Byrum Brown has got plenty of confidence — and it's contagious
“You’re starting to see Byrum really confident in the throw game, really confident in the run game... really confident in those around him."
TAMPA, Fla. — Maybe it was the media training. Maybe it was being with his now-longtime head coach. Maybe it was just being back in Tampa.
Maybe it was the Monday night trip to Meat Market.
Whatever it was for Byrum Brown, it worked. On Tuesday at SEC Media Days, Brown handled every radio interview, every TV camera closeup, every press conference podium and every question like he had done this all before.
But, as so many media members across the conference’s landscape were quick to remind him, Auburn’s new starting quarterback had not done this all before.
He was in the SEC now, remember? All those stats he piled up over the last several seasons as the starting quarterback at USF were nice. In different ways and different cadences, he was constantly reminded that he wasn’t playing Group of Five football.
And Brown’s head coach — who was in this conference not too long ago — made it clear that there were no asterisks needed with him.
Whenever someone asked Alex Golesh what it would take for people to talk about Brown at the end of the 2026 season “as one of the best quarterbacks in the country,” the response was straight to the point.
“Yeah, well, Byrum Brown is one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and he’s shown that over the years,” Golesh said. “What has to happen for Byrum is he’s just got to continue to be him, every single day.”
The confidence radiated off of Brown on Tuesday in Tampa. It wasn’t arrogance. It wasn’t cockiness. It was true belief that he has what it takes to succeed in the SEC.
“We know we’re looking down upon,” Brown said. “But we don’t really take it any type of way. We just put our head down, go to work, be the best ‘us’ that we can be every single day. And I think that speaks for everybody that transferred.
“And we just want Auburn to be its best, and want to leave it better than we found it. And that’s the plan, bring Auburn back to where it should be. And that’s been it since Day 1. So, I can’t wait to be a leader of that.”