Keyjuan Brown stuck with Chris Barclay, and now it's paying off

Over a year and some change ago, Louisville running back Keyjuan Brown had played his last game in a Cardinals uniform. 

He was headed to Boise State out of the transfer portal, a place where Ashton Jeanty was just a Heisman trophy finalist and became a first-round NFL Draft Pick at his position. Because of that, no one could blame Brown had he wound up a Bronco, especially since freshman All-American Isaac Brown was still ahead of him on the depth chart at Louisville. 

At the time, it seemed like the 5-foot-10, 215-pound redshirt sophomore was the odd one out in a group that was one of the most talented in the ACC. But in the end, relationships prevailed, and Brown ended up backing out of his commitment to Boise less than a week after announcing, and from then on, there’s been no looking back.

At this point, it seems like ‘Bama,’ nicknamed after his birth state, will always remain behind one of his best friends and one of the best players in all of college football on the depth chart. Although he’s never thought of it that way, and his coaches haven’t either.

“They gotta deal with both of us,” said Brown. “Well, they gotta deal with all the running backs, he corrected. 

He likely made sure to mention all the running backs because Braxton Jennings, a former walk-on from Ashland, Kentucky, sat right next to him and had recently been put on scholarship. Jennings’ 113-yard, 20-carry game in the Governor’s Cup win over UK was one of the more memorable performances of last season and a true testament to what the program has been able to establish in terms of continuity of talent. 

There may not be a position room that has succeeded more than the Louisville running backs over the last three seasons. In Brohm’s and running backs coach Chris Barclay’s first year at Louisville after coming over from Purdue, they coached up two NFL-caliber players in Jawhar Jordan and Isaac Guerendo. Before that, Barclay had already sent backs to the league like wide receiver-convert Tyrone Tracy, but also consistently did more with less.

Now at the U of L, the former pro has built a strong bond with his players, while also coaching up players down on the depth chart, like Braxton Jennings and Shaun Boykins Jr., to meet the challenge when their number is called. 

“Some guys may only coach one or two people, but I try to coach the whole room. I don’t know who I’m going to need and when I’m going to need them. And I think you saw a testament to that towards the end of the season when my top three backs were out in the Governor’s cup, and I had two kids go for 100 yards apiece. That might not happen in other rooms if they’re not being taught and developed. That’s something I’ve always taken pride in,” Barclay told the media. 

Barclay is a well-proven and likely over-qualified position coach at Louisville. He’s recruited running backs at a high level for a long time, and seems to continue finding the right pieces to mold the group into what he sees it as. 

There’s also much to be said of the Cardinals’ investment in the running back room over the last two years. Had Louisville not retained a player like ‘Bama,’ that later half of the schedule when the team was dealing with injuries may have looked a lot different. Not to mention, Duke Watson, who entered last season as the two in the one-two punch along with Isaac Brown, slipped through the cracks after an early-season injury. He’s now onto the next thing at UCF, and another example of the recent depth the Cards have had at running back. 

“It’s been a long relationship,” Brown said this week. “I committed to him (Barclay) when he was at Purdue, and when he left, I packed up and came here with him. ‘Cause I trust him, and I trust that he’ll put me in the situation I need to get to the next level.” 

It looks like Brown is headed in that direction. Fighting through his own injuries last season and in 10 games last fall, he was second on the team in rushing with 704 yards and six touchdowns. Still, the South Atlanta product has areas where he feels he can improve.

“One thing I’m really trying to get better at is the explosive plays,” said Brown. “Just trying to put more on tape, like the long runs, to show that I can really run.” 

In today’s day and age, where players are quickly swayed to follow a paper trail instead of seeing their initial opportunity through and sticking with those that show initial belief, there’s something impressive about the patience Brown has shown. 

“That kid means everything to me, he’s the one that I’ve known most in the room, he’s the oldest in the room…I told some folks the other day…in many ways, Bama’s, he’s my blankie, he can do it all,”  Barclay said of Brown equating him to his daughter’s blanket that she can’t go anywhere without. 

At the end of the day, it’s been Bama’s reliability and consistency that have helped him stand out in a room full of pros over the last three years — now he’s standing out because he’s one of them.

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