Brian Townsend (American football)

Brian Lewis Townsend (born November 7, 1968) is a college athletics administrator and a former American football player. He is currently an Assistant Sport Administrator at the University of Michigan. He played college football at Michigan from 1987 to 1991 and played professional football for the Cincinnati Bengals in 1992.

Athletic career
Townsend was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1968. After graduating from Cincinnati's Northwest High School, he played college football for the University of Michigan from 1987 to 1991. During his four years as a player for Michigan, Townsend had 70 tackles and 23 assists. In 2000, the Wolverine Magazine named Townsend to its Michigan Football All-Decade Team.

Townsend was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 11th round (281st overall pick) of the 1992 NFL Draft. He appeared in three games as a linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals during the 1992 NFL season.

Coaching and administration
After retiring from football, Townsend was hired as an assistant basketball coach at Northwest High School in Cincinnati. From 1998 to 2003, Townsend was the boys' basketball coach at Ann Arbor's Pioneer High School. His 1999 team won the Class A State Championship title, and Townsend compiled a record of 109-36 in six years as head coach.

From 2004 to 2007, he was an assistant basketball coach at Ohio University. In each of his last three seasons, his teams won 19 or more games. During the 2004-2005 season, his team compiled a 21-11 record and appeared in the NCAA Tournament.

In 2007, Townsend was hired as the Director of Basketball Operations for the University of Michigan. While Director of Basketball Operations, Townsend helped oversee the resurgence of Michigan basketball onto the national stage under head coach John Beilein. In 2010, he was promoted to Assistant Sport Administrator for football, men's basketball, and hockey, a position which he currently holds. In this role, Townsend works directly with Athletic Director Dave Brandon in the oversight and administration of the three sports.