Jake Brown, after years and years of playing baseball and getting his feet wet coaching the game, tried to get away from it.

It didn't work.

Brown is the new head baseball coach at Taylorsville, following a two-year hiatus from the sport and a brief coaching stint at Highland High.

"I realized it's kind of got me hooked," Brown said of baseball. "It's not really something I can get away from in my life. It's been a staple forever. I thought I could live the normal life. I figured out it wasn't to be. I decided to get back in and go after it hard."

Brown, originally from Prescott, Ariz., played college ball at Yavapai, Iowa State and Texas Tech. After he was an All-Big 12 third baseman, he coached at Texas Tech, Yavapai and the University of Utah. He was away from the game for two years working at a mortgage company before he was hired by Highland last month.

Brown knew there would be some controversy with his move from Highland to Taylorsville, but Taylorsville provided an opportunity that had nothing to do with baseball. Taylorsville offered Brown a teaching position, and he'll teach U.S. and world history at the school.

At Highland, Brown said, he didn't have a teaching position and he would have worked as a paraprofessional. He said that was the deciding factor in his move, and that it was one of the most difficult decisions he's ever made.

"It really had nothing to do with baseball or any difference between Highland High School versus Taylorsville High School other than one of them was a teaching position and the other one was not a teaching position," Brown said.

Brown, 28, said he's excited to lead the Warriors, and that Taylorsville reminds him of his hometown of Prescott in that the city and school have a lot of passion for baseball.

"A place like Taylorsville, with the type of tradition they have and the success they've had in the past, it's just a real opportunity, especially for somebody like me coming out of the college ranks and looking for my first job at the high school level," Brown said. "I'm fortunate enough to come across an opportunity like this and I hope to take advantage."

e-mail: aaragon@desnews.com