Brubaker was uncertain whether to continue skating competitively but his coach arranged some tryouts. In August, he had a two-day tryout with Mary Beth Marley and he was impressed enough to cancel his other tryouts, although she had no pairs experience. Marley relocated to Aliso Viejo, California, and they began training together in earnest in September with coach John Nicks. Their first international competition was the Toruń Cup in Toruń, Poland, where they earned the minimum technical scores required to compete at an ISU Championship. They placed fourth at the 2011 U.S. Nationals and were named as alternates for Four Continents. They were assigned to the event after an injury led Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett to withdraw. Jenni Meno and Todd Sand became their main coaches for the 2011–12 season and Nicks also continued to work with the pair.