Dennis Brown ( quarterback ) Dennis M . Brown is a former American football player and coach . He played at the quarterback position for the University of Michigan from 1966 to 1968 , the final two years of Bump Elliott ' s tenure as the school ' s head football coach . In his first start at quarterback , Brown broke two Big Ten Conference single game records with 338 yards of total offense and 61 plays . At the end of his playing career at Michigan , he held most of the school ' s career passing records , including passing yards ( 2 , 534 ) , pass attempts ( 388 ) , and touchdown passes ( 20 ) . He later served as an assistant football coach at Michigan ( 1972 – 1979 ) , West Virginia University ( 1980 – 1987 ) , and Arizona State University ( 1988 – 1990 ) . University of Michigan . 1966 season . Brown attended Lincoln Park High School , in Lincoln Park , Michigan , before enrolling at the University of Michigan . As a sophomore in 1966 , he was a back - up to quarterback Dick Vidmer . His first appearance for Michigan was as a substitute for Vidmer in a 41 – 0 victory over Oregon State on September 17 , 1966 . He completed both of his passes , including a touchdown pass to Jim Berline . Brown also saw brief action in a loss to an undefeated Michigan State team ( 0 – 1 passing ) and against Minnesota ( 1 – 1 passing ) . 1967 season . In 1967 , Brown started six games at quarterback for a Michigan team that finished the season with a 4 – 6 record . It was Michigan ' s last losing season for more than 40 years . Vidmer began the 1967 season as the starting quarterback , and Michigan won one game and lost three under Vidmer . Brown was brought into the game in the second half against Michigan State . Although the Wolverines lost the game 34 – 0 , Brown ' s performance was good enough to win him the starting assignment the following week . Teammate George Hoey later recalled , " From an emotional standpoint , I know that when Dennis came in , he was just a spark plug . He had a fiery spirit and that permeated through the team . " Vidmer had the stronger throwing arm , but Brown was more mobile . Brown ' s first start came against Indiana . Although Michigan lost the game 27 – 20 , Brown established himself as a star . He completed 18 of 31 passes for 211 yards and led the team in rush ing with 127 yards and two touchdowns . He also broke two Big Ten Conference records . He accumulated 338 yards of total offense , breaking the single game conference record set by Bob Griese with 317 yards in 1966 . He was also involved in 61 plays to surpass the conference record set by Paul Giel with 53 plays in 1953 . Three weeks later against Wisconsin , Brown completed 12 of 17 passes for 232 yards . He threw touchdown passes of 60 yards to Jim Berline and 31 yards to Ron Johnson and scrambled 44 yards for a rushing touchdown . He totaled 274 yards of total offense before leaving the game in the fourth quarter after he had the wind knocked out of him by a Wisconsin tackler . In the final game of the 1967 season against Ohio State , Brown was 17 for 24 passing for 179 yards and two touchdowns . In the closing minutes of the first half , Brown led the Wolverines on an 80 - yard drive , capped by a six - yard touchdown pass to Jim Berline . The second score came on a 47 - yard drive in the fourth quarter , ending with a 13 - yard touchdown pass to John Gabler . Brown ' s two touchdown passes were not enough as Michigan was limited to 128 rushing yards and lost to the Buckeyes , 24 – 14 . In the final six games of the season , with Brown as the starting quarterback , Michigan improved to 3 – 3 . During the 1967 season , Brown completed 82 of 155 pass attempts for 928 yards and sevem touchdown passes . Despite starting only six games , Brown set a new Big Ten season record for most offensive plays with 290 , breaking the prior record of 276 plays by Gary Snook in 1964 . 1968 season . As a senior , Brown was the starting quarterback in 9 of 10 games for the 1968 team that finished 8 – 2 in Bump Elliott ' s last year as head coach . In mid - October , Brown led Michigan to a come - from - behind win over Michigan State . One sports writer opened his game coverage as follows : " Bundle up when you go out in the cold , Dennis Brown . Wear your galoshes and that maize and blue muffler . And please don ' t slip in the shower or slam a finger in a car door . Michigan needs you , Dennis Brown . You were charmed Saturday when you brought your Wolverines from behind in the fourth quarter to hand Michigan State its first loss , 28 – 14 . " After Brown led Michigan to a 33 – 20 win over Minnesota with 152 passing yards and passing touchdowns to Billy Harris and Paul Staroba , the Golden Gophers ' head coach Murray Warmath said : " Brown was the big player . He was a genius on the field . I ' ve never seen a better game from a quarterback . This is what chopped us up . His quick passes were tremendous . [ Ron ] Johnson ' s a great back and he runs real well , but Brown was the big man today . " Two weeks later , Brown had his best game of the 1968 season against Illinois . He led Michigan to a 36 - 0 win , completing 13 of 27 passes for 226 yards and throwin touchdown passes of 69 yards to Billy Harris and 14 yards to Paul Staroba . In that game , Brown added 45 rushing yards for 271 total offensive yards . In the third quarter , he threw a 69 - yard touchdown pass to William Harris for Michigan ' s longest scoring play of the 1968 season . After the score , Brown ran for a two - point conversion . Brown finished the season with 109 complete passes for 1 , 562 yards , 12 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions , and ranked as the Big Ten ' s leader in total offense . He was selected as the first - team All - Big Ten quarterback by the " Associated Press " , and was also selected to play quarterback in the 1968 East – West Shrine Game and the 1969 Hula Bowl . Career statistics . In three years at Michigan , Brown completed 194 of 388 pass attempts for 2 , 534 yards , 20 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions . Brown also rushed for 616 yards and had 6 rushing touchdowns . At the end of his playing career at Michigan , he held most of the school ' s career passing records , including passing yards ( 2 , 534 ) , pass attempts ( 388 ) , and touchdown passes ( 20 ) . Coaching career . After graduating from Michigan , Brown spent the next two decades as an assistant football coach . He spent the 1970 season as a graduate assistant and then coached the freshman football team at Dartmouth College in 1971 . From 1972 to 1979 , Brown was an assistant coach at Michigan under Bo Schembechler . Michigan compiled a record of 76 - 14 in the eight years that Brown served as an assistant coach . After the 1979 season , Don Nehlen left Schembechler ' s staff at Michigan to become the head football coach at West Virginia . In January 1980 , Brown joined Nehlen ' s staff . Brown remained at West Virginia for eight years and was the Mountaineers defensive coordinator when future Michigan head football coach Rich Rodriguez played there from 1981 to 1984 . Brown later recalled , " Rich was always a very nice young man . He couldn ' t have been more cordial . He ' s just really a great example of what college football should be like . " In January 1988 , Brown became the defensive coordinator for the Arizona State Sun Devils . He held that position during the 1988 and 1989 seasons . He was fired in January 1990 after the Sun Devils allowed 258 points in the 1989 season . In 1995 , Brown was hired as the head football coach at East Detroit High School in Eastpointe , Michigan . Later years . Since the 2000 , Brown has been an assistant principal at Annapolis High School in Dearborn Heights , Michigan .