Towns Honors Legendary Alabama A&M Coach

Alabama A&M University hosted its 14th Annual Louis Crews Coach’s Breakfast Friday, celebrating the enduring legacy of one of the University’s most revered football coaches. University President Dr. Daniel K. Wims, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, and other distinguished guests joined the campus community and former players at the Knight Center to pay tribute to Coach Louis Crews, whose influence continues to extend far beyond the football field.

Brawnski Towns: A Legacy of His Own

The event’s keynote speaker, Brawnski Towns, is a former player under Coach Crews and a stalwart of Alabama A&M for over three decades. Towns served as a coach for 34 years, spending nearly two decades as the Bulldogs' defensive coordinator and also as the Associate Head Football Coach. Under his leadership, Alabama A&M’s defensive units became some of the most formidable in the country. Towns briefly played in the NFL after signing with the Buffalo Bills as a free agent, but soon returned to his alma mater in 1971 to take on the role of defensive backs coach.

A Personal Connection

Reflecting on his relationship with Coach Crews, Towns said, “I played for Coach Crews for five years. My first year was 1965. I was redshirted one year, and I coached with him for another five years. He taught me so much about football—and even more about life. His lessons are ones I carry with me to this day.”

On the Field

Towns shared memorable stories about his time as a player under Coach Crews. “We were always the smallest team on the field, no matter who we played, but coach didn’t care about that. He didn’t worry about the size of the dog and his bite, he worried about the bite in the dog,” Towns recalled with a smile. He also reminisced about traveling with the team, saying, “Back in those days, we had one bus for everybody—the players, coaches, managers, and equipment—so it was tight on the bus, real tight.”

Towns humorously described the coach's unique conditioning methods, noting, “We never had a strength coach because we didn’t have weights. Coach Crews would just run you, and run you, and run you some more. He had a saying, ‘Down, Set, Get it!’ By the time you left here, you were in great shape.”

Crews' Recruiting Prowess

Towns fondly recalled Coach Crews' recruiting skills, sharing a lighthearted story. “Coach Crews recruited Coach Lee from what was then Fairfield Industrial High School. Coach Lee was a big kid for his age, he was one dish away from weighing about 270. His parents weren’t sure, but Coach Crews told them, ‘If you let him come to Alabama A&M, you won’t have to feed him anymore.’ The next day, they dropped him off at A&M. Coach Crews was a smooth recruiter like that.”

More Than Football

Beyond the gridiron, Towns emphasized Coach Crews’ ability to uplift his players. “If someone made a mistake, Coach would say, ‘That’s water over the dam, son. Don’t worry about that.’ If things got real bad, I never heard him say a bad word to a player, coach, or anyone else. He was always very respectful.”

Crews' Impact on AAMU and Beyond

Towns also highlighted the profound impact Coach Crews had on Alabama A&M’s football program and its players. “When Coach Crews arrived in 1960, Alabama A&M had never won more than six games in a season. His first year, he led the team to a 7-1-1 record. The next year, we went 8-1, followed by 8-2, and then in his fourth year, he was 8-0, Alabama A&M University's first undefeated season.” Towns recounted. “In his first five years at A&M, Coach Crews had a 37-5-1 record. Out of the 20 Alabama A&M players who went to the NFL, Coach Crews coached eight of them.”

One of those players, alumnus and NFL Hall of Famer John Stallworth, was in attendance at the event. Stallworth, who recently established a $1.2 million endowment through the John Stallworth Foundation, also serves as Chair of Alabama A&M’s 150th Celebration Committee.

“As we approach the 150th anniversary of our University in 2025, we are reimagining a new era for this institution,” stated Dr. Wims. “We will need the selfless, committed, and passionate effort of each one of us to ensure the strength and resilience of Alabama A&M. It will take all of us as we continue to grow and enhance our programs, infrastructure, and brand. We’re going international, and every one of us has a role to play. That’s why days like today, honoring Coach Louis Crews, are so important—especially at this extraordinary time for our University.”

More: https://aamusports.com/sports/2024/6/27/tradition-louis-crews-classic.aspx