Popular QB Coach Amazed With Auburn's Byrum Brown: 'Really Special'

Despite working with plenty of other top collegiate quarterbacks across the country, coach Jordan Palmer sees something unique with Auburn's starting quarterback.

Auburn Tigers quarterback Byrum Brown (17) has shown off his work ethic over the offseason ahead of his first season in the SEC. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

When it comes to the SEC, most believe that teams like Alabama, Texas or Georgia will dazzle the competition. However, notable quarterback trainer Jordan Palmer, thinks the Auburn Tigers could be special next season. 

And it starts at quarterback with USF transfer quarterback Byrum Brown. 

“I think one of the biggest storyline this year is going to be Byrum Brown and a Heisman run every week because how productive he is,” he said. 

The two worked together over the course of the offseason, as the former Bull was making his move to the Plains to join head coach Alex Golesh. However, Palmer saw a different type of work ethic with a blend of maturity, understanding where his feet are and where he wants to go. 

“I did start to notice it was something different when people started saying things like, ‘The best kid I’ve ever been around’ from coaches, or ‘The most humble star player,’” Palmer said. “I started hearing the most and the biggest from coaches and really good players, so I was really intrigued in the beginning.”

When the duo began to train together, Brown would cancel visits back to Auburn to continue to workout with Palmer. Then, when the quarterback went on a scheduled vacation to Cabo, he continued to send his coach videos of weighted ball training, making sure he had the technique and feedback correct. 

Palmer also notes that from what Brown was able to achieve in recent seasons against SEC opponents, like USF’s upset win over Florida at the beginning of the 2025 season, he doesn’t understand why the outside media continues to doubt the quarterback after proving he’s been productive in years past. 

It’s why he believes that Auburn could be considered a sleeping giants next season in the first season of the Golesh era. 

“I don’t think anybody sees Auburn coming,”  he said. “These rankings, these conversations, the chatter, I don’t think anybody sees Auburn coming. Being out there, seeing what’s going on, being other places, I think this could be a really special year and a fun time to be an Auburn Tiger fan.”

That will start with Brown, who even got a physical comparison to the last Auburn player to win the Heisman trophy: Cam Newton. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound quarterback has had two seasons with over 3,000 passing yards and 800 rushing yards, and those numbers alone, if replicated in the SEC, will have Brown consistently on the Heisman watch list across 2026. 

However, Palmer brings up another interesting point: a team’s buy-in. That’s what Golesh has emphasized over the course of his first offseason as the Auburn head coach. Players replicating that type of mentality will help the program take off in its first season. 

Of course, that will begin with the Tigers’ starting quarterback, and Brown has already done so in his first year on the Plains. 

“That’s really hard to do at the professional level, let alone at the collegiate level, and you need a dynamic playmaking-leader quarterback who’s accountable and does everything right,” Palmer said. “It’s kind of the only way that works. . .I think they have more than that.”