Two Female Coaching Interns to Join Staff for Preseason Camp

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth football and Buddy Teevens, the Robert L. Blackman Head Coach, announced that Chenell Tillman-Brooks and Callie Brownson will serve as coaching interns during the team's preseason camp.

The duo will be full members of the coaching staff for the first two weeks of preseason camp. Due to NCAA regulations, they will not be allowed to instruct on the field, but they will take part in all of the team activities, from meetings on the recruiting process, strength and conditioning, practice and game planning, and film evaluation, as well as staff meetings and personnel discussions. They will have a presence on the field during practices, however, supporting and organizing drills, providing offensive and defensive looks to give context, and offering feedback to the staff.

Tillman-Brooks and Brownson first came to Coach Teevens' attention when he hired them to coach (along with 14 other females) at a women's clinic and one-day camp at the Manning Passing Academy. The idea was to have women coached by other women, and Teevens came away impressed by the staff members.

"I was tremendously impressed with the enthusiasm, energy, professionalism, expertise and knowledge the collective group had," Teevens said. "After the conclusion of the camp and clinic, I spoke with a lot of them about their football plans down the road, and a number of them mentioned they would like to further get into coaching football. I discovered that there are likely hundreds of females coaching at the Pop Warner level, so why not help them get access to as much knowledge and expertise on the game and player safety as possible?

"I approached Dartmouth about having an internship for women on the staff, and the college, President Hanlon and [athletics director] Harry Sheehy were very much behind the idea. So I reached out to Callie and Chenell, who expressed the most interest and were available at that time of year, to come up to Hanover. My hope is that they take as much information back with them as they can, particularly our safety initiatives like not tackling in practice."

Tillman-Brooks, originally from Chesapeake, Virginia, currently lives in New Braunfels, Texas, and has an extensive background in football. From 2000-03, she played in the Women's Professional Football League before beginning her coaching career the following year. "Coach SoHo" spent nine seasons with the Austin Outlaws of the Women's Football Alliance, alternating as the offensive and defensive coordinators, before taking over as the head coach of the Austin Yellow Jackets in 2013, making her one of just two female head coaches in the Independent Women's Football League. This year she helped the Houston Energy win the IWFL Championship as a defensive coach. In addition to her professional coaching, she has coached youth football for the past five seasons.

"This coaching internship opportunity at Dartmouth is everything right now!" Tillman-Brooks said. "The chance to learn under Coach Teevens and his staff changes the look of the game for anyone who gets the opportunity to do so, and I am grateful for it."

Also hailing from Virginia, Brownson has quite the football background as well as a player on the D.C. Divas from 2010-17 in the Women's Football Alliance. She was a five-time team captain and four-time All-American as a free safety and a running back, helping the Divas win national titles in 2015 and '16. Brownson is also a two-time gold medalist (Finland in 2013, Vancouver in 2017) with Team USA Women's Football. Her coaching background extends to the high school level as she spent three falls with Mount Vernon High (where she went to school) as an assistant coach, and last summer was a college/professional personnel scouting intern with the New York Jets.

"I'm very grateful to Coach Buddy Teevens and the Dartmouth football staff for the opportunity to further my knowledge of the game of football within this prestigious program." Brownson said. "The Dartmouth program has proven dedicated to the progression of the game, and I look forward to the opportunity to learn from this incredible staff."

Dartmouth preseason camp opens up on Sunday with the first practice on Blackman Field at 2 p.m.