Watkins Mill gained a new head coach of the football team, one who has boosted spirits and given us reason to look to the stars… or was he welcomed back?

Coach Michael Brown is an alumni of The Mill and attended from 1994-97. Back then it wasn’t as diverse however, “[It] was about 70 percent Caucasian, 25 percent African-American and five percent other,” Brown said.

“It was, and still is a great school… lots of school spirit,” Brown said. “The only thing to change was when kids skipped, they actually left the school, now they just roam the hallways,” he added with a reminiscent chuckle.

After graduating from WMHS in 1997, he attended Montgomery College for two years before receiving a full ride scholarship to Charleston Southern University. From there he went on to play professional arena football for ten years, even winning an ArenaBowl with the Philadelphia Soul in 2008.

After serving seven years on the player side of the AFL, Coach Brown became the defensive coordinator for the Utah Blaze for two years before becoming the head coach for the newly created Philadelphia Yellow Jackets.

After all the professional success, Brown found he had a choice to make. He could move to Las Vegas, Nevada or return back home to Maryland. He chose the later to be “here with my friends and family,” Brown said.

Once here, Brown needed to find a new career, so he began searching. “I knew I wanted to be a para-educator, I [also] wanted to coach football and [physical education teacher] Kevin Watson hired me,” Brown said, and thus began his legacy.

“I really didn’t know how much I was going to enjoy the job here. I really enjoy the positive impact [I have on the kids],” Brown said. “I live in East Village so this is my community…. You care a lot more about the kids when you see them at Giant and the mall.”

Although Brown’s dreams of playing in the NFL were never realized, he is at home here with the Wolverines. He still, however, had numerous achievements in the AFL even winning the Al Lucas Hero Award

“It was awesome, like majoring in PE. If you can be paid for your passion, do it,” Brown added.