MPW Digital is excited to announce that later this spring, it will launch The Troy Brown Show, presented by Comer Heating and Air and Southern Air Conditioning & Heating. In the fall, Brown will appear each week to discuss Ole Miss’ season, his experiences in the SEC and much more. The show will also be produced in podcast form and published in the MPW Digital feed wherever you listen to podcasts.

They might have different names, but customers get the same great products, people and service when they go to Comer and Southern for their heating and cooling needs. If you live in Oxford, Tupelo or the surrounding area, call Comer at 662-801-1777. If you live in Hernando, Memphis or the surrounding area, call 662-429-4429.

Brown is an ambassador for The Grove Collective, which is an NIL program generally working to connect Ole Miss players to alums and mentorship opportunities.

OXFORD | When the 2021 season began, Troy Brown had a plan.

He would dominate the Mid-American Conference yet again, rack up tackles and prepare for his next stop — the National Football League.

On Oct. 9, however, in a game at Ohio, the Central Michigan linebacker suffered a hamstring injury. He missed the Chippewas’ next three games. When he returned to the lineup on Nov. 3 at Western Michigan, Brown knew he wasn’t fully healthy.

“That’s a lot of film that needed to be seen,” Brown said. “Even after I came back from the injury, I still wasn’t 100 percent back. That’s a lot of plays or film of me not being 100 percent or playing the way I felt like I should. It put the thought into my head of what my next move should be.”

Brown finished the season with 65 tackles, one quarterback, one interception and one huge decision to make.

Something else nagged at him also. Brown wanted to make sure he made a decision that was in the best long-term interests of his two children. His daughter, Avah, turns four year old this week. His son, Emery, turns two in June. Brown’s two children were born in “totally two different time periods in my life,” but unplanned blessings have become his life’s motivation.

So, after recording 11 tackles and a sack in Central Michigan’s Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl win over Washington State on New Year’s Eve, Brown entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.

“It kind of came down to what was best for me and my career,” Brown said. “People look at the SEC like it’s the G-League of the NFL. I honestly always felt like I should be at a higher level than what I was at, no disrespect to the MAC at all, but I put it in my mind that I was going to come to the SEC and do my year and raise my draft stock.”

Fittingly, Ole Miss was the first to reach out. Brown knew Ole Miss safety Otis Reese due to a friendship with Reese’s brother, former Central Michigan safety Da’Quaun Jamison. Ole Miss defensive coordinator Chris Partridge made Brown a priority. Reese’s sales pitch was the clincher.

“I talked with him as soon as I entered the portal,” Brown said, referring to the Rebels’ hard-hitting safety. “Playing with him was a vision that was in my mind anyway, especially playing with his older brother. Their vibe is exactly alike. I knew being around him would help me.”

Because of Reese’s presence on the Ole Miss roster, Brown had been keeping tabs on the goings-on in Oxford. Ole Miss was 10-3 in 2021, winning six of eight SEC games and earning a spot in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against Big 12 Conference champion Baylor.

“It was a no-brainer for me because it was just guys flying around last year,” Brown said.

Brown knew his decision to play in the Sun Bowl would complicate recruiting. He didn’t want to enter the portal until after the game, and that meant he would do so during an NCAA-mandated dead period, meaning he wouldn’t be able to take visits to prospective college homes.

“I wanted to play that game with my brothers, my teammates,” Brown said. “I felt like we all helped change the program around, so it was just a special moment for me to play that game.”

Besides, Brown wasn’t planning to take visits anyway. He left El Paso to return home to Flint, Michigan, eager to spend time with Avah and Emery.

“Every minute that was left out there, I made sure I took them to a park or to go play or go eat or something like that,” Brown said. “I really cherished that time and I didn’t want to waste it.”

On Jan. 12, Brown made the not-so-well-kept secret official and announced his decision to transfer to Ole Miss. Days later, he loaded his vehicle and embarked on the 12-hour drive through inclement weather from Flint to Oxford.

“I was thinking about the possibilities,” Brown said. “I was really just thinking, ‘I packed my whole life up and moved.’ That’s really what I thought about most of the time headed down here. The closer and closer I got, the more anxious I got. I was ready for it to all unfold, I guess.”

“In his mind and in his heart, he wanted to go and play for Ole Miss,” said Darke Amos, Brown’s former AAU basketball coach and a man Brown describes as his mentor. “In the beginning, I was kind of reluctant. I was kind of like, ‘You’re kind of on the radar right now for the NFL. They kind of want you and things like that.’ In my mind, I was like, ‘Do you really want to spend another year?’ But he really wanted to go there. He wanted to go there and win a national championship.”

Brown chose Central Michigan over Buffalo. No other FBS school offered after his career at Carman-Ainsworth High School. Despite leading the Cavaliers to the Saginaw Valley Blue championship and a playoff berth and being ranked No. 46 on the Detroit Free-Press’ Fab 50, recruiters viewed Brown as undersized.

Allen Overton met Brown during Brown’s sophomore year in high school. He coached Brown’s 7-on-7 team and eventually became his high school offensive coordinator.

“I knew he had a special talent,” Overton said. “In the beginning, we thought he was a wide receiver. We never thought he’d end up being a linebacker at the end of the day but we knew he loved the game.”

Brown was also playing a lot of basketball and hadn’t relinquished thoughts of pursuing the hardwood at the next level. It was his defensive prowess in football, however, that started to turn heads.

“Everybody started to recruit him as a safety,” Overton said.

“When he was a kid in the fourth grade, I saw his potential,” Amos added. “He was a good athlete. Football came naturally to him, but we used to play a lot of basketball. I was his AAU coach. He was a natural athlete from a very young age. He always had to put the work in for basketball but football came naturally. I always thought he was a better basketball player than a football player but football came naturally to him.

“Troy has a natural build. He’s always been developed for a kid, so I was surprised he didn’t get a lot more big offers.”

Brown signed with Central Michigan as a 180-pound safety. He redshirted in 2017 and played in 10 games, starting one, in 2018. Slowly, but consistently, Brown filled out his frame. By 2019, he was a 205-pound linebacker. He earned a starting spot that preseason and he never let it go.

In 2019, Brown was first-team All-MAC, recording 91 tackles, three interceptions, two pass break-ups and a sack. Ironically, it was a Sept. 7 game at Wisconsin, a game the Chippewas lost, 61-0, that got the attention of those who knew Brown best.

“I was like, ‘Oh, this guy can play with anybody,’” Overton said. “He was making plays, handling business, hitting folks all over the field. He was a spark plug for his team. Not only was he making tackles but he was creating turnovers for them.

“Once we saw him get on the field, it was like there was a switch. Troy has always been the most athletic guy in the room. He can jump higher than everybody. He can be more physical. He has natural, raw athletic ability. When he got to college, he took that natural, raw athletic ability and he added the work behind it. He put the mental focus behind it when he got to college. After watching him play a game when he first became a starter on that team, it was like, boom, he’s the guy, he’s the one.”

Brown was All-MAC again in the COViD-shortened 2019 season. He recorded 42 tackles and 4.5 sacks in six games. That half-season, however, planted the seeds of doubt that ultimately led Brown to Ole Miss.

It’s mid-afternoon on a Thursday and Brown is sitting in the patio area of an Oxford coffee shop. It’s packed inside and Brown is relaxing, enjoying being able to go coat-less in February for the first time in forever.

But don’t be fooled by the soft voice and the kind smile. He’s in Oxford for business, not pleasure.

“I’m here on campus, not necessarily for the sights or the city around it,” Brown said. “I’m here to work with the guys that I’ve met.”

Brown steps into a linebacker room that is short three key contributors from last season. Chance Campbell, Mark Robinson and Lakia Henry are all gone, hoping to find a spot in professional football. MoMo Sanogo, who played sparingly in 2021, transferred to Louisville. Brown is being counted on not only to start but also to play a huge role in Ole Miss’ defense this fall.

Last season, Brown had a Pro Football Focus grade of 87.5 Linebacker Austin Keys, who suffered a season-ending injury midway through the season, was the only Ole Miss player who graded in the 80s last season. Brown had a 91.6 pass coverage score, allowing 147 yards on 25 targets in 2021.

He is up to 224 pounds now, hoping to get to 230 before the start of the season in September. He’s lifting with Ole Miss’ defensive linemen, trying to add bulk and strength, hoping to show NFL scouts he can get off blocks in the SEC and hold his ground against the run. He’s also trying to establish himself as a leader on a team — and inside a program — that has a plethora of new faces and voices.

“We’re getting it all together,” Brown said. “It’s not just new players. There are also new coaches and a new strength and conditioning staff. We’re all, as a group, learning a new system or how to lift differently. We’re taking it on as a team every day and I feel like, in the midst of it, we’re gaining camaraderie. This is just the beginning.”

Brown’s younger brother, 19-year-old Donea, believes Troy is going to do big things at Ole Miss.

“He’s always had devotion to the game,” Donea said. “He’s always been motivated and pushed himself to be the best. He taught me the game, too. He’s always in the gym, day in and day out. I hardly ever saw him at home. He’s always practicing. The game was always in him.

“He just knew his time was coming. Even if Central Michigan hadn’t offered, he was going to find a way. I see the beast in him, so I knew he was going to do his thing.”

Donea was one of the people Troy turned to when he was thinking of transferring. Donea encouraged his big brother to go to Ole Miss. It’s early, obviously, but he believes it was the right move.

“I talk to him every day,” Donea said. “He loves it already. This is the most comfortable I’ve ever seen him. I’m very excited to see his talent at a bigger level than he was at. They play LSU and Alabama this year and I want to see him prove to the world that he’s more of a top pick than what they see him.”

Overton is eager to see Brown in the SEC as well. He’s ready to see his pupil get the attention and credit he believes he deserves.

“When he was being recruited, we would go to camps and he’d be the best receiver there, but he wouldn’t get the notoriety for being the best receiver there,” Overton said. “We’d go to all these camps and he’d win every rep in one-on-ones. The best defensive backs can’t check him, but when we leave the camp, they’re giving the best receiver (award) to someone else. That’s part of why he got looked over. Now, he’s saying, ‘I want to put together a body of work, one more year, and show people that I’m the guy, that I’m the one everybody missed out on.’ A lot of it was he wanted to prove to coaches and to everybody else that, ‘Hey, I can play with anybody. I played in the MAC and I dominated the MAC, but I can dominate wherever.’ That was a big thing for him. He wants to raise his stock but he wants to show he can play down there. The SEC has the big boys and he’s going down to play with the big boys. I think that’s a big part of it for him right now.

“I think he’ll be a superstar down there. I don’t see anything different from what he was doing at Central Michigan. If you look at his body of work from when he was at Central Michigan, he made plays. He’s a great tackler. He’s been good in coverage. I think now he’s really going to be tested more in coverage. I think he’s going to have a little more responsibility in coverage, but I don’t see him not performing. I think he’s going to do down there and do what he’s supposed to do.”

“They’re getting a winner,” Amos said. “They’re getting a real winner. He’s going to put in the work and put in the dedication. He’s one of those types of kids who is very well-rounded and he’s going to do whatever it takes to make sure he wins. He’s going to give everything he has and leave it all on the field, on and off, every day.”

Brown has played in SEC stadiums before. Central Michigan played at Missouri and at LSU last season.

“To me, it was just a big difference with the crowd and how intense the vibe was,” Brown said. “In the MAC, you don’t really get any buzz from the crowd. You don’t really get noise or intimidation. It’s not a factor. In the SEC, you can really tell the fans are there, the fans are chimed in and they want to be there from beginning to finish.”

Brown absolutely wants to make Ole Miss fans happy this fall — “People are so welcoming here,” he said — but that’s not what motivates him each morning. Every day, Brown remembers why he made the decision to leave Michigan to come to a new place in a different part of the country. The move to Ole Miss, to the SEC, was for Avah and Emery.

“He cares for his family — his kids the most, before anybody else, really,” Donea said. “His kids made him push even more. I feel like his move to Mississippi is really for his kids. I feel like that was his reason why. He’s not really worried about getting drafted but he wants to make sure that spot is secure and his family is OK.”

Overton said he and Brown talk routinely. When they do, more often than not, the discussion turns to fatherhood.

“He’s been there from Day One,” said Overton, who himself became a father at 19. “He said he was going to do something to see that they’re taken care of. Obviously, he’s doing that now.

“Troy has been looking out for his younger brother and younger sister, watching them, but that’s something you do as the oldest child. But you talk about a kid who accepted his responsibility of being a father. You didn’t see too many Central Michigan games where his children weren’t at the game. He was big on him being there and him being able to be with him. I think it helped him mature in a different way.”

Brown’s voice cracks when he speaks of his children. They’re back in Michigan, and their absence is palpable. It’s also a driving force.

“I call them every second that I can,” Brown said. “I just try to get their faces on camera. It makes me miss them all the more because of their presence. It’s hard, obviously, but I’m on a mission. I had to do this move for them.”