Isaac Brown holds the reins to Louisville's dream season
When the short, quiet kid from Homestead, Florida, arrived on campus, there weren’t many who expected Isaac Brown to be Louisville’s most prolific freshman since Lamar Jackson.
In all, there aren’t many collegiate players whose names belong in the same sentence as Jackson’s — a two-time NFL MVP and three-time All-Pro member, not to mention his 2026 Heisman Trophy-winning season in the Ville.
But, from one South Florida kid to the other, Brown might be the closest a player in the Red and Black has been to national stardom since Jackson became a Baltimore Raven.
In 2024, the Homestead, Florida, native came in as a 19-year-old kid and exited as one of the youngest, yet most exciting players in all of college football. Brown broke Jackson’s freshman rushing record, eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark and scoring 11 touchdowns on the ground. The running back earned ACC Rookie and Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and was tabbed by the Football Writers Association of America as a Freshman All-American.
For what he’s become, or, rather, become known as, it’s hard to believe that 12 months ago today, no one would have expected this for the 5-foot-9 teen who weighs 190 pounds when soaking wet. Of course, except for Brown himself.
But it wasn’t supposed to be this way.
Coming into the 2024 season, running backs coach Chris Barclay and head coach Jeff Brohm had a good problem on their hands.
The room was deep, competitive, and had a nice mix of experience and youth, which would be able to propel the Cards’ rushing attack throughout the grueling season. Both Maurice Turner and Donald Chaney were expected to make up the one-two punch in the backfield, but as Turner suffered an ankle injury and Brown, who started with the third team last August, quickly asserted himself as the best back on the roster, they lost opportunities. The two went portaling and will finish their college careers elsewhere.
So, in came the freshman Brown, short, stocky, but with a burst of lightning once he hits a hole, taking the Louisville football program and ACC by storm.
As just a three-star out of high school, he was overlooked because of his size. Rivals tabbed him as the No. 546-ranked player in his class and the No. 42-ranked running back. Well, as the season showed, Brown wasn’t just a top-five freshman back, but he was a top running back in the nation. And his size may have become his greatest weapon on the gridiron.
With a low center of gravity and powerful, meaty legs, he’s almost impossible to take down when he has a head of steam. His high school track background not only means he’s fast, but also elusive and athletic. Brown qualified for the state’s long jump event as a 10th grader and posted a 22-foot, 8.5-inch jump as his career-best. For what it’s worth, that mark would have placed him in the top 50 nationally among collegiate men’s long jumpers in 2025.
It wasn’t long before the U of L coaching staff saw what they had in the talented playmaker.
His 1,173 yards on the ground were 24th-best in college football, and he was also 16th nationally in yards per carry — notably behind his fellow freshman back, Duke Watson, in the latter. Brown carried for over 100 yards in three of his first college football games.
Not to jump the gun, but there’s a little Tyreek Hill and a little Barry Sanders in his game, that mix of speed and strength despite coming across as diminutive at first glance.
Last season, Brown did what he knows best: just run.
“Last year, I was just out there running,” said Brown. “Now, I feel like the game has slowed down more.”
With things moving at a different pace, Brown has shown this fall camp that he’s improved as a pass-blocker, can diagnose and read the defense better, and has started picking up on linebacker and safety rotation presnap.
The noise surrounding Brown and his approaching sophomore season is impossible to ignore. He’s been named to several preseason award watch lists and All-American teams.
“It’s hard because I’ve got a lot of pressure; they want me to perform how I performed last year, so I’ve got a lot on my shoulders.”
Barclay shares a different sentiment when it comes to the emerging pressure.
“I tell him, ‘don’t worry about that’, we try to focus on this year. We don’t focus on what happened last year,” said Barclay. “He talks about that, but we’ve had many conversations that there is no pressure. We just gotta go out and play one play at a time…it’s almost like this is starting over from scratch…he’s a young guy, and there’s people in his ear and things like that, but we just stay on him and communicate with him.”
At the end of the day, taking each rep as it comes is the best thing for him.
But Brown’s confidence has never wavered. It’s not who Brown is. And he’ll meet the expectations with the ultimate goal to surpass them.
“Since high school, my sophomore year has always been my best year. So I feel like going into my sophomore year, I’ll be able to know the plays and everything’s moving slow for me now. So, I’ll be able to communicate…what I see on the field and off the field,” Brown said earlier this month.
Still, the Floridian shouldn’t expect his second year in college to be any easier than his first. Defenses will be keyed in on No. 1 in red, and he’ll have to be more patient, allowing his blocks to set up. The front-seven box he sees presnap will be heavy, but it’s the feather-like Brown who’s tasked with breaking the barrier and getting into the secondary.
We’ll see several Isaac Brown first-down and touchdown celebrations this fall; we may even see another “night night” like he did in the win at Clemson. But Brown’s night won’t be the one ending. In fact, it’s just beginning.
He’ll have the expectations with the talent to back them up, but in all, the 5-foot-9 sophomore from Florida is just scratching the surface and is still in the exposition of his story to stardom.
It’s not just Brown with expectations, but Louisville football as a whole, that holds a massive weight and pressures this preseason. It’s year three of the Brohm era, and after back-to-back nine-win seasons, it’s ACC Championship Game, College Football Playoff or bust for the Cardinals.
With Brown’s chance to rise into the national conversation as one of college football’s best, his teammates at Louisville have a chance to crash the party.
But, as the best running back in the ACC and one of the best in all of college football, know it’ll be Brown getting the first invite.
“Push us to the limit, because the sky’s the limit,” he said. “We wanna make it to the playoffs.”
