One coach who wouldn't put his name to his quote claimed that, after facing Byrum Brown when the QB was at USF last year, he doesn't feel Auburn's starting signal-caller is a first-round NFL draft prospect. There was no explanation supporting the point, but the coach claimed he wasn't a hater.
The quote ESPN's Adam Rittenberg got sure read like a hater's analysis of Brown because perhaps said coach took an L to the Bulls.
"I'm not one of these Byrum Brown haters, but I'm also not one of these guys who thinks he's a first-round [NFL draft] pick, either," said a coach who faced Brown at USF. "He's all right. I'm not enamored with the guy."
Whether the coach won or lost against Brown, we don't know. Since he didn't say it with his chest and his face and name attached, we just have to assume the worst for them. Brown might've hurt some feelings.
What are the main knocks on Byrum Brown?
As Rittenberg noted, coaches are worried about the transition to facing SEC competition and his low completion percentage.
On the first note, there's enough transferring going on at every level in the modern game to safely say the lines have been blurred a bit when it comes to the competition jump from a conference like the American to a Power 4. In certain weeks, it's possible that USF was playing SEC-caliber defenders all over the field.
The second point, the incompletions, well, that's the product of a fast-paced offense. The results spoke for themselves in Tampa, but should speak even louder with a full program buy-in all year from a program with resources like the Tigers.
Alex Golesh believes Byrum Brown has only improved
It's not as though Coach Alex Golesh wouldn't call out Brown if he wasn't making progress. Golesh fully backed Brown's attitude and improvement over the past few years. Golesh, of course, has been with Brown since the second year of his collegiate career. Brown has been Golesh's QB1 for his entire head coaching career with the Bulls and now Auburn.
"He's improved every year," Golesh told Rittenberg. "He's gotten better as a passer, he's gotten better as a leader, he's gotten better with his decision-making. The next step is just to take one more step, decision-making, understanding of defenses. He understands that it happens faster [in the SEC]. We played Bama, we played Florida, we played Miami. The game just is faster.
"But he's a kid that embraces the challenge of 'Man, what's next?'"
What's next is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for Brown to revive the entire city of Auburn and the Tigers' football program. Brown powering Golesh and Joel Gordon's first offense on the Plains to consistency and perhaps even a winning record would surely give him first-round consideration in the 2027 NFL draft's first round.
The comeback story for one of football's most tradition-rich staples would make Brown a star in the pre-draft process, especially since he will have done it behind a rebuilt offensive line that projects to be a weak spot heading into the season.
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