MOBILE, Ala. – Sean Brown sees challenges every day.  On the field that's to be expected playing in the middle of the defensive line where he is engaging offensive linemen — whether teammates or opponents — on a near daily basis.  But off the field, he is just as willing to immerse himself in a world of computers and car engines.

"I'm into tech, that's where everything is going," says the University of South Alabama senior from Pleasant Grove, Ala.  "I like to know how things work, that's why I was in mechanical engineering first.  My 'pops' is big into computers too, when I was little he would always take apart computers and put them back together and I thought I also wanted to do that.  I like going to class and learning about different things, and I think that's probably what I'll do when football is over with."

Can Brown put a computer back together these days?  "I'm not a professional yet," he laughs.  "It can be a challenge at times, but I like a challenge."

But he can do the work required to get a car going.

"The first engine my dad and I put together was a big block, it came out of a Camaro," Brown explains.  "My dad went step-by-step with me through it, I had so much knowledge of that motor when we were done."

Which led to Brown using most of his available funds at the end of his freshman year to purchase an engine for the 1987 Fox body Mustang his father had bought.  His father and a friend helped with the fabrication of the car that originally came with a Ford motor, and ever since Brown provided the new engine — "My dad didn't know how serious I was about this car until then," he explains — they've been working on it.

"I love cars and I like to go fast, I thought I could really see myself doing this," says Brown.  "My dad does most of the work on the car up in Birmingham now, but when I am there I do what I can.  I could work on cars all day."

With most of the second half of the Jaguars' season still to be played — including this weekend's Homecoming game against nationally-ranked Appalachian State — that day will have to wait.


Football didn't always present a challenge to Brown, who began playing while growing up around the Birmingham area.  "I was really young when I started pee wee football, I think I was four or five years old, and believe it or not I was a defensive lineman and a running back.  We were passing by the field, and I looked and said that I wanted to go play with the kids who were out there.  A bunch of my friends were already playing, I just wanted to play with my friends.

"I was very much interested in baseball and basketball, I always believed I would make it to the NBA until I realized guys were 7-feet tall — I had to give that dream up quickly," adds Brown.  "One thing led to another and I'm playing football now."

It wasn't until his first year at Pleasant Grove High School when Brown had the moment that would lead him on a path that would eventually take him to Mobile.  That was when he had to face a pair of individuals who would eventually end up playing in the National Football League.

"One of them was Cory Thomas who currently is with the Dolphins and plays on the defensive line," Brown explains.  "I was a little freshman — 6-foot-1, 260 ... maybe 270 pounds — and here he was 6-foot-6 and weighing 280-290; Cory was not easy to block, he could pretty much have his way all the time.

"That was late in the season, when we got to the playoffs we played a good linebacker who was already committed to Vanderbilt, Zachary Cunningham, who plays with the Texans now," he continues.  "We had a play designed specifically for Zach called 'Gut.'  I was playing tackle that game, the guard would block out on the end and I would wrap around him and loop up to Zach.  It was a play that said 'we're here and we're coming at you all game.'  Well, Zach came down and we met one yard past the line of scrimmage.  He hit me so hard all four buckles on my helmet came loose. 

"From that play forward, I said it can't get any worse than this, so I began grinding because I didn't want to feel like that again.  I worked hard that offseason, and during 10th grade as I was getting better people started to tell me I had the potential to go and play college ball.  I kept working hard and the offers started coming in.  I am thankful for my freshman year, I don't know where I would be without it."

The next fall, Brown helped the Spartans return to the playoffs — where they would win their first-round contest — on the way to a 10-2 finish.  When he was a junior, PGHS posted a school-record 12 wins after advancing to the state 5A championship game, and by his senior year Brown earned second-team all-state as well as first-team all-conference honors.  He played on both the offensive and defensive line for the Spartans over his last two years at the prep level, but was the top-rated center in the state by Scout.com which along with 247Sports.com considered him a three-star prospect.

He was being recruited by Auburn, Mississippi State, Arkansas and Missouri, and had scholarship offers from Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Troy, Georgia State and Southern Mississippi.

"It was a very fun process, if I could go back and enjoy them again I would.  Those were fun times," says Brown.  "You get to learn a lot about schools, and more than that you get to know a lot about coaches.  If a coach really wants you, you'll know.  It can be very intriguing for a high school kid who is 17, 18 years old to have grown men telling you everything you could possibly want to hear.  After a while you can start to weed some of that stuff out and you can see what is what."

Prior to National Signing Day, Brown visited A-State before coming to Mobile for a recruiting weekend at South.

"I loved Arkansas State, they have a nice environment," he recalls.  "When I came down to South it was the same thing, and what really brought it home for me was I had a great meeting with my old defensive line coach [former assistant Brian Turner].  We hit it off, he didn't seem like just a coach; he was like a very good friend who knew football, I was very comfortable with him being my position coach.  And Mobile seemed like Birmingham except on the bay.  I felt like when I came here I could make an impact, not just in one or two games but generational.

"That's what I try to instill now in these young guys.  Obviously we are not where we want to be right now at 1-6, but as long as I am here I am going to make sure that these young guys take this program and get it where it should be.  That's my main goal."


"I didn't know what to expect.  I felt like a little fish in a very, very big pond," Brown says of coming to campus for his freshman year.  "I was really nervous, I was asking the players who were already here what do we do on this day, how do workouts go, how much do we practice?  It was a little frantic, but when I got into the swing of things it just became the norm for me."

Rather than redshirt, Brown found his way into the team's rotation on the defensive line and ended up making 12 tackles in 12 games that fall as the Jaguars earned an invitation to the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl.  That would be where he ended up making his first start at the collegiate level.  "It meant a lot, obviously bowl games are important and mean a lot to the school, the players and coaches," he says.  "If coach trusted me to go out there and start over two upperclassmen in front of me then I was going to go out there and play lights out.  I knew that I was going to have to give the team all I've got."

The tackle total would increase to 19 the following fall as Brown started on three occasions while appearing in each game.  But at the end of that season former head coach Joey Jones announced his resignation, meaning Brown and the rest of the Jaguars who were coming back were going to be playing under the direction of a different staff.

"In high school you don't really have coaching changes so it was a little bit of a shock and a lot of uncertainty," he recalls.  "But when we found out who our coaches were going to be, we had a meeting and talked about what kind of team we were going to be and what type of defense we were going to run.  After that I felt comfortable."

"The first thing that sticks out is that he looks like a football player, he has the size and the physical strength," current head coach Steve Campbell says of his initial impression of Brown.  "What you see in Sean is a big, physical player who does a great job at the point of attack.  But it also didn't take long to notice what a great young man he is, how he is a hard worker in the weight room and has become a real good leader for our football team.  He's been a leader for us up front, and with Tyree [Turner] out he has taken on an additional role and done a great job."

Last year Brown would once again see action in every game, finishing with 17 stops while recording both his first career sack and blocked kick.  He has nearly reached that total already this fall, posting 15 tackles through the team's first seven games, but more importantly has taken on a regular starting role for the first time in his time with the program.

What has Brown done to move up to the first-team his final year at the collegiate level?

"I would say it is being consistent and finding a way to take a few more risks, and it has definitely paid off," he observes.  "After a while you get a feel for the game and what the offensive line is doing, sometimes you've watched so much film you know what play is coming.  You can play sound football like you are supposed to do or go and try and make a play, it's a fine line.  [Assistant] Coach [Harland] Bower wants us to stay disciplined, but he wants us to go make plays.

"I think it is because of how I prepare and go about things, and my snap-to-snap consistency.  From my freshman year to now, I have become very detail-oriented; whatever I have to do on a play, I am going to do it.  It's an urgency to do my job, if I don't do my job I am going to die."

"Sean, along with Jeffery Whatley, is a product of this program.  This might speak to this society that we are in, kids want to jump ship after two years and it doesn't necessarily help their development as a player," explains Bower.  "Those two are perfect examples of what can happen when you stay at one place for four years and continually get better. Over the last two years, Sean has developed each and every day.

"What has he done different?  I don't think he has done anything different, he has come to work every day and continued to work hard.  He came into this year as a more of a leader with what we are doing within our scheme.  He is extremely athletic and worked really hard in the offseason to get himself prepared for this role."

And how does Bower feel when he sees Brown take one of those risks?

"The really good players like Sean have a sliding scale, so to speak," he observes.  "He can get away with some things that Gi'Narious Johnson can't just because of his experience and the way he plays.  When I see that stuff, I understand who Sean Brown is and how he is a coach on the field — he is the smartest guy out there in my opinion.  When he is doing something I know that he has a good idea of what's going on out there and what kind of block he is getting, so he can get away with doing some things differently.

"Like he says, it's a fine line."

Not only does Bower see Brown as a coach on the field, he has noticed Brown has taken on a similar role in the team's meeting room when the unit is watching film and preparing for an upcoming opponent.  Not that Brown is interested in becoming a coach.

"I don't try to be an assistant coach, it's just that I know what needs to be done," he says.  "Coach Bower played football, but sometimes the other guys might not get what he is saying.  If I say it different they can grasp it and when they put two and two together it really works out.  I think it's just offering a different perspective, and since I am out there playing with them it doesn't sound like a coach harping on them."

"It helps me a lot," adds Bower.  "He knows that is his role, he understands that is another way in which he can help.  Everybody in that room is not trying to do that to someone else, it is usually only one or two guys who have established themselves enough and have enough experience to be able to do that.  He provides a different outlook and a different voice for a younger kid.  I may say something one way, but Sean may be able to tell them from a player's perspective how to get that done; it may not be perfect from a coach's X's and O's standpoint, but at the end of the day as long as we are getting it done it's a positive."


The inquisitive instinct that has helped Brown learn how to assemble computers and car engines has come into play since he joined the program, as his observations and experiences going back to the fall of his freshman year have helped shape his approach to South's 2019 season.

"After my freshman year, when I saw the seniors and how they wanted to go out, I tried to take that approach starting my sophomore year," he explains.  "I saw how hurt they were and knew I didn't want to feel like that my senior year, so I've been trying to do it for all those guys who were here before me.  My approach this year has been the same; I want to go out and win every game and have everyone play to the best of their ability, and I want to be as efficient as possible."

"He can keep doing a great job of setting the point of attack," Campbell says of his expectations for Brown the rest of the fall.  "You have to be strong in the middle and it starts with having a big, physical nose guard you can hang your hat on.  Sean has given us that, I expect him to close out these last games with a bang.

"I think he has a chance to be an all-conference player if he continues to perform the way that he has been playing.  He's been getting better every week, I look forward to seeing him finish strong."

Perhaps there is more football in Brown's future — "If it is in God's will I want to play, I know numerous teams have asked our coaches about me," he says — and if there isn't he will have more time to spend with his friends and family.  "There is so much around football that it's very important to me to be with the people I love and care about."  And armed with a degree from South in information systems, which Brown is expected to receive in the fall of 2020, he will be prepared to take on whatever the next challenge may be.

After all, he was doing it long before arriving in Mobile.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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