Cliff Brown is entering his 35th year as the head coach of the Newman men’s soccer program in 2022-23.
Brown has compiled an overall record of 287-305-40 in his time with the Jets, which encompasses all but the first four years of the program. That includes a 211-168-19 mark in 20 years of play in the NAIA, where his teams earned three NAIA national tournament appearances, three regional titles, seven conference championships, six conference tournament championships, and the 1988 District 10 championship. Newman has a 67-131-20 record since moving to NCAA Division II, and a 36-62-11 mark in 10 seasons of play in the Heartland Conference.
Individual accolades have also been plenty under Brown, who has seen the Jets produce eight first-team all-district players, 63 first-team all-conference performers, 28 first-team all-region honors, 10 All-Americans, nine conference Players of the Year and two regional Players of the Year. Overall in the Heartland, Newman has seen 35 players achieve all-conference, including two Freshmen of the Year and a Defensive Player of the Year, 17 athletes achieve all-region, and seven be named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team. Brown himself earned four Coach of the Year awards in the Midlands Collegiate Athletics Conference.
Newman saw a sharp turnaround between 2014 and 2016 under Brown. Although the Jets turned in three top-four finishes in the Heartland in their first six years, they went 33-17-5 overall from 2014-16, including 18-10-2 in conference play, reaching the postseason tournament all three seasons. The double-digit wins in the three seasons makes for 15 in his career.
His coaching success follows a successful collegiate and professional playing career. Brown played goalkeeper at the University of Washington where he earned four letters from 1974-77 as a part of a team that went 60-12-3 over that span. He earned team MVP, all-conference, and All-America awards in 1977, when he posted a goals against average of 0.66, which still stands as the eighth-best mark in Huskie history.
Brown was drafted by the Seattle Sounders of the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1978, then joined the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) for stints with the Cleveland Force, Wichita Wings, Tacoma Stars, and Kansas City Comets. He also played for the Toledo Pride (AISA) and the Tulsa Ambush (NPSL) as well as with the Wichita Blue and the Oklahoma City Slickers of the United Soccer League (USL). Brown has also coached professionally with the Ft. Wayne Flames (AISA), Toledo Pride, and the Shreveport-Bossier Lions (USL D-3).
