In an exclusive interview with The League Winners, FAU Football CB Kahzir Brown speaks about his football career and FAU’s 2024 season.
One of Florida Atlantic‘s newest additions is ready to make an instant impact in 2024. In an exclusive interview with The League Winners, cornerback Kahzir “Buggs” Brown discussed various topics regarding himself and the FAU Football heading into 2024.
Check out our EXCLUSIVE interview with @FAUFootball cornerback Kahzir "Buggs" Brown (@kahzirbrown) as he enters his first season with Florida Atlantic.
He discusses his football journey, the upcoming season with FAU, & much more with @ThomasCP_NFL & @BPok24! #WinningInParadise pic.twitter.com/yvlmsM6STM
— The League Winners (@FFLeagueWinners) July 24, 2024
Brown spoke about his football journey, and how he eventually fell in love with playing the sport.
“I was a baseball and basketball player at first. My family was a basketball family and a baseball family. I was in love with baseball since I was three, and I didn’t start playing football until I was twelve or thirteen, so I started kind of late,” said Brown.
“I kind of just gravitated toward it. It was more so about the brotherhood and stuff like that. I had an older brother, but he was not really around as much. So, I needed a brotherly love type of thing. I wanted to try football, and my parents put me in football. After that, that was all she wrote. I started to fall in love with it.”
When asked how he ended up on the defensive side of the ball, the FAU cornerback revealed that he wanted to play football as a wide receiver at first.
“I actually wanted to go to college for receiver. But most schools said they liked me better at defensive back because of my length and size. They thought I would have more production there than at receiver.
At first, I was like, I’m not switching there; I want to play receiver. But then I saw I wasn’t being recruited as highly at receiver as I was as a corner. I was going to multiple camps and a lot of places to get recruited for receiver, but everybody liked me more at DB. So I was like, my goal was to be able to go to college for free and not have my family pay for it. If this is the route I have to take, God has me taking this route for a reason. So I was going to go to DB and see what happens.”
Brown talked up the FAU defensive scheme, saying that he is excited about being around players who are “hungry’ and “want to win” football games.
“Being around that energy, being around that aura, it carries onto you. I even felt myself getting tougher. Being down here is different than being up north. They really care about football. You start to fit the area, fit the vibe of the team. This is a tough team with a lot of tough people on it, and I felt that carry over to me. That’s just being around those people that want to win.”
Regarding his shift to the American Athletic Conference, Brown said that he feels it will be the same because “every conference has some guys” in it. He mentioned how the CAA, the conference that belonged to his former team, Maine, “has a lot of guys that could play in the AAC or at the Power Five level” and that “if you know how to do your job, you can do your job. I do not really think it will be an adjustment.”
Brown was also asked about his goals for the 2024 season, saying that he is looking to be “dominant” as an all-around player.
“I’m looking to be an overall force to be reckoned with. Someone where every team is like, this guy right here, do not even try it. That’s what I want to be. There is a pick-six record here at six. I want to break it with eight [and] match how many tackles I had last season, which was around 70. And I want to win a championship. I have a ring in every other sport besides football. It’s my last time in college to really try to achieve that. I also want to go to a bowl game because the FCS does not have them.”
The Maine transfer described his favorite part of playing defense as “forcing turnovers” and detailed the celebration aspect with teammates afterward as to why he loves it.
“We did our job. Everyone did what they were supposed to do. We created a turnover to get points on the board or give the ball back to our offense to go up another possession. That’s the part I like the most. Celebrating with my teammates, coming back to the sideline, and getting helmet slaps, people coming over to you and saying a great job. It’s fun when you catch picks or force turnovers, but it’s better when everyone congratulates you on doing your job. ”
Asked about study habits, Brown said he has improved on them as he got older. He described watching film as helping to “make the game easier” and move “way more slow” on the field. The cornerback tied his practice work into a story about scheming up a coverage to get him an interception against Monmouth.
“I knew I had him, I started smiling in my helmet because I knew he was going to throw the ball my way, and I would pick it off. I was so excited. It was man (coverage), I turned around, and the ball was coming. I said, no, he did not just throw this ball. And I caught it. Once I caught it, I looked up and saw nobody, and I was like, I have to score! The film on that was crazy.”
Brown made a point to emphasize that the play only occurred from “trusting the scheme and coaching” before executing on the field. In relation to the answer about watching film, the Owls cornerback said he “really” likes playing cover two the most since he “can get his eyes to the quarterback” while still playing a flat zone. Brown added that he “loves” man coverage since he can display “be dominant” and all of the hard work “from practice and drill work.”
When asked about the three players who he wishes could mentor him, Brown said Ed Reed, Rod Woodson, and Patrick Surtain would be his choices. Brown specified that the Surtain pick was due to his having a build and play style similar to his.
When asked about FAU’s overall outlook on defense, Brown said feels the football unit will be “great” this season.
“We do hard stuff every day in the weight room. We do not have an off day or a day where it is light. When every day is a hard day, you push yourself to be that much greater. You push beyond limits that you never even knew you had… We go out together on Saturdays when we do not even need to be in the facility. We work on patterns, reads, and filling gaps.
Everybody is working on something to be better… Everybody is doing extra and doing more. I feel like that’s really going to help us win.”
Additionally, Brown said that he feels that just “doing his job” will help elevate the FAU defense to the next level in 2024.
On a non-FAU note, Brown confirmed that he would accept a Senior Bowl invite if given the chance in 2024 and that playing in the event is a “goal” of his.
“I always feel like I have something to prove. Always feel like I have something more to show. Everybody is not always scouted or looked at. I have a chip on my shoulder and feel like I should be there. If I get that invite, I will go there and show the NFL coaches that I deserve to be in the NFL. I deserve to take that next step. And that would be a blessing, to be honest.”
Arriving from Maine, Brown is one of the most essential transfers on defense for the Owls. If he can replicate production from his previous school at FAU, the cornerback will help lead a talented defense and have a chance to achieve all of the goals he set for the college football season.
