CRESTVIEW — Anthony Brown’s baseball journey has brought him full circle.
The 2006 Crestview High School graduate played football and baseball for the Bulldogs.
He played one year of baseball at Okaloosa-Walton College (Northwest Florida State) before embarking on a three-year stint in minor league baseball.
Now, Brown is back home in Okaloosa County as an assistant baseball coach at Northwest Florida State.
“It’s great,” he said. “You can never replace being home. I’m about 10 or 15 minutes down the road from seeing my parents and my brother and sister and, also, my little nephew.
“… That (being away from family) was the biggest challenge moving away (to play minor league baseball). It’s great seeing old friends and coaches that remind me about certain things I did when I played them — if I hit a home run or hit somebody on a football field.”
ROAD LESS TRAVELED
To say Brown took a road less traveled toward coaching and back to Okaloosa County is an understatement.
In 2006, the Cincinnati Reds picked Brown in the 23rd round of Major League Baseball’s amateur draft. He signed with the Reds after completing his freshman year at Northwest Florida State.
Brown spent three years with the Reds, playing minor league ball in Dayton, Ohio; Billings, Mont.; and Sarasota. The team released him before the 2010 season.
With his baseball career at an end, the standout Crestview linebacker turned back to football.
“I was just doing the football for the whole scholarship thing,” he said. "When your time is up (playing) and that’s all you know, it’s real hard to let it go or move on and not be bitter. I know a lot of teammates that I still talk with now that are still bitter about being done with baseball."
Brown eventually became a student football coach at South Alabama, a volunteer assistant baseball coach last year at the University of New Orleans, and finally back to Northwest Florida State.
ACCIDENTAL COACH
Brown didn't plan on coaching. He had thoughts of a front-office management job in professional baseball.
“I really didn’t want to coach,” he said. “I wanted to stay away from that as much as possible. But they (South Alabama football coaches) approached me when South was making their transition (to Division I) football. I was going to lose my last two years of eligibility to play football and I wasn’t able to transfer to another DII school to play.
“Coach (Joey) Jones came up to me and asked me if I would be interested in coaching, and they would give me scholarship money. When I heard that, I wasn’t thinking about getting into coaching. I was thinking, ‘scholarship money — take care of some more bills I’m going to have.
"Yeah, I’m going to take it.’”
But Brown soon got hooked.
“Once I started doing it, I realized I could have an impact on players,” he said. “At the end of the day, people go through things in life. I remember a couple of kids — their moms passed away; another guy’s mom had cancer.
“Going through all of that, and being able to be there for those guys, to have an impact, and they were actually looking up to (me) — that was very rewarding."
MENTOR'S INFLUENCE
Crestview baseball Coach Tim Gillis was not surprised to see Brown coaching.
Gillis said he always thought Brown had the necessary professional and personal skills to effectively coach.
“Anthony probably doesn’t remember it, but I said something to him years ago — ‘You would make a good coach,’” Gillis said. "He’s so well respected by his peers. He’s a great guy with a great attitude.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all that he’s in coaching. He’s just a super young man. I always go back to it and say what kind of person you are is more important than what kind of player you are, because your playing days will be over and they will be over quicker than we like sometimes.”
Gillis said he believes Brown will continue to be an ambassador for Crestview High School and the game of baseball.
Brown speaks fondly of his former coach and mentor.
“I think the biggest thing Coach Gillis taught me was just being level-headed in everything,” he said. “Even when I was in pro ball — because he had already been there — he gave me some pointers about going through the grind and the minor league life.”
Gillis also showed him the importance of caring for his players.
Brown’s dream was to play baseball at Florida State, and although the Seminoles showed no interest in him, Gillis took the time to write FSU's coaching staff on Brown's behalf.
"Even though they didn’t call me or anything — just for him to do that meant a lot,” Brown said.
“I still tell people today that Coach Gillis really took care of us.”
'THAT'S MY BIGGEST GOAL'
Brown spent the 2014-2015 school year as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of New Orleans under then head coach Ron Maestri.
His Crestview teammate, Blake Dean, also was on staff.
When Maestri retired at the end of last season, the school promoted Dean to head coach. Brown hoped to stay on Dean’s staff, but his lack of experience as a college baseball coach hurt his chances of landing the job.
Dean hired former Niceville infielder Brett Stewart, who was coaching at Northwest Florida State.
“Blake and I were talking and he said, with Brett leaving there was going to be an open spot at Northwest Florida,” Brown said. “I picked up the phone and called Coach (Doug) Martin and talked to him about 30 minutes. I asked him if he was looking for an assistant since Brett might be leaving.
“After that, he offered me (the job) and a chance to come back home for a year or two and get some experience recruiting."
Now, coaching is in Brown's blood, and the 27-year-old anticipates the future.
“I want to eventually become a head coach. I want to be a Division I (head coach) — that’s my biggest goal,” he said. “I was talking to my dad and, when he was growing, baseball was his favorite sport.
"His biggest thing was having more blacks in baseball — that’s always been his thing.
The thing I’ve learned is, as time transitions, you have to transition with it in sports and life in general. There are not too many black Division I head coaches.
"My dad was like, ‘I’ve never heard of a black Division I head coach winning the national championship.
"And you can leave an impact.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview High grad, 'accidental' baseball coach, returns home to Okaloosa County