Don Brown’s staff is rounding into form.
The UMass football Twitter handle made the news of Springfield Central High School head coach Valdamar Brower joining Brown’s staff as a defensive line coach next season official on Thursday.
Brower — a Florence native — played for UMass after graduating from Northampton High School in 1999. With the Minutemen, Brower became an All-American. He played for UMass from 2000-03 and is the program’s all-time leader in tackles for loss (63), quarterback hurries (40) and blocked kicks (six). Brower was named a Division I-AA first-team All-American in 2001 and to the second team in 2002. He was first-team all-conference twice and earned a spot on the second team once.
Brower never overlapped with Brown at UMass, who was the head coach at Northeastern while Brower played for the Minutemen.
“Springfield Central would like to congratulate coach Brower on his new and exciting opportunity at UMass,” Springfield Central High School’s twitter account tweeted on Thursday. “Thanks coach for everything that you have done for our program and our school.”
Brower built Springfield Central into a Massachusetts power. The Golden Eagles are coming off a MIAA Div. 1 state championship, defeating Central Catholic 22-15 in the finals on Dec. 2. Brower won the Div. 3 state titles in 2018 and 2019.
Four Springfield Central players — senior wide receiver Joseph Griffin (committed to Boston College), junior quarterback William Watson, junior defensive lineman Josiah Griffin and junior offensive lineman Jayden Bass — hold offers from UMass.
Brower joins offensive line coach Alex Miller and defensive coordinator Keith Dudzinski on Brown’s staff. The school also announced on Twitter Thursday the additions of Darrell Perkins (defensive backs coach) and Jeff Moore (tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator). Moore was previously the head coach at Loomis Chaffee School (Conn.) while Perkins was most recently the defensive backs coach at UConn.