University of Tulsa head football coach Kevin Wilson announced today two more additions to his Golden Hurricane coaching staff with the appointment of Ron Burton and Ricky Brown. With these two appointments, Wilson now has filled nine of the 10 full-time coaching positions.

Burton will serve as Tulsa's assistant head coach and defensive line coach, while Brown has been appointed special teams coordinator and defensive assistant. Burton and Brown both had NFL careers prior to joining the coaching ranks.
 
Burton spent four seasons in the NFL after playing collegiately at North Carolina, where he and Wilson were teammates. After his collegiate career at Boston College, Brown played seven years in the NFL.
 
"I'm excited about how our coaching staff has shaped up with one more position remaining to fill. We've been able to add a good mix of younger and older coaches, but an entire group that is vastly experienced, knowledgeable and are outstanding teachers and people," said Wilson. "I'm thrilled to have Ron as assistant head coach and Ricky as special teams coordinator, both in leadership roles. They each bring a solid voice and presence to our program.
 
"I've known Ron since our years as teammates at North Carolina. He was an outstanding college player and had some good years in the NFL. Ron is a quality coach, great person and family guy. He is a tremendous defensive line coach who coached some of the nation's top run defenses while at Michigan State as well as Air Force." said Wilson.
 
"With Ricky, I wanted to make sure we put full emphasis on special teams with a dedicated coach and he's the perfect fit. He was also a heck of a player who made it in the NFL because he was a really good special teams player," said Wilson. "I worked with Ricky at Ohio State and am excited about what he brings to Tulsa."
 
Burton, a 31-year coaching veteran, has twice been named National Defensive Line Coach of the Year by FootballScoop and has coached in a bowl game 14 of the past 16 seasons.
 
Burton spent the 2022 season coaching the defensive line at Miami, Ohio, helping the RedHawks to a six-win season and an appearance in the Bahamas Bowl. Burton's defensive line was instrumental in leading Miami to the Mid-American Conference's top rushing and scoring defense, allowing only 136 yards and 22.6 points per game.
 
Before that, Burton spent nine seasons on the defensive staff at Michigan State. He coached in seven bowls with the Spartans –– 2013 Rose, 2014 Cotton, 2015 CFP Semifinal, 2017 Holiday, 2018 Redbox, 2019 Pinstripe and 2021 Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.
 
Burton went back to coaching the entire defensive line in 2020 after previously coaching the defensive tackles for three seasons (2017-19). Burton spent his first four seasons in East Lansing (2013-16) coaching the defensive line. 
 
Burton is the only coach to win the FootballScoop National Defensive Line Coach of the Year Award twice, an honor he won for the second time in 2018 after MSU finished with the top-ranked rushing defense in the country. He also won the award during his first season in East Lansing in 2013 when the Spartans claimed the Big Ten Championship, won the Rose Bowl, and finished No. 2 in the FBS in total defense and rushing defense.

In Burton's tenure, the Spartans led the Big Ten in rushing defense four times (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018) and ranked among the NCAA FBS Top 25 seven of his nine seasons, including twice at No. 1 (2014 and 2018).
 
During his nine seasons on the Michigan State staff, Spartan defensive linemen earned All-Big Ten recognition 17 times, including three-time first-team selection Shilique Calhoun, who became the first defensive end in program history to be named first-team all-conference three times. Five Spartan defensive linemen that Burton coached at MSU moved onto the NFL.
 
Previously, Burton spent 10 seasons (2003-12) as the defensive line coach at Air Force. During his tenure, Burton helped the Falcons to a combined record of 67-57 (.540), including a school-record six consecutive bowl appearances (2007-12).

Before arriving at Air Force, Burton spent one season (2002) at Grand Valley State and helped lead the Lakers to a perfect 14-0 record and the 2002 NCAA Division II National Championship, the first in school history.

Burton spent five seasons as the linebackers coach at Indiana from 1997-2001 and before that coached linebackers at Eastern Michigan for two seasons (1995-96). He landed his first full-time coaching position as the defensive backs coach at Morehead State in 1994.

A four-year letterman (1982-86) at North Carolina, Burton helped the Tar Heels to three bowl appearances and was named team captain and best defensive lineman as a senior. He graduated from UNC with a bachelor's degree in industrial relations in 1987.

Burton's four seasons as a linebacker in the NFL came with the Dallas Cowboys (1987-89), Phoenix Cardinals (1989) and Los Angeles Raiders (1990). After his NFL career, Burton returned to North Carolina and spent two years as a graduate assistant (1992-93) for the Tar Heels.

A native of Highland Springs, Virginia, Burton and his wife, Andrea, have four children: Ronald, Ryan, Roya and Reid.
 
Brown comes to Tulsa following one season as the special teams quality control coach at Cincinnati. Before that, Brown spent two years (2020-21) on the Ohio State staff in a similar capacity as special teams quality control coach.
 
Previously, Brown coached four seasons (2016-19) at his alma mater, where he began as Boston College's director of football initiatives, serving in a quality control role on defense and special teams for the 2016 campaign. He was promoted to special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach in 2017 for his final three seasons at the school.
 
In Brown's first season back at Boston College, the defense recorded 47 sacks to rank fourth in the NCAA while the BC special teams ranked seventh for opponent kickoff return average and 10th for punt returns. In 2017, his special teams unit ranked 11th in the nation in punt returns (13.11 avg.) and 22nd for kickoff return yards (946 yards), while ranking 26th in special teams efficiency. 

A year later, Brown coordinated a unit that ranked first nationally in 2018 with three punt returns for touchdowns, was fifth in the country with five blocked kicks, 16th for average punt return yards, 19th for average kickoff return yards and 30th in special teams efficiency.
 
Brown began his coaching career in a quality control role on defense at Southern Cal from 2014-15. In 2015, USC won the Pac-12 South title and made a second consecutive appearance in the Holiday Bowl.
 
Before moving into the coaching profession, Brown worked for Morgan Stanley as a wealth advisory associate in Los Angeles following seven years in the NFL, playing for the Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens. Brown entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent.
 
Brown's outstanding collegiate career spanned 2002-05 at Boston College. The outside linebacker was the winner of the Scanlan Award in 2005, the highest honor bestowed upon a BC football player, which recognizes accomplishments on the field, in the classroom and in the community. In four seasons, he recorded 184 tackles (118 solo) with 4.5 sacks.
 
The Cincinnati, Ohio native graduated with a degree in Finance in 2006.