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Football
Perry '00, James
James Perry '00
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- james_perry@brown.edu
- Joined Brown:
- December 2018
- Alma Mater:
- Brown '00
James Perry ‘00 is in his seventh year, sixth season as the head coach of Brown football in 2025. The catalyst for two Ivy League championships at Brown, one as a player and another as an assistant coach, Perry was named the 20th head coach in program history on December 4, 2018.
With four Ivy championships to his credit overall, Perry has coached four Bushnell Cup Ivy League Players of the Year and 73 All-Ivy selections, including 37 since becoming the Bears’ head coach.
Since taking over ahead of the 2019 season, Perry has helped Brown’s offense lead the Ivy League in passing yards per game four times, and lead the league in total offense twice, while ranking in the top two four times.
In 2024, Perry was the play caller for the Bears’ offense which led the Ivy League and ranked 19th in the FCS in total offense at 421.8 yards per game, ranked ninth nationally in passing yards per game at 290.7, and had tailback Matt Childs named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
In 2023, Perry piloted the Bears to a 5-5 record, their first .500 season since 2015 and a 3-4 mark in Ivy League play, the best since 2016. Senior wide receiver Wes Rockett was named a Bushnell Cup Finalist for Ivy Offensive Player of the Year, ranked second in the Ivy League and 19th in FCS in receiving yards per game, and led the league by ranking 16th nationally in all-purpose yards per game (121.2). Quarterback Jake Wilcox led the league and ranked second nationally in both total offense (301.7) and passing yards per game (292.4). As a team, Brown led the league and ranked sixth in FCS with 300.0 passing yards per contest.
In his first season as head coach in 2019, Perry changed the direction, intensity and culture of the program with instant improvement. His offense averaged 30.0 points per game, more than doubling the scoring output from the year prior. The Bears averaged 454.4 yards of total offense, 15th best in the nation, and threw for 301.1 yards per game, 10th in the nation. He led the Bears to their first Ivy League win since 2016 and helped the running game improve to 153.4 yards per contest, up from 65.1 yards the previous season.
The momentum carried into the 2021 season when the Bears averaged 29.5 points per game, and led the Ivy League with 445.3 yards of total offense and 311.9 yards passing per game, ranking 12th, and eighth, respectively, in FCS Football in both categories. In 2022, Brown boasted the third-best passing offense in the Ivy League at 247.2 yards per game, and All-Ivy tailback Allen Smith led the league with 13 total touchdowns.
James Perry’s guidance of quarterback EJ Perry culminated with EJ winning the 2021 Bushnell Cup, being selected to participate in the 2022 NFL Combine and earn MVP honors at the East-West Shrine Bowl. A two-time First Team All-Ivy honoree, EJ led the nation in total offense as a junior in 2019 with an Ivy League record 367.8 yards per game.
Prior to returning to Brown’s sidelines, Perry spent two seasons as the head coach at Bryant, finishing the 2017 campaign on a four-game winning streak to finish 6-5 overall, and tie for second in the NEC standings at 4-2. In 2018, his Bryant squad posted a 6-5 overall record with 32.5 points per game and set a school Division I record with 56 points in its final game vs. Howard.
Perry previously spent seven seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Princeton from 2010-16. Employing a no-huddle, up-tempo style offense, Perry helped the Tigers capture two Ivy League titles in 2013 and 2016, while coaching three Ivy League Player of the Year quarterbacks in Quinn Epperly, Chad Kanoff and John Lovett. Overall, Perry coached 36 All-Ivy League offensive selections at Princeton, helping the Tigers set league records for points (43.7) and yards (511.6) per game in 2013.
A 2000 graduate of Brown with a bachelor of arts degree, Perry was named the Ivy League Player of the Year, a Walter Payton Award Finalist and won the Bulger Lowe Award as the Outstanding Offensive Player in New England as a senior. A three-time First Team All-Ivy selection, Perry was also named the New England Football Writers Gold Helmet of the Year Award recipient after throwing for 3,255 yards and 27 touchdowns and leading the Bears to their second league title in school history in 1999. He posted a 23-7 record as a three-year starter at quarterback.
A graduate of Malden Catholic High and native of Andover, Massachusetts, Perry graduated holding virtually every Brown and Ivy League passing record, including passing yards in a season (3,255) and career (9,294), completions in a season (309) and career (789), touchdown passes in a game (6) and career (74), and total offense in a career (9,236). He threw for over 400 yards in a game six times during his career. Perry was inducted into the Brown Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.
James and his wife, Abby, a Brown graduate, have three children, Samuel, Nathaniel and Rosemary.
Ivy League Championships
1999: Brown, Student-Athlete
2008: Brown, Quarterbacks Coach
2013: Princeton, Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks Coach
2016: Princeton, Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks Coach
HEAD COACHING RECORDS
COACHING TIMELINE
With four Ivy championships to his credit overall, Perry has coached four Bushnell Cup Ivy League Players of the Year and 73 All-Ivy selections, including 37 since becoming the Bears’ head coach.
Since taking over ahead of the 2019 season, Perry has helped Brown’s offense lead the Ivy League in passing yards per game four times, and lead the league in total offense twice, while ranking in the top two four times.
In 2024, Perry was the play caller for the Bears’ offense which led the Ivy League and ranked 19th in the FCS in total offense at 421.8 yards per game, ranked ninth nationally in passing yards per game at 290.7, and had tailback Matt Childs named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
In 2023, Perry piloted the Bears to a 5-5 record, their first .500 season since 2015 and a 3-4 mark in Ivy League play, the best since 2016. Senior wide receiver Wes Rockett was named a Bushnell Cup Finalist for Ivy Offensive Player of the Year, ranked second in the Ivy League and 19th in FCS in receiving yards per game, and led the league by ranking 16th nationally in all-purpose yards per game (121.2). Quarterback Jake Wilcox led the league and ranked second nationally in both total offense (301.7) and passing yards per game (292.4). As a team, Brown led the league and ranked sixth in FCS with 300.0 passing yards per contest.
In his first season as head coach in 2019, Perry changed the direction, intensity and culture of the program with instant improvement. His offense averaged 30.0 points per game, more than doubling the scoring output from the year prior. The Bears averaged 454.4 yards of total offense, 15th best in the nation, and threw for 301.1 yards per game, 10th in the nation. He led the Bears to their first Ivy League win since 2016 and helped the running game improve to 153.4 yards per contest, up from 65.1 yards the previous season.
The momentum carried into the 2021 season when the Bears averaged 29.5 points per game, and led the Ivy League with 445.3 yards of total offense and 311.9 yards passing per game, ranking 12th, and eighth, respectively, in FCS Football in both categories. In 2022, Brown boasted the third-best passing offense in the Ivy League at 247.2 yards per game, and All-Ivy tailback Allen Smith led the league with 13 total touchdowns.
James Perry’s guidance of quarterback EJ Perry culminated with EJ winning the 2021 Bushnell Cup, being selected to participate in the 2022 NFL Combine and earn MVP honors at the East-West Shrine Bowl. A two-time First Team All-Ivy honoree, EJ led the nation in total offense as a junior in 2019 with an Ivy League record 367.8 yards per game.
Prior to returning to Brown’s sidelines, Perry spent two seasons as the head coach at Bryant, finishing the 2017 campaign on a four-game winning streak to finish 6-5 overall, and tie for second in the NEC standings at 4-2. In 2018, his Bryant squad posted a 6-5 overall record with 32.5 points per game and set a school Division I record with 56 points in its final game vs. Howard.
Perry previously spent seven seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Princeton from 2010-16. Employing a no-huddle, up-tempo style offense, Perry helped the Tigers capture two Ivy League titles in 2013 and 2016, while coaching three Ivy League Player of the Year quarterbacks in Quinn Epperly, Chad Kanoff and John Lovett. Overall, Perry coached 36 All-Ivy League offensive selections at Princeton, helping the Tigers set league records for points (43.7) and yards (511.6) per game in 2013.
A 2000 graduate of Brown with a bachelor of arts degree, Perry was named the Ivy League Player of the Year, a Walter Payton Award Finalist and won the Bulger Lowe Award as the Outstanding Offensive Player in New England as a senior. A three-time First Team All-Ivy selection, Perry was also named the New England Football Writers Gold Helmet of the Year Award recipient after throwing for 3,255 yards and 27 touchdowns and leading the Bears to their second league title in school history in 1999. He posted a 23-7 record as a three-year starter at quarterback.
A graduate of Malden Catholic High and native of Andover, Massachusetts, Perry graduated holding virtually every Brown and Ivy League passing record, including passing yards in a season (3,255) and career (9,294), completions in a season (309) and career (789), touchdown passes in a game (6) and career (74), and total offense in a career (9,236). He threw for over 400 yards in a game six times during his career. Perry was inducted into the Brown Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.
James and his wife, Abby, a Brown graduate, have three children, Samuel, Nathaniel and Rosemary.
Ivy League Championships
1999: Brown, Student-Athlete
2008: Brown, Quarterbacks Coach
2013: Princeton, Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks Coach
2016: Princeton, Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks Coach
HEAD COACHING RECORDS
| Season | School/Team | Overall | Pct. | Conference | Conf. Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | Bryant | 12-10 | .545 | 6-6 | .500 |
| 2019 | Brown | 2-8 | .200 | 1-6 | .143 |
| 2020 | Brown | - | - | - | - |
| 2021 | Brown | 2-8 | .200 | 1-6 | .143 |
| 2022 | Brown | 3-7 | .300 | 1-6 | .143 |
| 2023 | Brown | 5-5 | .500 | 3-4 | .429 |
| 2024 | Brown | 3-7 | .300 | 2-5 | .286 |
| at Brown | 5 Seasons | 15-35 | .300 | 8-27 | .229 |
| Total | 7 Seasons | 27-45 | .375 | 14-33 | .298 |
COACHING TIMELINE
| Season | School/Team | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Dartmouth | Assistant QBs and WRs Coach |
| 2002-2003 | Williams | Quarterbacks Coach/Recruiting Coordinator |
| 2004-2005 | Maryland | Graduate Assistant |
| 2006 | Delaware | Assistant Coach, Running Backs |
| 2007-2009 | Brown | Assistant Coach, Quarterbacks |
| 2010-2016 | Princeton | Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach |
| 2017-2018 | Bryant | Head Coach |
| 2019-pres. | Brown | Head Coach |
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