Brown relishing his 'two-fold job assignment' at Senior Bowl

MOBILE, Ala. -- Grady Brown was really looking forward to some time away from the game at the end of the season.

But, the Steelers had an opportunity to send him to the Senior Bowl as defensive coordinator for the National Team and couldn't pass it up. It didn't take long to see why he was the one Art Rooney II, Omar Khan and Mike Tomlin wanted in Mobile for this event: He's a football junkie just like the head coach is a football junkie.

"I was just telling someone before, you go through a season and look forward to having some time off away from the game, be with your family and rest a little bit," Brown said after the National Team's practice at Hancock Whitney Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. "But honestly, it was fun to really get back at it, get back in the meeting room, have meetings, watch ball, coach ball and everything like that."

Now, Brown is fully invested in coaching up a defense that includes a number of names that could interest the Steelers in the earlier rounds of the draft. Brown may have just finished his first season as the defensive backs coach for the Steelers, but he has his eye on more than just one position this week.

Brown brings two decades of coaching experience with him where he's served as secondary coach, outside linebackers coach or defensive coordinator at several colleges, including Houston, McNeese State, Old Dominion, Louisville, Alabama State, Birmingham Southern, South Carolina, Southern Miss and Alabama State. He'll use that experience to coach up players that are doing everything they can to raise their draft stock.

One major thing that's different about this year's Senior Bowl is having the National and American coaching staffs comprised of assistant coaches from around the NFL, not just from one team. When Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy addressed the media Tuesday morning at the Mobile Convention Center, he was excited about the new experience for these players getting to have hands-on experience with coaches that already work at the level they're trying to get to.

The benefit works both ways.

"From all of us as assistant coaches, we're being evaluated right now the same as the players are being evaluated," Brown said. "So, we need to be able to put our best foot forward. I told the guys in the meetings that they'll get our best effort because it's job interviews for everybody at this point. I would think from a coaching standpoint, that's the biggest benefit."

The Steelers also have the added benefit of having assistant outside linebackers coach Denzel Martin in Mobile as well, who is serving as the linebackers coach under Brown. And for all of these assistant coaches, it's great for them to showcase what they can do in a bigger role than the jobs they have with their respective teams. For Brown, even with only one season as a positional coach at the NFL, it's a chance to move up the ladder down the road.

"I’m a step-by-step guy," Brown said. “So, 20-plus years of college experience, I’ve had opportunities to be a coordinator at the Division III level, the FCS level. It’s still the organization. It's still building the work week; how you build the play call. Making the transition to the NFL and learning the game, getting a better handle on the NFL game and the differences in Year 2, my talent to be a coordinator and lead men is still there, whether I lead the secondary, which is about 16 guys or so, or whether I lead a side of the defense. It's just the maturation process from a professional standpoint."

Of course, Brown isn't there as a favor from Tomlin to gain some valuable experience. This is a draft in which the Steelers have to address some of the less sexy positions on the field, including both sides of the trenches.

"I think Mike T is fond of me. I think I have a good relationship with Omar. I love the Rooneys. But, they did sent me here ... not for me," Brown laughed. "They did send me here to evaluate. I need to showcase my talents. I need to coach. But I need to evaluate, too. So it’s a two-fold job assignment for me."

Brown lauded the level of talent he worked with Tuesday afternoon, and not just from the secondary position. Of course, his word on cornerbacks will come quite valuable since that's a position of need for the Steelers in April, and that's a prime position for the Steelers since they sit No. 17 overall.

When talking about the players and coaching them up, two things really stood out: Taking the ball away and tackling.

"In our division, we have to tackle," Brown said. "Cleveland is going to make you tackle. Baltimore is going to make you tackle. You’ve got to tackle [Joe] Mixon. You’ve got to tackle all of those guys. It’s not just a cover situation in our defense, in our division. You have to be tough enough. You have to be a willing tackler. If you put on film that you won’t tackle, it’s going to be hard for you to play. You have to be a complete player for what we need."

While the NFL is still predominantly a passing league, there is a shift back towards the running game since the majority of defense are smaller and faster. Having cornerbacks that can be that "complete player" could pay off in the long run if the trend back towards running the football continues to develop.

While Brown won't get his hands on some of the top-tier cornerbacks in the draft, he'll get the chance to work with names such as Stanford's Kyu Blu Kelly, Illinois' Jartavius Martin and Maryland's Jakorian Bennett, who could be available in the middle rounds. That is what could turn a good draft into a great draft -- getting a much better feel for who may or may not fit into what the Steelers are looking for.

MORE FROM THE SENIOR BOWL...

• While they are not participating in actual coaching, Tomlin and Brian Flores are both in Mobile to observe the practices taking place this week. And, as you might have guessed, Tomlin isn't watching from afar.

Tomlin was zeroed in on the offensive line workouts for most of the afternoon, and really loved watch the one-on-ones between the offensive and defensive linemen.

• The talk around the stadium earlier in the day focused on Ohio State tackle Dawand Jones. Yes, he's the tackle in the video above. He also has the Senior Bowl record for the longest wingspan at 89.5 inches. He's also 6-8 and 350 pounds. He's currently projected to be a third-round pick.

• A couple names to watch from the onset of the draft process: Wisconsin's Keeanu Benton and Georgia Tech's Keion White. Benton is a space-eater that is best set for nose tackle with the possibility of playing in the Steelers sub-packages when they have two down linemen. Benton is 6-4 and 312 pounds, which gives him great size. The question with him will be his mobility. That's why he's projected more as a late second or third round pick.

White is an edge rusher, but has great size at 6-5 and 280 pounds. He has the quickness to play on the edges, but his combination of size and quickness could make the Steelers think about drafting him as more of a 3-4 defensive end rather than an outside linebacker. In other words: Cam Heyward, anyone?

• The Steelers could be looking locally for an inside linebacker in the later rounds of the draft. SirVocea Dennis had a pretty good performance on Day 1, including this rep: