Former Pike Road HS coach Browning leaves Greenville for ASU gig
Patrick Browning coached four years at Pike Road High School, leading the Patriots to a state title in 2021. After one season at Greenville, he has left to take a coaching position at Alabama State University. (File Photo)
By TIM GAYLE
Greenville High football coach Patrick Browning announced his resignation from the position on Friday morning, accepting a position at Alabama State University as a passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Hornets.
Browning had served as the Pike Road football coach since its inception before leaving last season for Greenville, where he coached the Tigers to a 1-9 season.
Browning said he was contacted about the possibility of joining the Hornets’ coaching staff and was appreciative of the opportunity to return to coaching at the collegiate level.
“I think it’s going to be fun,” he said. “They thought I would be a good fit for what they are wanting to accomplish. I like the direction everything is going at Alabama State and I think it’ll be a good fit and an opportunity to grow as a coach.”
Browning spent 15 of his previous 16 years as a high school coach, including four years at Dadeville (2011-13, 2015) and six at Pike Road (2016-2021), where he coached the Patriots to the 2021 Class 5A state championship.
While he earned a reputation for his innovative offense and quarterback development at Dadeville, he excelled at Pike Road, building a team from scratch into a championship contender in four years.
He built the program at the junior varsity ranks in 2016 and 2017, then launched the program at the varsity level in 2016. Pike Road won its first five games before dropping five of its final six games in its inaugural year. Browning would go on to win the next 29 regular-season games at the school, going undefeated in the regular season in his final three years as a coach.
He left for another challenge at Greenville and went through a 1-9 season, beating Park Crossing in the 2022 season opener before dropping the final nine games. He praised the efforts of Butler County school superintendent Joseph Eiland and Greenville High principal Jamie Howard and noted “the support they have given me since I have been here has been incredible.”
“I feel the administration and everybody involved here has been great,” Browning said. “We started mostly freshmen and sophomores last year. We had a clear vision of what we wanted to accomplish from a program standpoint and I feel like everything is moving in the right direction. It’s really hard to win football games when you’re establishing a weight program and starting 14- and 15-year-old kids. But all of those kids are coming back. We’re only graduating four seniors.
“There’s a brand new stadium being constructed that’s going to be one of the best in the state, so while I’m not going to get to see all the fruits of their labor, there is a ton of seeds that have been planted that are starting to grow.”
At Alabama State, Browning will be in charge of developing Auburn transfer Dematrius Davis, a sophomore in 2023, as well as juniors Myles Crawley and Joe Owens and freshman signee Jordan Simpson.
It will be Browning’s second stint in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. In 2014, he served as the quarterbacks coach at Prairie View A&M, coaching the talented Jerry Lovelocke. Prairie View opened the season with four consecutive losses before bouncing back to win five of its final six games as Lovelocke rushed for 10 touchdowns and threw for 16 more.
“It’s always been an athletic conference, but I think it’s gotten even more athletic with the transfer portal,” Browning said. “The quality of athletes has gotten even better. I’m anxious to get in there and see how the game-planning is different than before. Of course, I was just a position coach before. Having more involvement this time in the offense is really what piqued my interest.”