Who is Josh Brown and what is his vision for Fresno City College football?
.jpeg "Josh Brown was introduced as the Fresno City College football coach.")
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Josh Brown is entering his first season as Fresno City College football coach.
- Brown says he will recruit Fresno talent and keep players at the community college.
- Brown will call the defense, oversee special teams, and aim to win the Valley.
Josh Brown is entering his first season as the Fresno City College football coach, taking over for Tony Caviglia who retired.
Certainly big shoes to fill for Brown, but he is embracing the challenge.
Brown previously coached at Sacramento State as the team’s co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in January of 2025.
He was slated to serve as the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach during the 2026 season, but he took the job at Fresno City.
He is no stranger to JUCO football, since he was an assistant at Gavilan College.
Here is a Q&A with Brown:
What attracted you to the Fresno City College head coaching position?
Josh Brown: Obviously, Fresno City College has a long tradition of success and has been one of the top programs for a long time. On top of that, I wanted to give back to the level where I came from. I played and coached at the community college level, and I’ve been recruiting this level for a long time. It felt like the right opportunity to come back and contribute.
Q: You’ve wanted to become a head coach for a while, correct?
Brown: (There was a period )where I didn’t want to be a head coach. But over the last couple of years, as my career progressed, I felt a stronger desire to give back to the community college level in a leadership role. The opportunity had to be the right fit.
Q: So Fresno City was the right fit?
Brown: About a year ago, I was offered another community college head coaching position and turned it down because it wasn’t the right fit. Fresno City is one of the top junior college programs in California. When I had the chance to apply and interview for this job, it was a blessing.
Q: What is your recruiting philosophy, particularly when it comes to local talent?
Brown: We’re a community college, and I believe we need to recruit from our community first. I want to put a fence around Fresno. I’ve been recruiting this area for over 20 years, and I know the type of player you get here — tough, hard-nosed kids who love football. We need to keep those players home. If they’re community college-bound, there’s no reason they can’t stay in Fresno and get everything they want out of their playing career. We’ll help them develop and move on to four-year schools from here.
I’m coming in late in the recruiting cycle, but there are still some local players committed elsewhere that I’m pursuing. At the junior college level, there aren’t the same recruiting restrictions because players haven’t signed or enrolled yet.
Q: You emphasize academics, but you also talk about winning championships. Is that a major goal?
Brown: This program has done a great job for a long time, and I want to continue that tradition. Academically, we may implement things like study hall to help our student-athletes succeed. But make no mistake about it — I’m here to win championships.
First, I want to win the Valley. I want Fresno City to be the best program in the Valley. Secondly, I want us competing for state championships.
Q: What is your coaching philosophy when it comes to game management and play-calling?
Brown: I’ll be calling the defense. We’ve moved Coach (Rick) Scheidt over to the offensive side, and we also have an offensive coordinator. We’ve put a lot of experienced coaches on offense. I’ll be heavily involved with special teams and involved in offensive discussions, but I’ll let those guys do their thing on offense.
Defensively, that’s been my specialty throughout my career. I’ve been a defensive coordinator for over 12 years and a special teams coordinator twice. That’s where my expertise is. One of the fun parts about coaching at this level is that you don’t have to have the CEO-model. You can still be involved in play-calling, and that’s what I plan to do.
Q: How important is building a relationship with Fresno State?
Brown: Very important. They’re obviously a resource that we can use. It’s very close. I’m very close with JD Williams, and we’ve been friends for a long time. I can bounce ideas off him and use that relationship as a resource.
I don’t know Coach Matt Entz personally yet, but I actually met him years ago when I was at Cal Poly and we played North Dakota State. Building that relationship with Fresno State is definitely something I’d like to do because they do a great job over there.
Q: When do things officially get started for you?
Brown: Summer workouts begin on June 22. Then fall camp starts on August 3.
