Former BSU football player, Fresno State coach Dan Brown dies of cancer

Dan Brown, who played on Boise State's 1980 I-AA national championship football team and went on to become an assistant coach with the Broncos, and most recently with Fresno State, died Friday night after a two-year battle with brain cancer.

He was 50.

Brown had been on Fresno State's staff the past 12 seasons, the last seven as defensive coordinator. He coached the past two seasons despite the cancer.

"We lost a great friend and a great family man," Fresno State head coach Pat Hill said. "Danny had been with me from the start. He had amazing faith through the sickness and it's so sad to see someone go generous and giving have to suffer so much. But he never once complained. He was an inspiration to anyone who ever had the privilege to meet him."

Brown and his wife, Mindy, have six children: Korissa, Tara, Larry, Eric, Travis, and Jordan, and two grandchildren. Brown was with his family when he died.

Brown graduated from Boise State in 1982. As a two-year letterman (1979-80) at Boise State as a linebacker, he played on teams that posted a combined record of 20-4. The Broncos won Big Sky Conference titles both years and captured the NCAA I-AA title in 1980, defeating Eastern Kentucky 31-29 in the championship game.

He transferred to Boise State from Mt. San Jacinto Community College, where he was an all-conference linebacker. He played at Norco (Calif.) High School, where he earned all-league, all-county and All-CIF honors as a linebacker.

Prior to joining the Fresno State coaching staff in 1997 as linebackers coach, he was an assistant coach at Boise State. He coached with the USFL Memphis franchise for two seasons and one season in the Canadian Football League. He held defensive coordinator positions at New Mexico and Portland State.

Under Brown, the Bulldogs have been the WAC's top defensive unit in two of the past five seasons, leading the conference in scoring and total defense. He was instrumental in making Fresno State a prominent program, reaching a bowl game in nine of the last 10 seasons.

This past season, Fresno State had two of the top defensive games in school history, holding New Mexico State to an all-time low of minus-9 rushing yards and the following week holding rival San Jose State to negative 5 rushing yards and delivering second-half shutouts in both games. Three young Bulldogs (sophomore linebacker Ben Jacobs, sophomore end Chris Carter and junior safety Moses Harris) were selected second-team All-WAC.

During Brown's time at Fresno State, he coached three players selected WAC Defensive Players of the Year: Alan Harper (2001), Garrett McIntyre (2005) and Marcus Riley (2007).