Wichita, Ka. - For Arthur Brown today was “D” Day; decision day for one of the most highly sought after college football prospects in the Class of 2008. Brown, the nation’s top defensive prospect, recently narrowed his choices to USC, LSU, Florida, Miami and North Carolina. The Internet and message boards have been a buzz about his decision, as fans from all five schools chimed in on why Brown would choose their team. But this was a well kept secret until a few moments ago. While at a ceremony at the Kansas Hall of Fame, Brown let the hat out of the bag and announced his college intention.
“I am going to attend school at Miami,” said Brown. "I prayed about it and felt that it was the best place for me."
This was no easy decision for Brown and his support system; his parents, younger brother (Bryce) and Brian Butler, his strength and conditioning coach and mentor (Butler operates the President of Life Training, LLC).
"Brian helps me with pretty much everything from physical training to academic help and spiritual guidance,” said Arthur Brown. “I appreciate all that he does for me."
It all started four falls ago, when Butler attended a little league game that Bryce was playing in. It was here where the Butler/Brown connection was made. “I met Mr. Brown formally in 2003 at one of Bryce's 8th grade junior league games,” explained Butler. “I was a fan of the 8th grade Cowboys, they were the best little league team that I had ever seen. I had been to about five games and had met Arthur Jr. there as well. We were already training about ten players and talked to Mr. Brown about training them (Arthur and Bryce). We met at their home and the rest is history.
“Mr. Brown has put 100% trust in me since day one. We talk daily and formally meet monthly discussing upcoming events and recruiting information. It was a natural transition and there was no formal decision on me handling things. We just made a commitment early on to be open and honest in communicating. We have stuck to that. That has made this whole thing easy. We are more like family than business partners. I trust them and they trust me. It makes things pretty simple when both parties can freely speak to one another and have earned respect and trust from each other.
“God has put this together. I could not have planned it nearly as good as it has turned out. I truly thank God for this; I call it magnetic destiny.”
During the summer of ‘06 Butler sent out highlight tapes of Brown’s sophomore year to 20 schools of interest. This is when the Butler/Brown recruiting plan was made and set in motion. The seeds were planted with these schools and this is where things really began in earnest for Brown. Recruiting just took off, as he quickly became one of the most talked about prospects in the country and a big name in the recruiting industry.
With the Class of 2007 signed and done in February, all the recruiting attention turned to the rising seniors of ‘08, players like linebacker Arthur Brown. The light shined bight on many, particularly Brown. Not often do you find one of the country’s top college football prospects from the state of Kansas. This one was different. This one is special.
“Arthur Brown's aggressiveness, strength and athleticism enable him to consistently make plays from sideline-to-sideline,” said Scout.com National Recruiting Analyst Allen Wallace. “And if today's college game is all about speed, Brown is well-suited to adjust to the college game better than most. He's basically a big defensive safety disguised as a linebacker, expecting to play on the outside at 225 pounds. He's also a student of the game, constantly challenging and pushing himself to obtain any edge possible which will help him read and react faster.”
Arthur Brown is an athletic and speedy linebacker prospect with good size. Brown, 6-1 and 225 pounds, is from Wichita (Ks.) East High School. The first thing that jumps out at you is his sheer speed, quickness and aggressiveness. Brown is a sideline to sideline 'backer in every sense of that phrase. He flies around the field with very little regard to his body or the opposition. Brown is extremely physical. He supports the run exceptional well, fills the hole and fights off blocks to find the ball. Brown shows great instincts for the position as it seems like he is turned loose on every play. Brown is the most explosive linebacker since Ernie Sims.
“I have known from the time Arthur and Bryce were babies that they were blessed with athleticism,” said Arthur and Bryce’s father, Arthur Brown, Sr. “This gift was known at an early age, age six or seven. They both have a competitive nature and dominate what ever sports they participate in. Football is one of the five sports we allowed them to participate in. It was fun for them so they enjoyed playing and learned the game at a young age.”
Things really started to take off when Butler entered the picture. The ‘magnetic destiny’ between the Browns and Butler was just that… destiny.
“When I met Brian he was training several kids at the time,” said Mr. Brown. “Brian asked me if he could work with Arthur and Bryce. He knew of them and had watched them perform on the field. Brian said they have a talent that could not be taught, that it was a gift from God. Brian told me more about his background and how he had an eye for talent and how he thought Arthur was the best linebacker he had seen play the game of football at his age. With the right training and being around a positive group of kids and the right support around him he would be the No. 1 prospect to come out of the class of 2008. His feeling was just as strong about Bryce being the No. 1 prospect from the class of 2009.
“Brian helped us come up with a plan for what we wanted to accomplish athletically. We attended camps and got more exposure in front of college coaches. He evaluated their strength and conditioning and worked on any weakness they had.”
This past summer Butler, Arthur and Bryce Brown took an academic tour of southern schools like Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, UAB, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. They had a timeline for when Brown would cut schools; June, August and today. Brown based his cuts on researching all the schools, talking with coaches, his visits and what he took from his family and Butler. He also created a spreadsheet to help in the evaluation process.
Brown officially visited Alabama, North Carolina, Miami, USC and LSU. The whole idea was to see as many schools as possible, putting a big importance on the visit regardless of whether it was official or unofficial. He cut the Crimson Tide. Florida, despite only getting an unofficial visit this past summer, made the final cut with the Trojans, (LSU) Tigers, Tar Heels and Hurricanes. All five finalists have met same criteria to make it this far; great coaching staffs, overall comfort level (at each school) and good scheme fit.
Throughout the visit process Brown decided to shut things down in talking with the media. It was here where Butler really helped out, shielding Brown from the enormous amount of phone calls and requests. “We decided from the beginning that Brian would handle the interviews,” said Brown. “He understood the time it would take for me to do them and I wanted to stay focused on school, training and evaluating the schools.”
So now Brown has decided to go to Miami. He will enroll next month and there is a good chance he sees the field extensively next season, especially getting spring practice under his belt. So how did he come to the conclusion to be a Miami?
“Our plan was that when he got down to his final schools we would fast and pray to assist in helping him make his decision,” said Butler. “We also decided that if there was any questions that his mother would be able to let him know what school he would attend (mother's intuition). We also knew that through prayer and fasting, God would give us all the same answer on what school it would be and there would be confidence from everyone.”
Brown’s younger brother Bryce will be of the most sought after players next season. He is a five-star running back prospect. There has been much talk that the younger Brown would attend the same school as big brother. I bet X would love that but they will have to earn Bryce’s signature just like they did with Arthur.
“I am not going thru my recruiting with the intentions to follow my brother,” said Bryce. “I will evaluate each school that I am interested in and follow the process that he went thru because I see how it has worked for him.”
Note - Jason Higdon co-authored this story. Thank you also to Brian Butler, the Brown family and Greg Powers from Scout.com.