Tom Brattan Position: Assistant Coach - Offensive Line Experience: Eighth Year Alma Mater: Delaware '72

After coaching in the Big Ten and Pac-10, Tom Brattan has found a home with Maryland in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The veteran coach is in his eighth season as the Terps' offensive line coach. He boasts more than 35 years of coaching experience, including 26 at the collegiate level.

The Maryland offensive line has been one of the team's strengths since 2001, producing six first team All-Atlantic Coast Conference performers and a handful of other players honored by both the league and national media.

Last season, Andrew Crummey was tabbed a second-team All-American, while Scott Burley earned all-conference honors.

Over the last two seasons, Brattan's offensive line opened holes for two of the top backs in school history. Lance Ball completed his career last fall ranked fourth in school history in rushing yards and Keon Lattimore ended his tenure No. 14 on the career rushing list.

In 2006, two of Brattan's pupils earned accolades, as Crummey and Stephon Heyer were recognized as part of the All-ACC team. Heyer also earned a spot on ESPN.com's All-Bowl team for his performance in the Champs Sports Bowl vs. All-American and 2007 first-round NFL Draft choice Anthony Spencer of Purdue.

The 2006 unit allowed Ball and Lattimore to each rush for over 700 yards and yielded just 19 sacks, the second-lowest total in the ACC.

One year before that Brattan's players were also recognized for their superb efforts. In 2005, he mentored a first-year player in Jared Gaither to third team freshman All-America honors. Brattan also oversaw a young line to a season that helped Ball earn second team All-ACC recognition at tailback, all despite losing its top player (Heyer) prior to the season. The season was reminiscent of the 2003 campaign when an injury-plagued unit still produced the nation's 24th-best rushing offense, allowed just 20 sacks and had a first team All-ACC performer in C.J. Brooks.

In previous seasons, the Terp line had similar success. In 2002, Brattan had four of five linemen earn All-ACC recognition while the team had the league's second-rated rushing attack (198.8 ypg) and scoring offense (32.2 ppg) while allowing 21 sacks in 14 games.

In his first year (2001), the Terps averaged 35.5 points per game, allowed just 18 sacks and paved the way for a 1,242-yard season from Doak Walker finalist Bruce Perry. In doing so, Melvin Fowler earned All-ACC recognition en route to being drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round and Todd Wike earning a first team all-league nod.

Prior to coming to Maryland, Brattan spent two years (1999-00) at Stanford University, where he served as the Cardinal's line coach in charge of centers and guards. Stanford went 8-4 in 1999 and had wins over Arizona, UCLA, Oregon State and Notre Dame on the way to a Rose Bowl bid. The 1999 Stanford offense scored at least 31 points in all but three games and hit the 50-point plateau three times. That year, Brattan's offensive line allowed just 15 sacks despite 385 passing attempts (one sack for every 27 attempts).

Brattan took his first full-time job at the collegiate level at William & Mary in 1983 as an offensive backfield coach. After just one season, he was promoted to offensive coordinator and served the remainder of his tenure (1984-91) in that capacity. He also worked with the offensive line at William & Mary. In that time, the Tribe advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs on three occasions. From 1986 to 1990, William & Mary earned national rankings in three seasons (No. 9 in 1986; No. 13 in 1989; No. 7 in 1990). The success was largely a product of Brattan's offensive design as his unit ranked in the top 20 in offense in 1985 and 1986, while it had the top-rated attack in Division I-AA for the 1990 season and the sixth-best in `91.

Brattan took his success at the I-AA level to his next job, Northwestern, where he resided from 1992-98 as offensive line coach. In Brattan's first three years at the school, the Wildcats continued to struggle, pushing their streak of seasons without a winning mark to 23.

Then in 1995, the Wildcats were in the national spotlight as they came seemingly out of nowhere to win the Big Ten championship for the first time in 47 years and advance to the Rose Bowl where they ultimately fell to Southern California. They finished that season -- despite the Rose Bowl loss -- ranked seventh in the nation with a 10-2 record. Brattan's offensive line allowed just eight sacks all year while helping propel Darnell Autry to a new school rushing record. Northwestern finished fifth nationally in rushing.

The Wildcats went on to post a combined 15-1 conference record in 1995 and 1996, taking the Big Ten crown both years after having won just five league games in the previous three years. In 1996, they earned a bid to play Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl.

Brattan got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Delaware, in 1972. After one year in Newark, he took his first full-time coaching post at Highland Springs (Va.) High School as an offensive line coach. After three years (1973-75) at Highland Springs, he moved back to his home state and took his first head coaching job at McKean High School in 1977. He spent one year at McKean - the same high school that helped produce Maryland legend Randy White - before moving back to Virginia and taking over as the head coach at Lloyd C. Bird High School. After serving at Bird in 1978, he returned to Highland Springs -- this time as a head coach -- for his final four years (1979-82) at the prep level.

A native of Newark, Del., Brattan is a 1972 graduate of his hometown school where he earned his bachelor's degree in history and later earned his master's degree in education in 1977. He was a member of the Blue Hen football team and earned a varsity letter in 1971. He and his wife, Anne, have three children -- Kristen, Kate and Megan, a current Maryland student.

The Brattan File

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Coaching Experience

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