Barion Brown was a role model for younger athletes in high school. (Twitter Photo)
Barion Brown is one of three extremely fast freshmen receivers joining Mark Stoops’ team along with Jordan Anthony and Brandon White. Brown might not be quite as fast as the other two but he did win Tennessee state titles last month in the 100, 200 and 400-meter dashes.
Nashville Pearl-Cohn track and field coach Andre Davis, who is also an assistant football coach for the Firebirds, says track speed and running routes with speed on the football field goes hand in hand.
“We teach him how to run, breathe and stay relaxed. That works for track and football,” Davis said.
Any chance Brown might also try to run track at Kentucky?
“I am sure if given the opportunity he would,” Davis said. “He may want to do it in the offseason to stay in shape. There’s no doubt he has some natural talent to take to the college level in track, too. I would love to see him do it and I am sure he would go for it if given a chance because he knows he has room to grow and be even faster.”
Pearl-Cohn won the girls state team title while the boys finished second in the state meet. Davis coaches both teams and said Brown had a direct/indirect leadership impact on everyone.
“We practice together … sprinters, middle distance, everybody. Boys and girls do the same workouts,” the coach said. “They could all see his work ethic. He was a football all-American but they could see this kid works harder than everybody else, so why am I not working that hard. It was contagious.”
“The great thing is he never complains. He was on my first state (track) championship team in 2019. This year he was the only senior on the team. If I was not there, he could take the group and do the workout. He just has natural leadership ability. He really had nothing else to prove other than trying to prove.”
“Just having this older guy who was a celebrity to look up to really helped our team. In high school kids gravitate to and look to the best player. He did a great job filling that role. At practice he treated it like a game and put in the work. He just has a natural aura that makes him special.”
