College football isn’t just about turning players into NFL stars. It’s also about molding young coaches who hustle in the shadows and behind the curtains, hoping their shot will come. For every All-American on the roster, a grad assistant is grinding through 80-hour weeks, surviving on passion and pennies. That’s the backdrop of Ray Brown’s remarkable story.
After years of under-the-radar work, the former Arizona State GA is now headed to the NFL, joining the San Francisco 49ers as their new cornerbacks coach. And no one’s more proud than his former colleague and current Arizona State head coach, Kenny Dillingham. The two first crossed paths in 2014, both just starting out as graduate assistants at ASU.
Reflecting on that journey, Brown tweeted, “Four years at Enterprise Rent-A-Car before deciding to get into coaching. That first coaching check was $238.12. I made that every month, on a 10-month contract. Can’t tell me God isn’t real!!” It was a moment of vulnerability for the tough guy who has sent countless cornerbacks to the NFL. Dillingham saw it and replied most fittingly. His post read, “Saw you at the bottom! So cool to see you at the top!!!! You earned it tho!” Natty conversations, Heisman conversations, and countless other conversations are routine in college football. But people sometimes forget, that everything they do is for one thing and one thing only. It’s to navigate through life. And that’s what both of them have done brilliantly.
Saw you at the bottom! So cool to see you at the top!!!! You earned it tho! https://t.co/ta5sv6QhVJ
— Coach Dillingham (@KennyDillingham) July 6, 2025
The exchange didn’t stop there, though. Brown fired back with a laugh and a memory that every GA would probably still wince at. He said, “My guy!! We worked our way up, we’re a long way from those days of getting yelled at by TG.” That “TG” was Todd Graham, known for his intensity and sharp tongue. But through all the yelling, the early mornings, and the low pay, Brown and Dillingham were absorbing everything. And more importantly, they were building a brotherhood. A decade later, their paths may have diverged, but the respect is still locked in.
Ray Brown’s rise is a roadmap for every aspiring coach wondering if the grind is worth it. From $238 monthly paychecks to one of the NFL’s most respected organizations, Brown’s story proves it is. And with Dillingham cheering him on, this is a win for every underdog with a dream, a clipboard, and a little bit of faith.
From $238 paychecks to the 49ers
Ray Brown’s journey to the San Francisco 49ers might read like a coaching fairytale now, but it started far from NFL glitz. We’re talking Enterprise Rent-A-Car, $238 monthly checks, and grinding away as a GA at Washington State and Arizona State. Back in those 2014 ASU days, Brown was just another young assistant trying to make it, working with future first-rounders like Deone Bucannon and helping recruit top talent. He wasn’t just doing the small stuff, though. He was already proving he could coach corners at a high level. ASU even pulled off a 10-win season and a Sun Bowl win while he was there. Not a bad launchpad.
From there, Brown bounced around with the kind of resume that shows he’s earned every stripe. At Utah State, Troy, Abilene Christian, and wherever else he landed, his secondaries improved. Moreover, at Utah State in 2021, he helped them go from a Covid-era 1–5 disaster to an 11–3 powerhouse that smacked Oregon State in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl. At Abilene, his DBs were straight-up ballhawks, setting school records in picks and ranking top 15 nationally in multiple defensive categories. Everywhere he went, guys got better, and a few even made it to the league.
Then came the big breaks in Washington State again, where he developed All-Pac-12 talent like Chau Smith-Wade, and Boston College, where he joined Bill O’Brien’s first staff in 2024. That led to the ultimate call-up in the form of a cornerbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers. From setting cones at practice to coaching the NFL’s elite? The living, breathing proof of the Charlie Munger quote, “To get what you want, you’ve to deserve what you want.”
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