Brian Norwood (born August 12, 1965) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach. He currently serves as defensive backs coach, assistant head coach, and defensive passing game coordinator at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. Prior to that, he most recently was the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach with

Navy Midshipmen football The Navy Midshipmen football team represents the United States Naval Academy in NCAA Division I Division I (NCAA)#Football Bowl Subdivision, FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) college football. The Naval Academy completed its final season as an NCA ...

. Previously, Norwood served as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach with

Bill Snyder William D. Snyder (born October 7, 1939) is an American retired college football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Kansas State University from 1989 to 2005 and again from 2009 to 2018. Snyder initially retired fro ...

Kansas State Wildcats football The Kansas State Wildcats football program (variously K-State or KSU) is the intercollegiate football program of the Kansas State University Wildcats. The program is classified in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and the tea ...

and Philip Montgomery at

Tulsa Golden Hurricane football The Tulsa Golden Hurricane football program represents the University of Tulsa in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. Tulsa has competed in the American Athletic Conference (The American) since the 2014 ...

. This was after holding the position of assistant head coach to

Art Briles Arthur Ray Briles (born December 3, 1955) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach for the Guelfi Firenze in the Italian Football League. Briles was the head coach of the Houston Cougars from 2002 to 2007 and the Baylor B ...

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

. Both Norwood and Briles served as assistants to Mike Leach at

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

in 2000. Norwood was also an assistant to

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

from 2001 to 2007. Norwood grew up in

Prince George's County, Maryland Prince George's County (often shortened to PG County or PG) is located in the U.S. state of Maryland bordering the eastern portion of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population was 967,201, making it ...

, where he attended

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

basketball camps and met then-coach John Thompson. With his father serving in the Air Force, his family moved to Hawaii in Norwood's sophomore year of high school. Norwood played cornerback and safety at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and graduated with a bachelor's degree in communication in 1988. In high school and college, he was best friends with Ken Niumatalolo, now the head coach who hired him at Navy. After college, Norwood worked for United Airlines for a year before playing football the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

with the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

. His football playing career came to an end when he was diagnosed with diabetes.

Family

Norwood and his wife, Tiffiney, met and started dating in high school in Hawaii. They have five children: Gabe, Jordan, Levi, Brianna and Zac. Norwood's son Gabe, was a member of the

George Mason Patriots men's basketball The George Mason Patriots men's basketball team represents George Mason University. The Patriots play at the EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia, on the George Mason campus. George Mason is coached by Tony Skinn. The Patriots have appeared six ti ...

team that advanced to the 2006 NCAA Final Four. He is currently playing for the

Rain or Shine Elasto Painters The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association owned by Asian Coatings Philippines, Inc. It debuted in the league in the 2006–07 PBA season after acquiring the franchise righ ...

in the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

and a current member of the

Philippine national basketball team The Philippines men's national basketball team (), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (Basketball Federation of the Philippines or s ...

. His second son,

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

, played

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and was a wide receiver for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

. His third son, Levi, was a receiver for Baylor University. His only daughter, Brianna, attended George Mason University, where she studied sports management and was on the dance team. Brianna worked for the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

during the 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons, meeting Nationals center fielder Michael A. Taylor, now her fiancé. His youngest son, Zac, played basketball for Midway High School in

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...

References

External links

Baylor profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norwood, Brian 1965 births Living people American football defensive backs Canadian football defensive backs Arizona Wildcats football coaches Baylor Bears football coaches Calgary Stampeders players Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players Kansas State Wildcats football coaches Navy Midshipmen football coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches Richmond Spiders football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches Players of American football from Portsmouth, Virginia African-American coaches of American football Admiral Arthur W. Radford High School alumni UCLA Bruins football coaches 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen