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Football
UMass Football Office
131 Commonwealth Ave 8 Boyden Gym Amherst, MA 01003   
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Crist, Brooks Named To UMass Football Coaching Staff
April 4, 2007 AMHERST, Mass. - UMass Head Coach Don Brown has announced the hiring of two new assistant football coaches for the 2007 season. Brian Crist returns to UMass for his second stint with the Minutemen, as the wide receivers coach. He worked at UMass from 1996-2001 and was on the staff during the 1998 National Championship season. Jason Brooks has been named the assistant defensive backs coach. Brooks is the son of Clarence Brooks, a former UMass player and coach, who is currently on the staff of the Baltimore Ravens. Crist comes back to UMass from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where he spent five seasons as the Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach (2002-2006). During his time with Louisiana-Lafayette, he helped coach his team to become the 2005 Sun Belt Conference Champions. He also aided in leading the Ragin' Cajuns to back-to-back six-win seasons, the first time in over 10 years for the team to do so. He coached the school's second all-time leading receiver in yards and receptions. He tutored three of the top seven leading receivers in school history as well as working with all-conference receivers in 2002, 2003, and 2004. He also coached one of only two 1000-yard receivers in the school's history and helped the team finish in the top 15 nationally in rushing offence in 2005 and 2006. Prior to ULL, Crist spent six seasons with UMass. He served in a variety of roles with the Minutemen in his first stint. He worked as an assistant working with the quarterbacks, wide receivers, tight ends, punters and kickoff return team. He was a part of the 1998 National Championship staff in working with he tight ends. At UMass, he coached three All-Americans and helped recruit two additional All-Americans. In 1998, Crist helped Kerry Taylor develop into one of the nation's top tight ends, with Taylor catching 74 passes for 854 yards and earning first team All-America honors. In 1999, Crist guided Sean Higgins to a season where he caught 51 passes for 615 yards and was named a first team All-American. Crist coached both wide receivers and tight ends during his first two seasons and helped revive the UMass passing game which ranked last in the nation in 1995. In 1996, his first season with the Minutemen, Crist molded a young corps of receivers who averaged 133.0 yards receiving per game, an increase of 89.1 yards over the previous year. Crist came to UMass after serving as a graduate assistant coach under Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech for two seasons (1994 and 1995). Crist spent the majority of his time working with the Hokie wide receivers and coaching the scout teams. He also analyzed opponents' defenses to assist in strategies and assisted the coaching staff with personnel substitutions on game day. In 1995, he helped Virginia Tech post a 10-2 record and claim a piece of the Big East Conference regular season championship. The Hokies went on to record a 28-10 victory over Texas in the Nokia Sugar Bowl on New Year's Eve and concluded the season ranked 10th in the final Associated Press national poll. A 1994 graduate of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia with a bachelor's degree in Mathematics, Crist was a two-year starter at quarterback. Brooks joins UMass after a season as a coach at Middle Tennessee State. Brooks was a student assistant coach for the Blue Raiders, working with the running backs and special teams units. He was part of the staff that guided the Blue Raiders to the 2006 Sun Belt Championship. MTSU played in the Motor City Bowl, where they were defeated by Central Michigan. Brooks graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 2006 where he earned a Bachelor's of Science in Physical Education, with an emphasis in Athletic Coaching. He also attended Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland Ohio. Brooks has attended and worked at several football clinics including ones with the Baltimore Ravens and Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel. Brooks' father, Clarence, is a former offensive guard for UMass from 1970-1972 along with having his first coaching experience overseeing the defensive ends at UMass from 1976-1980. He is currently in his third year with the Baltimore Ravens, where he is coaching the Defensive Line. He has more than three decade of coaching experience including stints with Miami Dolphins, Chaicago Bears, Cleveland Browns as well as at the University of Arizona and Syracuse University following his time at UMass.
Brooks' Collegiate Coaching File
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