Notre Dame expected to hire away Wisconsin wide receivers coach Mike Brown, per report

Notre Dame is expected to hire Wisconsin receivers coach Mike Brown, according to a report from Matt Zenitz of 247 Sports. Brown spent just one season with the Badgers in 2023, helping guide them to a 7-5 record.

He is set to replace Chansi Stuckey, who was fired as the Fighting Irish’s receivers coach this past week after two seasons. Notre Dame did not get the production it expected out of its wideouts under Stuckey, as no receiver reached the 500-yard mark this season.

Brown spent the past five seasons working under coach Luke Fickell, following him from Cincinnati to Wisconsin in the 2022 offseason. He helped the Bearcats to become the first Group of 5 team to ever reach the College Football Playoff in 2021, coaching second team All-ACC selection Alec Pierce. Pierce finished with 52 catches for 884 yards and eight touchdowns that season, going on to be a second-round selection in the NFL Draft.

Cincinnati’s offense set program records for touchdowns (70) and points scored (516) while ranking ninth nationally in yards per play (6.7) in 2021. That led to Brown to take on the role of passing game coordinator in 2022, helping the Bearcats to average 242.7 air yards per game.

In addition to receivers coach at Wisconsin, Brown also served as the associate head coach.

Brown played college football at Liberty from 2008-11, helping the Flames to three conference titles in that span. He signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2012 as an undrafted free agent. He spent three seasons with the team, coming away with 39 career catches for 534 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Brown retired from the NFL in 2015 and got his start in coaching as an offensive analyst at Michigan in 2016. He went on to serve as running backs coach for Delaware in 2017 before returning to his alma mater as running backs coach in 2018.

It’s unclear at this point whether Mike Brown will join the Notre Dame staff in time for their bowl game. The Fighting Irish are set to take on Oregon State in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 29 after finishing 9-3 this season.

So far in two seasons as the Notre Dame head coach, Marcus Freeman has a respectable record of 18-7. He will hope that adding an experienced name like Brown to his staff can help the Fighting Irish break through to the next level.