Ohio State alum and the NCAA’s winningest active coach stepping down after 36 years at helm of Buckeyes
 
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jim Brown, head coach of the Ohio State men’s golf team, is retiring at the end of the 2008-09 season, he and Gene Smith, Ohio State Director of Athletics, announced Monday. Brown, a 1966 Ohio State graduate, will coach his 36th season of Buckeye golf next season.

“I’ve been thinking about it the last few years,” Brown said. “I’ll be 65 years old and this will be my 42nd year as a coach and now is the time. I wanted to leave while the program was on the upswing. We had a good season and will be even better next year after gaining experience. I am excited to coach next year and watch the team play. I felt like it was the right time. I am grateful for my time here – I couldn’t ask for a better career at a better place. To be associated with this university, this team and Scarlet Course, it’s all been a dream come true.

“I would like to thank everyone who has helped build the program. All the athletics directors I have worked with have given me great resources and backing to make this program competitive, both in the Big Ten and the national scene. I also would like to thank all of the donors for endowing scholarships and the support of our Fairway Club, as well as the Phipps family for their support of the restoration of the Scarlet Course. For the players who chose to come to Ohio State, they are a special group and belong to a special fraternity. I want to thank those who chose to become Buckeyes and helped build and add to our golf tradition.”

“Jim Brown is a hall of fame coach,” Smith said. “He has touched the lives of hundreds and hundreds of Buckeye athletes. We are indebted to his services. Clearly, he is one of the best coaches in Ohio State history and we appreciate his commitment to being a Buckeye.”

Brown, a native of Martins Ferry, Ohio, has served as the head coach for the Buckeyes since 1974. He is currently the winningest active coach in the NCAA with a career record of 5,609-1,791-43 and 157 tournament victories. In his 35 seasons, Brown has led the Buckeyes to 31 NCAA appearances, including the NCAA Central Regional in 2008, and 11 Top 10 NCAA championship finishes. The Buckeyes won the national championship, the second in program history, in 1979. It was the first NCAA title for a northern school in nearly two decades.

“One of the highlights [of my career] would be the 1979 team and winning the NCAA championship,” Brown said. “Those are hard to get, like holes in one. To win one is something special.”

Under his guidance, Ohio State has won a league-record 17 Big Ten championships. The Buckeyes won the conference crown every season from 1976-90, except for 1981 and ’88 when they were runners-up. He has produced 93 All-Big Ten honorees, including second-team selections Kyle Coconis and Bo Hoag in 2007-08.

Individually, Brown has tutored an NCAA individual champion in Clark Burroughs (1985), 18 Big Ten medalists, 11 First Team All-America selections and 40 other All-America honorees. Chris Perry was named College Player of the Year in 1984 and Chris Smith earned both Big Ten Freshman of the Year (1988) and Player of the Year (1990) awards under Brown.

Brown’s student-athletes also have excelled in the classroom. The Buckeyes have received 11 All-America Scholar awards, 55 Academic All-Big Ten honors and 84 Ohio State Scholar-Athletes nods since the inception of both awards in 1987.

“Our team’s graduation rate has been excellent,” Brown said. “I believe there have only been five players to not graduate in their years of eligibility. I’m as proud of that as any tournament wins. I’ve always stressed the need to get an education.”

As a coach, Brown was named National Coach of the Year in 1979 and ’86, and District IV Coach of the Year in consecutive seasons from 1977-80 and again from 1982-87. He has earned Big Ten Coach of the Year laurels three times in 1995, ’96 and 2004. Brown has been inducted into several halls of fame, including Ohio Golf Association (2006), Ohio State Athletics (1991), Golf Coaches Association of America (1989), Ohio High School Golf Coaches (1994) and Martins Ferry High School (1972).

During his time as a Buckeye student-athlete, Brown played the No. 1 position on the golf team from 1963-65, serving as captain his senior year, and also lettered three seasons with the Ohio State basketball team. He began his coaching career in 1967 at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., as head golf coach and assistant basketball coach. Brown then took the head golf coach position at Kent State from 1968-73 before returning as the head coach for the men’s golf team at his alma mater in 1974.

“I have been a Buckeye my whole life and will continue to be one,” Brown said. “This job has been a dream come true. I have never come to work not excited to be here. It has been a labor of love. I have never felt like it was a job. It’s been exciting to be around the guys, they keep me young. To develop the guys and see how they succeed on the tours and in business, see pictures of their families, to have them call and check in. I’m proud of what they’ve done, here at Ohio State and after. I hope I’ve made a positive influence on their lives in someway.”