How good is Barion Brown? Let Southern Miss head coach Will Hall tell you

Former top-100 recruit Barion Brown is entering a draft eligible season at Kentucky. The Nashville (Tenn.) Pearl-Cohn product has flashed glimpses of high-level playmaking through this first two years on campus. The Kentucky football program is hopeful that year three for Brown will lead to more consistency.

But we all know that returning kicks is what the speedster does best.

Barion Brown enters the 2024 season with four career kickoff return touchdowns in 32 attempts on a 31.8 yards per return average. Brown had two big performances against Louisville and Clemson to end the season when he returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and recorded five receptions for 148 yards.

Southern Miss head coach Will Hall spent six years as a Division II head coach from 2011-16 and faced off against the best speedster football has ever seen. Hall believes that Barion Brown is an elite group.

“He’s the best I’ve ever coached against,” Hall said about Brown after talking about Kentucky’s kicking game. “I’ve coached against Tyreek Hill. He’s really, really dynamic.”

In 2015, Hall’s West Georgia squad faced off against Hill’s West Alabama team. During his collegiate career that included stops at junior college, Oklahoma State, and Division II, Hill recorded five kickoff return touchdowns in 78 attempts. Brown is already on a better pace.

During Tuesday’s practice in Hattiesburg, Southern Miss got some kickoff coverage work done and admitted that the third phase will be “integral” in Week 1. Sounds like Hall and the Golden Eagles understand the assignment.

Barion Brown might not get many kickoff return opportunities on Saturday. The Golden Eagles are ready for their opportunity to compete against Brown and the rest of the Kentucky roster.

“Tremendous opponent at their venue and our guys are looking forward to it,” Hall said.

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