Inductees

The decision to become a coach was an easy one for Sam Brown.

Athletics had always played a huge role in his life, and he witnessed first-hand the impact coaches can have on individuals and teams.

Playing under coach Vic Bonuchi (MSHOF 2023) at Excelsior Springs High School, he learned football fundamentals and life lessons at each practice and game situation.

“(Bonuchi) taught me how to treat people, how to care for everyone,” said Brown, who never played in a losing season at Excelsior Springs before graduating in 1968. “We were pretty well known for having 100 players come out of the locker room and run on to the field. I’ve had people tell me it was intimidating.”

It also made players feel important, and that – and winning – is the legacy of Coach Brown. That’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Brown with the Class of 2025.

Brown has been coaching football for more than 50 years in the Kansas City area, helping thousands of teenagers. A 1972 University of Missouri graduate, he was part of the 1970 Mizzou Orange Bowl team (MSHOF 2015) and later was head coach of Excelsior Springs, Grandview, Shawnee Mission North and William Jewell College, and was an assistant at Liberty, Shawnee Mission East (and athletic director) and Jewell (2014-2019).

He was 90-41 at Grandview from 1979 to 1991, making him the winningest coach in program history. The Bulldogs won the Suburban Conference and districts six times (1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990), reaching the state quarterfinals those years. In fact, the 1984 team reached the state semifinals.

Overall, Brown won the Cecil Patterson Coach of the Year Award and the Kansas City Chiefs Coach of the Week Award in 2000, 2001 and 2003. Additionally, he is an inductee of halls of fame for Excelsior Springs High School (2006), the Missouri Football Coaches Association (2008), the Greater Kansas City Football Coaches Association (2016) and Grandview High School (2017).

Learning from Bonuchi, both as a player and then as an assistant in 1972 and 1973, set him up for success. At Excelsior Springs, his first football captains were Gregg Williams (MSHOF 2016) and Jack Talley (MSHOF 2020).

“I never heard him cuss. And I learned how to organize how to handle administrators, coaches and parents. It was huge,” Brown said. “At Grandview, I was blessed with tremendous talent. I tell people all the time, if you have good players, you’ll be successful. If you don’t, you need to have good administrators and good coaches.”

Along the way, Brown demonstrated the rare quality of a coach who could be both a little gruff at times but mostly be positive toward his players.

That 1984 season remains one of his favorites. The Bulldogs began the year ranked No. 1 in Missouri and played against Fayetteville, the No. 1-ranked team in Arkansas. The season ended on a rainy and cold day against Jefferson City, the eventual state champion.

In 1991-1992, he was the track coach and assistant football coach at William Jewell, and then its head football coach from 1992-1996. From 1997 to 2005, he was the football coach and AD at Shawnee Mission North (Kan.) High School. In 2000, the Indians won the Sunflower League and reached the state semifinals. In 2002 and 2003, they won districts. He returned to Excelsior Springs, coaching the sons of some of his 1974-1978 players.

In 2010, he was the athletic director of Shawnee Mission East and assistant football coach with his good friend, Chip Sherman (MSHOF 2017). From 2014-2019, he coached William Jewell quarterbacks, who threw for more than 13,000 yards and completed 55 percent of their passes. Since 2020, he has been providing lessons to Kansas City area quarterbacks.

All this from a coach who attended Mizzou on football and basketball scholarships and was mentored by coaches Dan Devine, Al Onofrio, Vince Tobin, and Norm Stewart – all members of the MSHOF.

Even better, he has long had the support of his wife of 50 years, Cindy, a public school teacher of 50 years. They are parents to Maggie (husband John) and son Mack (wife Amanda and children Reed and Quinn).

“The FCA, they always had great slogans. The No. 1 thing about a good coach is a Hall of Fame wife,” Brown said. “While I was busy raising kids of other families, she was busy raising ours.”

What a great career it was, with Brown and his family making the sport even better.