Brown’s Summer School Could Give Him an Edge : Football: Ex-Servite running back trained in off-season with strength and track coaches and is ready to play for Saints.

Derek Brown returned to Nebraska this summer, hoping it will help him return to form this fall.

Brown, a star running back at Servite High School, spent the summer working with strength coach Brian Bailey and track coach Steve Rainbolt. The result is a bigger, stronger, faster, and he hopes, better back for the New Orleans Saints.

“I did a lot more running than I’ve done in the past, not just on the field but on the track,” Brown said. “I had a lot of different exercises and spent more time in the weight room.”

Brown, who was 5 feet 9, 186 pounds when the Saints picked him in the fourth round in 1993, now weighs 212.

Brown lost his starting spot to Mario Bates in 1994 after a promising rookie season when he led the Saints in rushing with 705 yards in a disappointing year.

Last year, Brown was used mostly as a third-down back and provided the biggest receiving threat out of the backfield with 44 catches for 428 yards.

Although not happy with a reduced role as a runner, Brown says he can live with it.

“At first it was hard to deal with that. I’d be happy to carry the ball all the time, everyone would,” Brown said. “But I’m dealing with it. I just want to win games, and if that has to be my role, I’ll do it. I’m hoping to prove that I can do more, though.”

The added strength will help him, running backs coach Jim Skipper said. But it’s not all Brown needs to do.

“He could be having a better camp,” Skipper said. “He’s working hard and he doesn’t make mental mistakes, but he needs better techniques and he needs to hang onto the ball when he’s running.”

And he needs to keep catching the football.

There are only three running backs on the roster--Bates, Brown and Vaughn Dunbar--listed in that order on the depth chart. Dunbar, 5-10, 204, is the other small back and has had a great camp so far.

“It’s very competitive,” Brown said. “I’m glad I started working early. In this situation you have to try to get a step ahead. That’s what I’m trying to do.”