Born in the Smoky Mountains of Appalachia, Edgar O. Brown was a World War I era colonel in the U.S. Army.

Following the war, he led Central College of Fayette, Missouri, to an undefeated football season as its head coach in 1919. Taking note of this achievement, President Hugh Critz hired Brown and charged him with the task of improving the Second District Agricultural School football program.

The Arkansas Gazette wrote this about E.O. Brown during his first season in Russellville: 

“Brown is the football wizard who has made a contender for the state college championship out of youngsters who are little more than high school material. He has convinced Russellville at least that as a football mentor he is equal to the task of holding his own with the well-known football tutors of the state. By degrees his team is convincing the rest of the state.”

Star quarterback John Tucker and the other members of that 1920 team did more than convince the state of their football prowess. They established an identity that persists to this day.

On November 16, 1920, Brown led the Russellville Aggies into a game against Henderson-Brown College in Arkadelphia. The Second District Ag School won the game 13-0.

The following day, when the Arkansas Gazette published its recap of the game, the headline used the name Wonder Boys as a proper noun to describe the Second District Ag School team. It was the first such usage of that moniker, and over the past 105 years the nickname Wonder Boys has become a distinctive and treasured aspect of the institution now known as Arkansas Tech University.

Referred to by his players as "E.O. the Silent," Brown continued as head football coach at Arkansas Tech through 1932. He completed his tenure at Tech with a cumulative record of 77 wins, 21 losses and 12 ties. More than nine decades after his final game on the Wonder Boys’ sideline, Brown still ranks top two in winning percentage and top three in victories among all Arkansas Tech head football coaches. He led the Wonder Boys to their first Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference football championship in 1931.

E.O. Brown's legacy is remembered at Arkansas Tech through the naming of Brown Residence Hall.