Leach Announces Two Staff Additions
STARKVILLE – New Mississippi State head football coach Mike Leach announced the addition of two staff members Thursday.
Tyson Brown, who spent six seasons at Washington State, including the last two as head strength and conditioning coach, will lead the Bulldogs’ football strength and conditioning program.
Dave Emerick, who worked with Leach at both Washington State and Texas Tech, will serve as the Bulldogs’ senior associate athletics director for football.
“I am excited to welcome Dave Emerick and Tyson Brown to the Bulldog family,” Leach said. “Dave has been my chief of staff at both Washington State and Texas Tech for close to 15 years, and he is a vital member of our staff. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that is invaluable to our program.
“Tyson is a tireless worker, an energetic leader and the best strength and conditioning coach I have ever been around. Our players will love working with Tyson and his staff, and we can’t wait for our offseason to get rolling.”
Brown holds a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Sioux Falls and a master’s from California University of Pennsylvania. He was the lead assistant under Jason Loscalzo at WSU before briefly accepting the head strength and conditioning coach job at Elon University. When Loscalzo left for the NFL, Leach brought Brown back to Pullman to lead the Cougars’ strength and conditioning program efforts.
“My family and I are so excited for the opportunity to join Coach Leach in Starkville,” Brown said. “We are going to implement a plan and work extremely hard this offseason. We can’t wait to get to work with these great young men for such a proud fan base in the best conference in college football.”
Prior to his stint with the Cougars, Brown spent one year as associate director of strength and conditioning at South Florida, where he was the lead assistant strength and conditioning coach for football and director of strength and conditioning for volleyball.
Brown spent two years as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Washington before his time at WSU.
In 2008, he was an intern strength and conditioning coach at his alma mater Sioux Falls. A native of Bothell, Washington, Brown worked as a graduate assistant athletic performance coach at Baylor in 2009 and then as a strength coach intern for the NFL’s Houston Texans during the 2010 season.
Brown was a two-year football letterman in college, helping Sioux Falls to NAIA national championships in 2006 and 2008 and a runner-up finish in 2007.
Brown is certified by CSCS and USAW. He and his wife, Kinzie, have a son, Brody, and two daughters, Bella and Briar.
Emerick comes to Starkville following an eight-year stint at Washington State where he served as Leach’s chief of staff and senior associate athletics director, a position similar to what Emerick held while he and Leach were at Texas Tech.
Emerick will oversee all of MSU’s football recruiting efforts, while also working closely with senior administration as it relates to the program.
“My wife and I are thrilled to be joining Coach Leach in Starkville,” Emerick said. “Mississippi State football has accomplished some great things over the years, and we look forward to building upon that success. I appreciate the opportunity that Director of Athletics John Cohen has given me and our staff, and we are excited to get to work.”
A native of Waukesha, Wisconsin, Emerick joined WSU’s staff in 2012 and was promoted to senior associate athletics director/chief of staff for football prior to the 2013 season. Emerick spent the 2010-11 seasons at the University of Arizona, where he oversaw Arizona’s recruiting efforts as assistant director of operations and director of on-campus recruiting.
Emerick joined the Arizona football staff in February 2010 after six years working with Leach at Texas Tech. During his final two years in Lubbock he was chief of staff and assistant athletics director, overseeing recruiting for the football program and assisting in the organization and execution of football camps.
Additionally, Emerick served as the liaison between the football program and the Texas Tech Athletic Department, specifically in academics, compliance, media relations and marketing. Emerick began at Texas Tech in 2004 as unit coordinator during his first season and director of player personnel his next three seasons, before assuming the chief of staff position.
A 2002 political science graduate of Kentucky, Emerick was a college scouting intern with the Houston Texans during the franchise’s first season in 2002. Prior to his time with the Texans, he was the recruiting and football operations intern at Kentucky while in school from 1997-2001.
Emerick is a graduate of Catholic Memorial High School in his hometown of Waukesha where he lettered in football, basketball and baseball. He received his master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in sport management in May 2007 from Texas Tech. He and his wife, Sara, have one son, Cristian and one daughter, Caroline.
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