Longtime Maiden head football coach and NCHSAA Hall of Fame member, Tom Brown, passed away earlier this week. Brown was one of the state’s most successful football coaches at the high school level after coming to the state from his home in Pennsylvania to attend Lenoir-Rhyne College.
He compiled a brilliant record as a head football coach, winning a total of 330 games in 35 seasons at Maiden High School, which was a state record for most wins by a football coach at a single school until it was surpassed by Murphy’s David Gentry about four years ago. Brown’s 330 wins is still second all-time for a coach at a single school in the state.
Brown also spent a few years at Bunker Hill as head football coach. Between the two programs, he posted a 352-132-7 record. He coached in all of North Carolina’s major all-star games, including serving as the head coach of the North Carolina squad in the 2000 edition of the Shrine Bowl. He also served as an assistant in the 1995 Shrine Bowl game.
Brown is a member of the Lenoir-Rhyne Sports Hall of Fame and the Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame. He joined the NCHSAA Hall of Fame when he was inducted with the class of 2010. The stadium at Maiden was named in his honor in 2000.
The funeral service for Coach Brown will be Monday, March 1st at Living Word Church in Maiden. The family will receive friends from 4:00-7:00 PM at the church before a joint service at 7:30 PM to celebrate the life of both Tom and Barbara Brown.
