AMHERST – If Kevin Brown had it his way, he wouldn’t have been at UMass.
Brown initially pledged to play football at Rhode Island and signed his letter of intent to line up in the backfield for the Rams. But circumstances forced Brown to take the fall semester off and he de-committed from Rhode Island and re-opened his recruitment. Walt Bell was hired at UMass on Dec. 3, and two weeks later, Brown signed to play for the Minutemen.
In his ideal world, Brown wouldn’t have taken the fall semester off, although it did give him the opportunity to work on his physique while not playing football. Yet he has made the most of his chance with UMass after enrolling in school for the spring semester in order to participate in spring practice.
“I definitely do like it,” Brown said. “It gets me a good jump on the playbook, learning everything, getting a better relationship with the coaches and my teammates around me. Transitioning here early was probably one of the better things that I’ve chosen to do.”
Brown was one of the first freshmen Bell targeted when he was hired as coach, partly because of how well the Everett High School graduate fit into the offensive scheme the new coach was planning to implement. The 225-pound back is the bruising downhill runner UMass lacked on its roster after losing senior Marquis Young and redshirt junior Jordan Fredericks off last year’s roster.
Even while being dinged up during spring practice, it was evident to see the power and speed combination Brown can provide to the Minutemen in the backfield.
“When he’s truly, fully healthy and in great shape, he’s going to be really good player for us,” Bell said. “He’s a 230-pound guy who’s really tough to tackle. He’s a guy who’s really hard to get on the crowd and he offers that physical presence, especially when he can get north-south and keep his shoulders square. Especially with what we do, he’s got a chance to be a great system fit and a really great player in the future.”
The first step in Brown’s transition was getting used to the uptempo pace UMass pushes during its practice. There is rarely any time to stand around as the action buzzes around the field, which is an adjustment for all the players, but especially those making the jump from high school. Even though Brown said he thought Everett played fast, he has had to put extra time into getting himself in better shape to execute in the new offense.
“At Everett High, the game is fast,” Brown said. “When I got here, a lot of guys were telling me that college is a lot faster than it is (in high school). I have to do a lot of conditioning on my own because once that signals comes in, you have to be ready to go and you have to know exactly what you’re doing at a fast rate because we play as fast as possible.”
Despite being one of the youngest players on the field as one of only two incoming freshmen to enroll early – former Everett teammate Helber Fagundes is the other – Brown has impressed the coaches with his approach to the game. Running backs coach Fredi Knighten said Brown’s attitude and commitment to improvement has allowed Brown to stand out on the field and in the locker room.
“One thing about Kevin is he loves football,” Knighten said. “He’s always in the building talking about how he can get better, if he messes up, he’ll come back the next day and try to fix it. He loves ball and anytime you have a guy who loves ball, he’s going to do the things he needs to do to fix those mistakes. … He’s coming in, he’s bringing a new attitude, some physicality to our room that we desperately need, somebody who’s not going to be afraid to thump it up in there.”
Indeed, Brown said his physicality is the strength of his game and a reason why he felt he was a good fit for UMass. He said he takes pride in being able to run between the tackles and protect the quarterback, two very important roles for the running back in Bell’s quick-fire system.
“One of my strengths is I’m really a downhill runner, I’m an A-gap, B-gap, C-gap person,” Brown said. “We run a lot of inside zones, so that’s really good for me getting downhill. Also picking up blocks, so the receivers can get the ball and the quarterbacks have a nice, tight pocket. It really works in well with my game being at 225 (pounds), I’m able to pick up blocks and still be able to run downhill.”