Brown promoted to Executive Senior Associate AD at Texas
Austin – A veteran member of the Texas Athletics staff and former standout Longhorn student-athlete, Ricky Brown has been promoted to Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director, UT Vice President and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte announced on Monday. Brown is a proven, respected and experienced athletics staffer who Longhorn Nation also remembers well as the man who cleared the way for Ricky Williams’ record-setting Heisman Trophy-winning season in 1998.
“Ricky is such a valuable member of our staff, has steadily grown and expanded in his roles, and is someone who has truly earned this opportunity,” Del Conte said. “His wide-range of knowledge, skills and expertise, as well as his background as a student-athlete and working so closely with all of our tremendous Longhorn Letterwinners with the T-Association, gives him very unique insight and perspective. Ricky has worked with athletics and campus leadership on a number of very important initiatives in recent years, brings an enormous amount of Texas pride and spirit to this position and will be a valued voice in every discussion. He’ll be someone we’ll lean heavily on in this expanded role.”
In his new role, Brown will serve on the executive senior staff leadership team. He will lead and oversee operations, functions, events and communications related to the Texas Athletics Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program (DEIP), the 4EVER TEXAS program within Texas SAGE (Student-Athlete Growth and Education), as well as the T-Association.
“I am thankful to Chris Del Conte for his leadership and for this opportunity to serve on a very accomplished executive team,” Brown said. “UT gave me my first break as a student-athlete with a scholarship to play football and a chance to earn a degree from this great university. I’ve enjoyed every area I’ve been involved with and have so many unbelievable mentors and examples to follow and learn from over the years. I’m looking forward to building on that and taking the next step in serving the university and athletics department I love so much and am grateful to be a part of. I am humbled and excited for this expanded opportunity to work with and champion our incredible staff that supports our student-athletes. It’s a very talented and dedicated group that works tirelessly behind the scenes to prepare, train and develop our student-athletes to meet and exceed their goals academically, athletically and personally as they lay the ground work for their own successes at UT and beyond.”
Brown previously served as Associate Athletics Director for the T-Association where he led letterwinner engagement beginning with current student-athletes and continuing throughout their post-Texas lives. After a post-professional football career in wealth management, Brown initially returned to UT in September 2013 when he joined the Longhorn Foundation as a key leader in the establishment of philanthropic giving programs, which resulted in record endowments. He moved into a role with the T-Association in January 2016 and took over leadership of that area in March 2017.
As Longhorn student-athletes, Brown and Williams worked together in the Texas backfield for two seasons in 1997-98, with Brown clearing the lanes for Williams as his blocking fullback. Brown’s effort at the blocking-back position during those years played a critical part in Texas’ rushing attack, and paved the way for Williams to break the NCAA career rushing record, while also helping him garner several awards, including the 1997 and 1998 Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back and the 1998 Heisman Trophy. During Brown’s time at Texas, the Longhorns won the first-ever Big 12 Championship in 1996, the Cotton Bowl following the 1998 season and advanced to the Big 12 Championship in 1999. Brown lettered all four years (1996-99) at Texas, and the Longhorns finished the year ranked in the Top 25 in three of those four seasons. He played in 50 career games, including three bowl games (Fiesta Bowl and two Cotton Bowls), and started 30 of his final 32 contests. Brown cleared the way for three straight 1,000-yard rushers, including Williams’ UT-record 2,124-yard season (1998). He was the 1999 Team Co-Captain and was selected honorable mention All-Big 12 in 1998.
“Ricky’s remembered well as the powerful fullback who unselfishly and so effectively paved the path for Ricky Williams’ run to the Heisman Trophy,” Del Conte said. “It’s that same selfless attitude that makes him so successful as an athletics administrator. He’s truly a servant leader who puts the student-athletes first and foremost in everything he does. He will always be thinking of new and innovative ways to support our student-athletes and athletics community, and that’s why he’s a perfect fit for this position. We’re so excited to be adding him to our executive leadership team and looking forward to all he’ll bring to Texas Athletics in this new and expanded role.”
Brown graduated from UT with a degree in communications in 2000. Following a successful playing career at Texas, he spent time in the NFL and NFL Europe, signing with the Cincinnati Bengals as a free agent and earning a spot on the team’s practice squad in 2000. Shortly after his first season with the Bengals ended, he traveled to Europe to play in the NFL Europe league in an effort to gain more experience. Unfortunately, he sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during his first season there, eventually retired from football and embarked on a career in business. In 2005, he returned to school to continue his education and went on to earn an MBA in finance from SMU in 2007.
During his time at SMU, he worked as a summer intern for JPMorgan in New York City in 2006 and focused on asset and wealth management. That experience led to a full-time offer with the company after he graduated, where he remained until 2009. He returned to Texas in January 2009, managing wealth in Fort Worth until joining the UT staff in 2013.
Since 2016, Brown has also served as the Executive Director of the Greater Austin Chapter of the National Football Foundation. He is a Texas Exes Lifetime Member, as well as a member of the T-Association, Management and Leadership for Tomorrow, and SMU’s Cox Business School Alumni Association. Has served as the director of the Dallas Longhorn Club (2011, 2012) and the City of Arlington Environmental Commission (2010) and volunteered time with the Big Brothers, Big Sisters Board of Tarrant County (2009-13) for several years.
A native of Arlington, Texas, and an Arlington High School graduate, Brown and his wife, Nora, have a son, “Trey” (Richard Brown III).
