Receiver Barion Brown has speed and athleticism to play as freshman

Barion Brown is a four-star receiver but could also potentially be a big-time collegiate defensive back. (Twitter Photo)

He won eight Tennessee state high school track championships, including the 100- and 200-meter dashes in 2021 and 2022. He had about 30 football scholarship offers including Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Penn State, Tennessee and Texas A&M.

So is Barion Brown a football player who also runs track or a track star who also happens to play football?

“He is a football player who runs track,” said Nashville Pearl-Cohn High School  track and field coach Andre Davis, who is also an assistant football coach. “He has natural speed that translates from football to track to football. He’s always had the speed but for the last four years we’ve worked on mechanical things with his running to make him more efficient and that has also helped him in football.”

The 6-2, 175-pound Brown, a four-star receiver, surprised some when he signed with Kentucky in December. He had 25 catches for 372 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 756 yards and seven touchdowns last season. 247Sports ranked him as the nation’s ninth best receiver and 68th best overall player. He was named Tennessee’s Class 4A Mr. Football.

Davis said he talked often with Brown during his recruitment about what would make him feel comfortable and at home. Kentucky did the best job of making the four-star recruit feel at home.

“The coaches treated him like family. They built that bond with him, kept it straight and stayed on him. When he was up there and around other players, they took him in,” Davis said. “He fell in love with the atmosphere. He’s a star player but he’s really family oriented and that played a big role in his decision. His mom, dad, granny were at every football game, every track meet. This way he’s still close to them.”

Kentucky needs playmakers at receiver and Davis believes Brown, who will get to UK next week, “definitely” could play this season.

“He has to live in the playbook and learn what they want him to do,” Davis said. “Physically and mentally, he believes he can play at that level (this year). I know he can do it. I just tell him he has to make gradual progress. He has the athleticism and ability to be able to play from day one. The nuances to play at that level, he’s got to study and learn but there’s no doubt he has the ball skills and speed to do it.”

Not every freshman can handle the physicality of college football, especially in the Southeastern Conference. However, Brown was a two-way player and started at defensive back.

“He is hard-nosed, tough. He loves to block and play physical. He loves to hit and tackle,” Davis said. “He really loves contact. He’s the total package. He has always had speed. That helped get him to where he is. But the main thing about the kid is he is a hard worker. He worked on his routes and releases to utilize that speed. He’s a natural athlete.”

Davis believes Brown could play in the secondary in college — and so do a lot of college coaches.

“He went both ways for us and I think he could be one of the top defensive backs in the country if he went that route in college,” Davis said. “He has some tools that could translate to the other side of the ball very easily. He is a true two-way player. I think he likes offense where he gets to score and run routes because he’s really good at it. But there’s no doubt he has the speed, ball skills and closing speed to play in the secondary if that was what he wanted to do.”

“It was just a blessing for us to have him around. Once he gets to Kentucky, he’s going to take his game to another level once he gets in the weight room, gets a nutritionist and sees what it is like to play at that level.”