Thomas Browne vividly remembers the 1998 high school football season. He was a captain on Oakland Mills High's world-beating squad, which went on to win the class 1A championship under coach Ken Hovet.

Thirteen years later, Browne is heading back to Oakland Mills, but this time under much different circumstances. The new Scorpions head coach, who was hired in mid-February, is out to revive a program that hasn't had a winning seasons since 2003 and has won just nine total games since that 7-3 campaign. Their previous coach, Jame DiPietro, led Oakland Mills to a 5-15 record in his two seasons at the helm, although they did go 4-6 in 2010. DiPietro, however, stepped down after the season, leaving the door open for Browne's return.

After Browne graduated from Oakland Mills in 1999 he went on to play at Western Maryland College (now McDaniel). Four years later he began his coaching career as an assistant under Hovet at his alma mater. But two seasons in Hovet was caught up in a grade-changing scandal (he was later acquitted of the charges) and was let go. He immediately went over to county rival Marriotts Ridge in 2005, taking Browne with him.

Browne served as offensive coordinator under Hovet until last season, when the head coach died of kidney cancer. Browne assumed control of the program in the wake of Hovet's passing.

But the new coach didn't win a single game in his one-year stint. That, however, didn't seem to bother Oakland Mills, who gave him a shot at leading the Scorpions.

MdHigh publisher Dave Lomonico recently spoke with Browne about his new position at Oakland Mills. Below is the full transcript of their question-and-answer session.

It's exciting. Without a doubt it's something I've wanted to do since I was a kid. I've always loved high school football and Oakland Mills, so it's nice to go back to where you came from and be part of the community where you were raised. Hopefully I can make a difference.

I came into an 0-10 situation and we were 0-10 again. I realize people are going to look at my record and be skeptical. I'm fine with that.

But I'll be honest though -- one's record rarely comes up in an interview. I think there's more to a coach then his record.

As a high school coach you have to stand for certain principles. You have to realize you're a teacher in the classroom and on the field. You have to understand the entire picture. So I don't think my record is a true indication of my teaching abilities and my ability to coach and lead young men.

To be honest, I think they realized my desire to be a coach at Oakland Mills. I had a strong desire to go back to my alma mater. Also, I think they liked my plan for the student-athletes to not only be successful on the field but in the classroom. As a football coach, I have to address all three phases - dealing with students, dealing with athletes and being a teacher.

With anything, the first time you do something you realize that some things will work well and some things won't. It's like a trial-and-error type of deal.

Scheme-wise, there were some things I'd do differently on offense and defense. And I think I'll prepare a little differently, too. You have to be willing to tweak your practice plans and your routines. Finally, I realize you have to relegate more power to your assistants and trust them. At the same time, there are other assistants you can't be afraid to take power away from.

I think there is a group of kids there that are talented. We're just going to try to keep the ball rolling in the right direction after they went 4-6 last year.

Part of that is raising the level of expectations, getting a staff in place that's capable of pushing the kids every day and creating an environment where the kids want to come out and play.

Oakland Mills has a rich tradition, but that doesn't guarantee you anything. You have to raise the expectations in all aspects to get back to that.

Right now, it's getting to know the kids. I teach at a different school, so that's a little difficult right now. A big part of high school football is building relationships with your players. I'd like to be around the kids as much as possible so I can do that.

So I've been coming over before school, after school -- hoping to get the kids to buy into the program. You can't just show up in August and expect the kids to respond to a stranger. You have to break down the barriers prior to summer workouts.

Yeah, that's definitely one of the challenges. But it's a challenge I welcome. That's what makes this fun. It all goes back to what you expect out of the kids. If you set the expectations high, I think they'll respond.

I truly believe kids are kids, regardless of what kind of environment they grew up in. Kids have a desire to improve and to please. The challenge is getting them to understand the value of hard work and wanting to be apart of a successful group. I think with the high expectations we can do that.

Football consumes a lot of my time and it's very important to me. I was taught and coached in a structured, detailed environment. So I want to create that same structured, disciplined environment for the players and coaches here at Oakland Mills. It will be fun, for sure, but this isn't backyard football here.

That's impossible to know right now. I've never coached one of these kids. I'm going to run an offense and defense that fits our personnel.

I'm not a rigid guy who sticks to one system. When I was an offensive coordinator under Hovet I coached a number of different offenses; I did spread, power-I, wing-T … pretty much everything.

I met the team [in mid-February] and I think they responded well. We've already started offseason workouts. It's a little thin numbers-wise right now, but when winter sports end we should pick up some more athletes. I want to get all the kids we can out here.

But when I met the kids I told them that I don't have any preconceived notions about any of them. It's a little awkward coming in because I don't know the experience and backgrounds of the kids. But at the same time it's refreshing because you don't have any negative perceptions.

It's hard to assess at this point. I don't know much about the kids, so I can't tell what we're getting back and what we're losing. But, to be honest, I can't do anything about that anyway. I'll deal with the hand I've been dealt. I'm not going to dwell on who's coming back and who's not going to play. All I ask is that the kids work hard.

We're in the process of doing that right now. But a lot of that has to do with getting teachers in the building on your staff. So we'll see how that goes.

Ultimately you want to build a program that can compete at the county and the state level. Is that something we're going to do right away? No. But it's always going to be something we keep in the back of our minds.

But I think success, ultimately, is defined in a lot of different ways. We want to build successful individuals who move onto bigger and better things. Whether that's going to college for football or going to college for academics - we're gong to have kids contributing to society.

In terms of the games, yeah, we want to win. Otherwise, why do this? But even more important then that is developing successful young men. I was always taught at Oakland Mills that you should not only excel in the game on the field, but you should also excel in the game of life.