skeptical. Like you mentioned, some of these matchups because obviously, Brandon (Staley) and I were together in 2020 in training camp. I’ve heard about how good offensively that line and the success that we had, and every day in practice, this guy didn’t get blocked. He made every play and so I went back to Sean and said, ‘Listen, you didn’t sell this cat. He’s better than everyone said.’”

Since entering the NFL in 2014, Donald has been a dominant force that opposing teams hate to game plan. The All-Pro interior defender is entering his 10th season in the NFL, and he is considered by many to be a lock to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he retires.

Although Brown was skeptical of Donald’s talents at first, he was swept by the three-time Defensive Player of the Year early in his tenure with the Rams.

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