Tyler Brown didn’t get the luxury of a long recruiting process this time around. He had just 15 days to sort out a college decision that would send him across the country and into a new football home.
The former James Madison defensive back chose Iowa, passing on a move with Bob Chesney to UCLA and instead betting on a fresh start in Iowa City.
“It’s just 15 days to make a life-changing decision,” Brown said during Iowa football’s team media day Aug. 14. “It’s tough, but I’m blessed and happy with this decision that I made.”
Brown arrives as one of Iowa’s 17 transfer additions, bringing two seasons at JMU with him after the Dukes reached the College Football Playoff. He’s also stepping into one of the most demanding rooms on the roster, a defensive back group anchored by veterans Deshaun Lee and Zach Lutmer and coached by defensive coordinator Phil Parker.
That part doesn’t seem to bother him. Brown said his time at JMU prepared him for change, since he played under two different defensive coordinators in two years. That kind of turnover forced him to get comfortable learning quickly and reading the game at a deeper level.
“It’s kind of easy to pick up on different teams now,” Brown said. “I feel like it’s all the same thing, just different teams … and I feel like the knowledge of the game helps a lot. I’m not thinking about the things I did when I first saw it.”
The 5-foot-10 defensive back grew up in Annapolis, Maryland, and helped lead Archbishop Spalding to back-to-back Class A championships. He was originally headed to Liberty, then flipped to James Madison after Chesney took the job in Harrisonburg.
His Iowa preseason has been interrupted a bit by a muscle sprain in training camp, which has kept him from stacking consistent day-to-day reps. Kirk Ferentz said Brown has been limited, but Parker still sees him as part of the mix.
“(He’s) a guy that we got out of the portal, and he’s doing a good job even though he’s being monitored getting back together here,” Parker said. “… I think the combination of guys we brought in are doing a good job.”
Even without a heavy workload on the field, Brown has spent plenty of time learning from Watson, Lee and Lutmer. He’s picked up on Parker’s expectations, the details of Iowa’s system and the culture inside the room.
“Those guys are way better guys off the field than on the field,” Brown said. “We have so many great conversations, not just about football, it blows your mind. They helped me as a young growing, myself.”
Brown also got an early taste of what Iowa fans can be like while the football season was still over. He was in town when the Hawkeyes’ men’s basketball team made its run to the Elite Eight, the program’s first trip there since 1987.
That experience left an impression, and it raised his expectations for what it will be like when he finally runs out in Kinnick Stadium for the first time on Sept. 5.
“It was amazing,” he said. “So many people at this place.
The atmosphere, the fans from what I’ve seen so far from that March Madness experience, just getting there has been crazy. It’s just insane.”
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