Buddy Teevens, the Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach at Dartmouth College, today announced the hiring of Callie Brownson to be the offensive quality control coach for the Big Green. With the hiring, Brownson becomes the first known full-time female football coach at the Division I level.
“Callie is as good as anyone I’ve ever had in terms of her skill set, preparedness, attention to detail and passion,” Teevens said. “Players came up to me after a few days of preseason wondering if I would consider hiring her. She is a forward-thinking individual, very broad-minded. We had an opening, the preseason was kind of like a tryout and she excelled — on and off the field — every day.”
Brownson originally came to Teevens’ attention at the Manning Passing Academy where she served as one of the 16 female coaches for the first women’s clinic held at the prestigious camp. In that short period of time, she made a strong impression on Teevens, so much so that he invited her along with Chenell “Soho” Tillman-Brooks to come to Hanover for a two-week internship during the preseason. The idea was to have them take part in all of the team activities, from meetings on the recruiting process, strength and conditioning, practice and game planning, and film evaluation, as well as staff meetings and personnel discussions to learn the ins and outs of being a collegiate coach while also exposing them to the technology and safety regimen the Big Green utilize.
Hailing from Alexandria, Virginia, Brownson has quite the football background as a player on the D.C. Divas from 2010-17 in the Women’s Football Alliance. She was a five-time team captain and four-time All-American as a free safety and a running back, helping the Divas win national titles in 2015 and ’16. Brownson is also a two-time gold medalist (Finland in 2013, Vancouver in 2017) with Team USA Women’s Football. Her coaching background extends to the high school level as she spent three falls with Mount Vernon High (where she went to school) as an assistant coach, and last summer was a college/professional personnel scouting intern with the New York Jets.
During her internship with the Jets, she helped evaluate current college upperclassmen that could potentially enter the draft, broke down film and set up workout drills for free agent tryouts, among many other duties. At Mount Vernon High, she created daily practice itineraries, built scouting reports and led film study and breakdown sessions for schematic assessments. Brownson earned her bachelor’s degree in sport management from George Mason University in 2015.
“I am extremely grateful to Coach Teevens and the Dartmouth football program for this opportunity to join the staff this season,” Brownson said. “The preseason alone has been an incredible experience, but now I look forward to learning and growing in the game of football with this great group of coaches and players throughout the year.”
As the offensive quality control coach, Brownson will not be able to instruct the student-athletes on the field, but she will have a presence on the field during practices. She will support and help organize drills, provide offensive and defensive looks to give context, and offer feedback to the staff.
“This is an entry-level position, but we are getting an individual with tremendous experience and knowledge to fill the post,” Teevens said. “She brings a different perspective, but she is a coach who happens to be a female as opposed to a woman who is trying to coach. That distinction became very apparent to my players and coaches. We’ve hired a coach who will better our football program.”