FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Head Coach Mike Smith and the Falcons continued a flurry of assistant coach hires into Saturday afternoon, naming Ray Hamilton (defensive line), Gerald Brown (running backs) and Glenn Thomas (offensive quality control) to the coaching staff.
The trio of coaches join Mike Mularkey (offensive coordinator) and Terry Robiskie (wide receivers) as new additions to the Falcons staff. Smith brought Brian VanGorder, who coached linebackers last season before heading to South Carolina, back as defensive coordinator and decided to retain Emmitt Thomas as assistant head coach.
Hamilton spent the last five seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars as the defensive line coach under Smith. He guided the likes of defensive tackles Marcus Stroud and John Henderson who anchored a Jaguars defense that ranked second in the NFL in 2006 and fifth against the rush in the AFC last season. Stroud has started in three Pro Bowls while Henderson earned the honor in 2004 and 2006.
From 2001-2002, Hamilton was the defensive line coach for Cleveland as the Browns tied for fourth in the AFC with 43 sacks in his first season. Hamilton served his second stint with the New York Jets in 2000 after spending three seasons with the New England Patriots as the defensive line coach. In 1998, the Patriots defensive line tallied 25 of the team’s 36 sacks, which was the seventh-best total in the NFL.
He was the defensive line coach for the New York Jets (1995-1996) where he developed defensive end Hugh Douglas who earned 1995 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Honors. From 1993-1994 he was the defensive line coach for the Los Angeles Raiders where he guided a defensive front that combined for 83 sacks in his two seasons. Hamilton spent one season at the University of Tennessee (1992) following a campaign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1991. He started his coaching career in the NFL in 1985 and spent five seasons with the New England Patriots as an assistant defensive line coach. He helped the Patriots to their first AFC Championship title and a Super Bowl XX appearance in his first season.
Hamilton also played in the NFL for nine seasons with the Patriots.
Brown joins the Falcons from Indiana University, where he spent 2007 as the team's assistant head coach. He worked with Hoosier running backs for six seasons and also served as the team's co-special teams coordinator.
Indiana running backs averaged more than 1,500 yards per season during Brown's tenure and rushed for more than 2,000 yards as a team last season. Three running backs averaged more than four yards per carry in 2007, led by Kellan Lewis' 1,004 rushing yards (5-yard per carry average, nine touchdowns).
In 2003, BenJarvus Green-Ellis became the seventh true freshman in Indiana history to rush for 100 yards in a game and just the third freshman to top the 200-yard plateau in a single game. In 2006, Brown’s special teams unit totaled five touchdowns while Marcus Thigpen led the nation with a 30.1 kickoff return average with three touchdowns.
Before joining Indiana, Brown spent one season as the running backs coach with the Memphis Maniax of the XFL (2001) and coached Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam. Brown has 23 years of coaching experience including 10 seasons as an assistant coach with Smith at Tennessee Tech University. He got his coaching start at the University of Tennessee, where he began as a graduate assistant in 1983.
Brown's brother, Kippy, has coached in the NFL for 15 seasons and recently replaced Mike Martz as offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions.
Thomas graduated from Texas Tech University in 2001. He comes to the Falcons after finishing his fourth season as offensive coordinator at Midwestern State University (Texas). He coached wide receivers there from 2001 to 2003.
Midwestern went to the Division II playoffs for the first time in school history in Thomas' first season as coordinator. The next year the Mustangs ranked sixth in the nation averaging 497 yards per game (297 rushing yards per game). In 2007, the Mustangs finished the regular season as the best offense in Division II and second in the nation in scoring.
Thomas served four years as a student assistant at Texas Tech (1998-2001) and helped the Red Raiders reach two bowl games during his tenure. He then served as a graduate assistant for Midwestern State and was in charge of wide receivers from 2001-2003 while working as an intern in conjunction with the Baltimore Ravens from 2001-2005.
