The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
How Spencer Brown Became UAB’s Rushing King
10/13/2020 1:28:00 PM | Football
BIRMINGHAM – It was the summer of 2016 and there were hundreds of high school hopefuls looking to impress the UAB coaches at the annual Bill Clark Summer Camp.
As he normally does, Clark was keeping an eye on all the different groups until an assistant approached him and said, "Coach, you have to come look at this kid."
There stood Spencer Brown, a 6-foot, 235-pound linebacker from nearby Mortimer Jordan, who dabbled in some running back out of necessity as a junior. After running a 4.5 40 over, and over, and over again, it was all the coaches needed to see.
An under-the-radar recruit despite putting up massive numbers as a senior, Brown turned heads in the weight room during his first summer conditioning at UAB. It took the coaching staff about three days into 2017 fall camp to realize Brown needed to be moved off of the scout team after consistently running through the starting defense, and onto the starting offensive unit.
It's a good thing they did.
Brown became the face of the program after rushing for 1,329 yards and 10 touchdowns in UAB's inaugural season after the shutdown. He was UAB's first-ever FWAA Freshman All-America honoree and an easy choice for Conference USA Freshman of the Year.
His sophomore season featured Brown setting the school record for rushing touchdowns (16), total touchdowns (17) and single season points (102). Brown guided the Blazers to an 11-3 overall record and the program's first Conference USA Championship and bowl game victory. He was the C-USA Championship Game MVP and finished his sophomore year with 1,227 rushing yards to cap off back-to-back 1,000 yard campaigns to begin his career.
His junior year was not what he expected. An injury-plagued season resulted in Brown missing five games, but he still managed to compile 566 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Despite the reduced production, Brown became UAB's career rushing leader just four games into the season and was also the first player in school history to rush for over 3,000 career yards.
Yet it wasn't good enough for Brown – and that is when the transformation happened.
That season motivated Brown to make changes off the field, specifically to his diet as playing at 235 pounds was self-admittedly not sustainable. Brown lost 20 pounds in the off season in hopes of becoming more dynamic and explosive.
That brings us to present day as UAB prepares for WKU this Saturday. Brown is having the best season of his career, averaging 112.5 rushing yards per game. He has 450 yards and five touchdowns already this season, and has rushed for over 100 yards in three of four games.
Brown became UAB's career leader in rushing touchdowns when he reached paydirt for the 36th time at South Alabama. That became his third career rushing record, along with career yards (currently 3,572) and career 100-yard rushing games (currently 16). He is also rapidly approaching the total touchdown record as he needs three more to complete the clean sweep of records broken at UAB.
Not only will Brown go down as one of the best to ever wear the Green and Gold, but he is cementing himself as one of the greatest in league history. With 144 yards last time out against UTSA, Brown moved into 14th place in Conference USA history for career rushing yards. He is also one rushing touchdown shy of cracking the Top 15 in league history in that category as well.
Brown has led UAB to 31 wins since 2017 – the most of any team in Conference USA during that time span. He has already left a legacy as an all-time Blazer great, but there is much more to play for down the stretch of his final season as a Blazer.
And to Brown, winning another championship is all that matters, because to him, the records never did.
As he normally does, Clark was keeping an eye on all the different groups until an assistant approached him and said, "Coach, you have to come look at this kid."
There stood Spencer Brown, a 6-foot, 235-pound linebacker from nearby Mortimer Jordan, who dabbled in some running back out of necessity as a junior. After running a 4.5 40 over, and over, and over again, it was all the coaches needed to see.
An under-the-radar recruit despite putting up massive numbers as a senior, Brown turned heads in the weight room during his first summer conditioning at UAB. It took the coaching staff about three days into 2017 fall camp to realize Brown needed to be moved off of the scout team after consistently running through the starting defense, and onto the starting offensive unit.
It's a good thing they did.
Brown became the face of the program after rushing for 1,329 yards and 10 touchdowns in UAB's inaugural season after the shutdown. He was UAB's first-ever FWAA Freshman All-America honoree and an easy choice for Conference USA Freshman of the Year.
His sophomore season featured Brown setting the school record for rushing touchdowns (16), total touchdowns (17) and single season points (102). Brown guided the Blazers to an 11-3 overall record and the program's first Conference USA Championship and bowl game victory. He was the C-USA Championship Game MVP and finished his sophomore year with 1,227 rushing yards to cap off back-to-back 1,000 yard campaigns to begin his career.
His junior year was not what he expected. An injury-plagued season resulted in Brown missing five games, but he still managed to compile 566 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Despite the reduced production, Brown became UAB's career rushing leader just four games into the season and was also the first player in school history to rush for over 3,000 career yards.
Yet it wasn't good enough for Brown – and that is when the transformation happened.
That season motivated Brown to make changes off the field, specifically to his diet as playing at 235 pounds was self-admittedly not sustainable. Brown lost 20 pounds in the off season in hopes of becoming more dynamic and explosive.
That brings us to present day as UAB prepares for WKU this Saturday. Brown is having the best season of his career, averaging 112.5 rushing yards per game. He has 450 yards and five touchdowns already this season, and has rushed for over 100 yards in three of four games.
Brown became UAB's career leader in rushing touchdowns when he reached paydirt for the 36th time at South Alabama. That became his third career rushing record, along with career yards (currently 3,572) and career 100-yard rushing games (currently 16). He is also rapidly approaching the total touchdown record as he needs three more to complete the clean sweep of records broken at UAB.
Not only will Brown go down as one of the best to ever wear the Green and Gold, but he is cementing himself as one of the greatest in league history. With 144 yards last time out against UTSA, Brown moved into 14th place in Conference USA history for career rushing yards. He is also one rushing touchdown shy of cracking the Top 15 in league history in that category as well.
Brown has led UAB to 31 wins since 2017 – the most of any team in Conference USA during that time span. He has already left a legacy as an all-time Blazer great, but there is much more to play for down the stretch of his final season as a Blazer.
And to Brown, winning another championship is all that matters, because to him, the records never did.
Players Mentioned
RB
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