EP Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2021: Charlie Brown

EL PASO, Texas - Charlie Brown was an inspiration not only to the players he coached, but to his family who supported him along his coaching career.

Born and raised in El Paso, Brown graduated from Burges High School in 1967.

He served as an assistant football coach at several Borderland high schools: Austin, Burges, Socorro, Aledo, El Paso, Montwood, Santa Teresa, Cathedral and Fabens.

Brown's gift was his ability to inspire and always get the best effort from his players.

Brown's son, Donald Brown, followed in his father's footsteps and became a football coach as well.

Donald Brown is currently an assistant football coach at Fabens High School..

Both he and his father coached at Fabens before Charlie Brown retired from coaching in 2019.

"He wanted to give something back to the kids," Donald Brown said. "Give them a reason to believe in themselves, football was just a pathway for that."

Charlie Brown died from Covid-19 in November of 2020, but the virus could never take away the impact he had on his players and family.

Donald Brown recalled the bit of advise his father gave him when he decided to get into coaching.

"He told me that it has to be what you want to do," Donald Brown said. "Because if you treat it like a job, it's not going to last. To do what's he done, it's hard. He's got big old feet and they will definitely be hard to fill, but I know I'm on the right path, I've been given good examples to do so."

Donald Brown's grandfather, K.C. Brown (Charlie Brown's father) was a longtime baseball coach in El Paso.

K.C. Brown is also a member of the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame, and now his son will join him in the Hall.

"It's a great privilege to be associated with great men like that, and it makes it more special that it's my dad," Donald Brown said.

Charlie Brown will officially be inducted into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame on August 25th.

ABC-7 will be livestreaming the induction ceremony on kvia.com