This was a day neither Tommy Brown nor Orangeburg Consolidated School District Five could foresee.

Nearly 5 1/2 years have passed since his final football game as head coach at Orangeburg-Wilkinson. As recently as 2005, the same year he led Calhoun County to the Class A state championship game, Brown assumed the door leading back to O-W would remain shut as the district sought a replacement to his successor Tony Felder.

"I don't think they (O-W) want me back," said Brown following the Class A final loss to Blackville-Hilda while acknowledging he still had plenty of love for the school and the district.

Never say never, the old adage goes. Last Friday, Brown found himself once again walking into the O-W lockerroom as the new Bruins' head football coach after his rehiring was approved by the District Five Board of Trustees.

The move completes a unique coaching carousel as Brown replaces Reggie Kennedy, who returned to Fairfield Central after leaving for O-W in 2006 and was succeeded by Brown.

What some would see as orchestrated considering both are South Carolina State alumnus, Brown insists something more surreal was at work in guiding him back to Orangeburg.

"The one thing I've learned in life is that we might have a plan that we want to do, but sometimes God directs our s.jpg and our path," he said. "So, we may plan to do something...but sometimes he pulls you full circle to put you where he wants to put you, and I feel like this is where he wants me to be.

"O-W hadn't been that successful the previous years and I think sometimes there's a challenge there," he continued. "Like I said before. You make a plan, but sometimes God directs your path. I don't know whether it's my choice. He made the decision for me and all I can do is make the program as successful as possible."

Plenty has changed since Brown and O-W parted ways in 2003. The Bruins have gone 20-32, enjoyed just one winning season (2003) and made the playoffs only twice.

In the same span, Brown has posted a 38-22 record and led three different programs to the postseason (Bethune-Bowman, Calhoun County and Fairfield-Central), highlighted by his two-year tenure with the Saints where they went 23-4, won two Region 4-A titles and the school's first-year Upper State championship.

Brown said having that taste of success made him a stronger, better coach and he compared himself with a young man who went off to college and returns more mature and knowledgeable of his craft.

"A lot of coaches don't even get to reach that level and I've been blessed to be able to experience that and now I understand what it takes," he said. "I understand how committed and how involved you have to be to get that level and to me, that was a great experience for the players, for the coaches and for that school. So I now realized it can be done. It involves a lot, but it can be done and having that experience once in life, I feel like I can experience it again."

Brown had a winning record during his first tenure at O-W at 70-61 and led the program to its last region title (1995) and playoff victory (1996). However, outsiders see the lack of championships given the high number of players Brown has sent to college and the NFL (Arturo Freeman, Deveron Harper, Woodrow Dantzler, Alex Barron, Jonas Seawright and Tim Jennings) as a huge negative. Even two of the six board members (Susan Gleaton and Melvin Crum) voted against the rehiring.

Brown bristles at any suggestion that he oversaw an underachieving program during his first tenure. In fact, he suggests developing young players into future professionals is more important than wins and losses and amassing championships.

"Let's be real about the thing," he said. "Education is about making people better overall. It's not about winning championships. That's not my purpose. I don't go to a program and tell them I'm going to win a state championship for them. I go to this program and tell them I'm going to make stronger student-athletes. That's our purpose and when these young men set goals to go to the next level, they become better citizens.

"I think society has really messed up the whole idea about you've got to win championships to be successful. I already feel like I've had a successful career because there's young men walking around who are better citizens, who are productive citizens because of the program. Championships don't make you a better team. Championships don't send you to the next level because you look through time and schools - I'm not going to call any names -

they've had plenty of championships. How many young men have they sent to the next level? How many doctors and lawyers and educators have they produced? So that is my goal in life. That is my focus in the program.

"I think that's why I'm probably back at O-W," he continued. "Yes, we want to win championships. Yes, we're going to strive to win a championship. But that's not the ultimate picture. That's not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is make our student-athletes the best they can be."

To highlight his point, Brown plans to hire on his staff several former players like Robinson and Dantzler who served as assistant coaches at Fairfield-Central and are living examples of what legacy he wants to leave at O-W.

"You teach a winning attitude, but you're not trying to win championship games," Brown said. "You're trying to win at life. Win at life! That's what we're trying to do! It is a game, but you're using the game to make you a better person. I had a successful career as an athlete. I've won championships before, but that didn't make me the person I am. The discipline, the commitment, the desire to win. That's what makes you a better person. So striking the balance is going to be there because you learn how to win in life. You can learn to win in games, but using this game to win in life is going to make you a better person and that's what we're trying to do. That's what all high school programs should do."

0-W is moving from Region 7-AAAA to Region 5-AAAA with old rivals Lexington, Aiken, Richland Northeast, Irmo, Dutch Fork, White Knoll and North Augusta on the schedule, as well as non-region games against Lake Marion and Stratford. Brown understands it will be a difficult transition. At the same time, he believes as long as he stays true to his beliefs, the success will come.

"When I leave this world, God is going to ask me what did I do for my fellow man," he said. "He's not going to ask me how many games that I won and that's what I've got to answer to and that's the picture."

T&D Senior Sports Writer Thomas Grant Jr. can be reached by e-mail at tgrant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5547. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

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