Football: Brattan Named Offensive Line Coach
12/20/2000 7:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 20, 2000
COLLEGE PARK, Md - University of Maryland head football coach Ralph Friedgen announced today the hiring of Tom Brattan as offensive line coach.
Brattan is the eighth assistant named to the Terrapin staff since Friedgen's hiring on November 29. The other hirees are offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe, defensive coordinator/secondary coach Gary Blackney, special teams coordinator Ray Rychleski, defensive tackles coach Dave Sollazzo and linebackers coach Rod Sharpless. Running backs coach/recruiting coordinator Mike Locksley and wide receivers coach James Franklin were retained from the previous staff.
The Newark, Del., native was most recently employed at Stanford where he served as offensive line coach (centers and guards) for the past two years. Prior to his tenure in Palo Alto, he worked for seven years as an assistant head coach (1997-98) and offensive line coach (1992-98) at Northwestern.
"Tom Brattan is one of the outstanding line coaches in the country," said Friedgen. "He developed lines at Northwestern and Stanford that played in the Rose Bowl. He is a native of Delaware who has coached high school football in Virginia and knows that state very well. I anticipate him doing a great job of recruiting in that area."
The following is an updated bio on the latest addition to the Terrapin coaching staff:
TOM BRATTAN
(Delaware, `72)
Offensive Line
Pronunciation: rhymes with latin
Tom Brattan begins his first season in College Park as the Terps' offensive line coach. He comes to Maryland with 29 years of coaching experience, including 19 at the collegiate level. He served his last two years at Stanford University as the Cardinal's offensive line coach in charge of centers and guards.
Of the two years Brattan spent with the Cardinal, 1999 was the team's brightest. Stanford went 8-4 that season and had wins over Arizona, UCLA, Oregon State and Notre Dame on the way to a Rose Bowl bid. The `99 Stanford offense scored at least 31 points in all but three games and hit the 50-point plateau three times. It averaged 37.2 points and 467.1 yards per game, and Brattan's offensive line allowed a paltry 15 sacks despite 385 passing attempts (an average of one sack for every 27 attempts).
In 1983, Brattan took his first job at the collegiate level at William & Mary as an offensive backfield coach. After just one season, he was promoted to offensive coordinator and served the remainder of his tenure (1984-91) in that capacity. He also worked with the offensive line at William & Mary. While Brattan was there, the Tribe took their play to new heights, advancing to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs three times. From 1986 to 1990, William & Mary earned national rankings in three seasons (No. 9 in 1986, No. 13 in 1989, No. 7 in 1990). The success was largely a product of Brattan's offensive design as his unit ranked in the top 20 in offense in 1985 and `86, while it had the top-rated attack in Division I-AA for the 1990 season and the sixth-best in `91.
Brattan took his success at the I-AA level to his next job, Northwestern, where he resided from 1992-98 as offensive line coach. In Brattan's first three years at the school, the Wildcats continued their struggle to regain their winning ways, pushing their streak of seasons without a winning mark to 23. Then in 1995, the Wildcats were in the national spotlight as they came seemingly out of nowhere to win the Big Ten championship for the first time in 47 years and advanced to the Rose Bowl where they ultimately fell to Southern California. They finished that season --despite the Rose Bowl loss -- ranked seventh in the nation with a 10-2 record. Brattan's offensive line played a huge role in the team's success as it allowed just eight sacks all year while helping propel Darnell Autry to a new school rushing record. As a team, Northwestern finished fifth nationally that season in rushing.
The Wildcats went on to post a combined 15-1 conference record 1995 and 1996, taking the Big Ten crown in both years after having won just five league games in the three years previous. In `96, they earned a bid to play Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl.
Brattan got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Delaware, in 1972. After one year in Newark, he took his first full-time coaching post at Highland Springs (Va.) High School as an offensive line coach. After three years (1973-75) at Highland Springs, he moved back to his home state and took his first head coaching job at McKean High School in 1977. He spent one year at McKean before moving back to Virginia and taking over as the head coach at Lloyd C. Bird High School. After serving at Bird in 1978, he returned to Highland Springs -- this time as a head coach -- for his final four years (1979-82) at the prep level. That final stint was a successful one, as he led HSHS to three district championships in his four years.
A native of Newark, Del., Brattan is a 1972 graduate of his hometown's University of Delaware where he earned his bachelor's degree in history and later earned his master's degree in education in 1977. He was a member of the Blue Hen football team and earned a varsity letter in 1971. He and his wife, Anne, have three children -- Kristen, Kate and Megan.
The Brattan File
Personal
Date of Birth: October 14, 1950
Hometown: Newark, Del.
Alma Mater: Delaware, `72
Coaching Experience
Stanford
1999-2000 Assistant Coach - Offensive Line (centers and guards)
Northwestern
1997-98 Assistant Head Coach
1992-98 Assistant Coach - Offensive Line
William & Mary
1984-91 Assistant Coach - Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line
1983 Assistant Coach - Offensive Backfield
Highland Springs (Va.) High School
1979-82 Head Coach
Lloyd C. Bird High School (Va.)
1978 Head Coach
McKean (Del.) High School
1977 Head Coach
Highland Springs (Va.) High School
1973-75 Assistant Coach - Offensive Line
Delaware
1972 Graduate Assistant
Transactions
College
Maryland (football) - Hired Tom Brattan, former Stanford assistant, as offensive line coach.
