Former Auburn Heisman Winner Hosts Tigers QB To Preview Upcoming Season

The Auburn Tigers’ latest starting quarterback was featured in one of the best players in the program’s history podcast leading up to his Week 1 matchup against the Baylor Bears.

Byrum Brown appeared on Cam Newton’s show “4th and 1” last Thursday as the Tiger quarterbacks from past and present spoke on Brown coming to the Plains, silencing the doubters, and the pressure of being “Auburn’s Savior.” The former Heisman winner will be in attendance for the first game of head coach Alex Golesh’s new regime, as he has been named one of the honorary captains for the 2026 Aflac Kickoff Game.

Newton began the interview asking a question that has been circling around Brown since his move to the SEC. Many sports media moguls project the Tigers not to be as successful because they do not believe Brown’s dominant and physical play style will translate from the American Athletic Conference. The former University of South Florida signal caller is confident that he can adapt to better competition.

“I’m always going to continue to play my brand of football. Obviously, being smart, maybe getting down a little bit more, get out of bounds, knowing when to hold the ball, know when to create with my legs,” Brown said. “This league is going to be one within the pocket, so just fine tuning my skills and making plays when I have to. But it’s still going to be that same physical runner you see every Saturday.”

The hate that Brown and the Tigers have been receiving online has not gone unseen. He explained how since social media is such a big part of everyone’s life now, it’s hard not to see the comments regarding the team or his throwing motion, but none of it is phasing him.

“I try not to pay attention to anything online. I know the work I put in, my teammates know the work I put in, the coaches know the work I put in. I believe in my abilities. At the end of the day, the same video came out last year when I was at USF, and it’s only blowing up now that I’m at Auburn.”

Newton, who has publicly expressed his frustration with the program in recent years, spoke directly to Brown about his aggravation towards Auburn. While he is bothered by the losses, he said the way Auburn was losing and not carrying out what the Tigers have done in history has truly bothered him. He added that fans have been fiending for something to root for and feel like they have been deprived from celebrating. After all of this, Brown said he has fully embraced the pressure that comes from being “Auburn’s savior.”

“My parents say ‘Pressure is a privilege.’ Obviously, I have had to work to earn that pressure, but just not letting it wear you down,” Brown stated. “It’s not all just me, I got some great guys around me. It’s all of us going into war every weekend, and we want the same thing, we want to win.”

Newton said that Brown has to know he is the “common denominator” at times, potentially being Superman when he needs to.

Brown and Newton then moved their focus to the 2026 season, where the Tigers open up against the Baylor Bears. The signal caller said if they stick to what they’ve been practicing, they will be set.

“Executing what we have gameplanned, knowing that like the back of our hands. I mean, going out there and dominating from the first snap to the last snap and setting the tone for the season.”

But that is not the only game Brown is excited to partake in.

“Cliche answer would be the first one, which I am 100 percent and looking forward to, but the last one really excites me. The Iron Bowl. Coach Golesh has put a big emphasis on that, every day in practice we have an Iron Bowl period and that means it's time to buckle up and go to war.”

On top of the excitement for this season, Brown told Newton why he joined his former coach on the Plains.

“Coach Golesh [came] in, I have been with him the last three years, going on four, and he has always had an immense amount of confidence in myself even when I didn’t have any after I had gotten hurt, so coming here was a no brainer…He’s exactly as he presents himself. From the first day at South Florida until right now. He demands the absolute very best out of coaches and players, and if it’s not right, he will push you. That’s a man that I can follow into battle every day.”

“Coming in here to help bring it back to the days when Cam had it jumping and things of that nature.”

Newton will be in the building week one with the Tigers as they look to flip the script on Auburn football and have their first winning season since 2020.

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