The 2016 NRL season was Brown's first as head coach of the Newcastle Knights. In his first two seasons at Newcastle, Brown's side collected back to back wooden spoons, finishing last on the ladder. In 2018, after Newcastle defeated Brisbane, Brown claimed at the press conference that Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett was to blame for Newcastle's problems over the last few seasons. He went on to say “I just don’t think he needs to behave like that myself but the reality is when Wayne came to town if he thought with his big head rather than his little head, I wouldn’t have had to rebuild the joint,’’. Brown went on to apologize for his remarks a few days later.