Why This Auburn Player Described QB Byrum Brown as ‘A True Leader’

There are many facets in a quarterback’s game that can make a major difference come gameday, but Auburn Tigers quarterback Byrum Brown reportedly has a quality that may stand chief among them: leadership.

Cole Best, a fellow USF transfer who joined the Auburn roster with his head coach, Alex Golesh, told Al.com recently that Brown’s leadership is above and beyond what many would expect from such a big-name quarterback.

“That guy’s got a smile on his face every day. He’s the same guy every day. He’s the first one there to lift guys up,” he said. “Anything you need. You call Byrum, you text Byrum, he’s there. And he’s a true leader. I think that’s why guys truly rally around him.”

Interestingly, Best describes all of these qualities of Brown before even referring to him as a leader, as if his being a leader is something that the team has grown used to over the course of the spring and summer, or, in Best’s case, years of playing with him.

Of course, accuracy, decision-making, strength, running ability or a host of other qualities of a quarterback’s game tend to stand out on paper, but leadership is one thing that really cannot be taught, and it is something that the Tigers have struggled to find over the past few years.

As such, when Brown first transferred to the Plains, there were many talks about if or how he would be able to lead the team, but Golesh has always had supreme confidence in his quarterback’s abilities, both on the field and as a leader.

“His comfort zone is being in the building,” Golesh said back in April. “His comfort zone is being in the film room and just learning and learning and learning and learning. Through the winter, he took a big step as a leader in terms of he was around everybody. He tried to make a huge effort from a connection piece. And I think he's trying to do that here as well. I think that'll be his biggest step.”

Brown is just as new to Auburn as many of his teammates, and yet he seems to be rising above the unfamiliarity as he leads his squad into what could very well be a new era of Auburn football.

Even though Brown seems to have stepped up in the leadership aspect, he certainly has help, especially from Tigers who have been on the Plains for multiple years. Chief among them is Jeremiah Cobb, who brings an Auburn familiarity to a running back room that otherwise has very little Auburn experience, as well as Demarcus Riddick and others on the defensive side.

Overall, leadership, though once a bit shaky, seems to no longer be an issue on the Plains.

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