All About The Business

Heading into the 2023 football season, Donnell Brown had garnered strong reviews out of fall camp from his coaches and teammates about his work ethic and ability to make an immediate impact. Even so, the external questions about how the two-time FCS All-American linebacker’s game would translate to the Big Ten remained.

It didn’t take Brown long to squash those doubts and then some.

He recorded an interception in just his second game as a Terp—and then did it again the next week at Virginia. Brown wasn’t done there, however, recovering a fumble at Michigan State to make it three consecutive games with a turnover recorded. 

“I just needed an opportunity,” Brown said. “I knew I proved a lot at the level I was at, but it was just about proving it on a bigger level. And I feel like I’ve done that.”

To head coach Michael Locksley, Brown’s instant production came as no shock at all, despite Brown playing at Saint Francis University (PA) in the Northeast Conference (NEC) a year prior.

“No surprises,” Locksley said. “We have a track record where our evaluation process works out pretty well for us. We expected it.” 

Perhaps the only thing that did slightly surprise Locksley and the rest of the staff was the manner in which Brown’s production first came as he was recruited for his ability to get in the backfield and cause havoc rather than his ability to pick off quarterbacks. 

In recent weeks, Brown’s gotten back to that, racking up two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss in his last four games. He currently stands as the eighth-highest rated edge defender in the FBS and highest in the Big Ten via Pro Football Focus (89.6) and the fifth-highest rated edge defender in FBS in pass coverage (91.5).

But Brown’s path to reach this point of success has been a winding road.

Growing up in Upper Marlboro, Maryland and attending Riverside Baptist High School, Brown garnered some collegiate interest while in high school, including an offer from the University of Kentucky. However, his grades “weren’t up to par” at the time and Brown ended up at St. Francis in Pennsylvania. 

While there, Brown turned around his academic work—something he’s very proud of. 

“It took diligence, hard work and dedication,” he said. “I had to figure out what was actually important and realize that school was one of those things.”

Additionally, he turned himself into a star on the gridiron. After redshirting as a freshman, Brown excelled for two seasons at Saint Francis while playing in a wide variety of roles, becoming a two-time FCS All-American and the 2022 NEC Defensive Player of the Year. In that 2022 season, Brown totaled 48 tackles (31 solo), 14.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. 

“I ended up doing a lot of different roles,” Brown said. “I really tried to just do whatever the team needed and be a leader in that way.”

The FCS culture also made a lasting impression on Brown, especially the way the teams appreciate every moment. The relationships he created there with his teammates and coaches are ones that will last for life. Over Maryland’s bye weekend, Brown returned to Saint Francis to visit with his former team and watch them play at Duquesne in Pittsburgh. 

“It’s a bunch of hard-nosed, physical guys. Everybody wants to work. No one takes anything for granted there. We have limited resources, so we have to just play for each other.”

While Brown was putting up massive numbers, he was also thinking about his future steps as a football, specifically how he could best put himself in position to make it to the NFL.

“I was staying in the moment the whole time, but I was also thinking about what my next journey would be.”

The next step of his journey would turn out to be Maryland, with the combination of getting to play under Michael Locksley and being able to return close to home being too much to pass up. 

Brown, a sociology major at Maryland, impressed right off the bat. Senior offensive lineman DJ Glaze recalls their match-ups going at each other during summer workouts.

“We have some good battles, some good back-and-forth,” Glaze said.

Of course, he solidified his standing even more after his positive early returns. 

“He’s a high-motor, high-effort guy,” Locksley said. “He made plays earlier in the year in the passing game when we dropped him into coverage, but I think now you’re starting to see the skill that we expected out of him. He’s becoming a guy that people have to game plan against because he has been disruptive and created chaos plays with the sacks and the tackles for loss.”

And with that ability, Brown’s dream of eventually making it to the NFL gets closer with each passing game as he is now a staple on almost all major draft boards. 

“It’s always been my dream to be an NFL player,” Brown said. “You have doubts, but all you can do is keep believing and working hard and hopefully then it all works out. That’s been my mentality through my whole journey and that’s what I’m going to keep doing.”

Brown has no reason to change the mentality. Whether it’s playing as a kid, in the FCS, or in the Big Ten at Maryland, Brown keeps it all in perspective. 

“It kind of feels the same in a way. The way the business goes, the business is the same. The window dressing may be different, but the business of football is the same. And that’s how I like it to be.”