Second-year Miami Hurricanes quarterback Jacurri Brown is making significant strides in his development as a passer, focusing on his mental preparation and honing his skills on the field. Brown shared his thoughts on his growth, the new offensive system, and his relationship with first-year offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson.
Brown has been working diligently on improving his game, emphasizing his love for football: "I just wanted to progress myself. I love this game and I had to figure out a definition of love, and I'll do anything for it, so I mean in order to play at this school and be great, I had to increase myself as a player."
To refine his skills, Brown has been seeking advice from fellow QB Tyler Van Dyke: "Just worked hard, going in the film room and talking with Tyler and watching how Tyler throws and how he does things; like he puts different touch on balls and stuff like that, and for me, I have a strong arm, so I was like really gunning them, but I had to work on my touch, my feet for sure, and just having a wider base."
Brown has also been adjusting to working with first-year offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson, who comes over from Houston: "He’s a smooth, laid-back guy. With a quarterback, I feel like my connection with the OC should be like really, really positive and stuff like that, so hearing it from him and hearing the same voice."
He has praised the new offensive system for its quarterback-friendly design: "It's very quarterback friendly like I said. You don't really gotta be erratic with your eyes and like look out where blitzes are. You beat the blitz with the throw. It's not a lot of confusion, it's like everybody's on the same page – you're getting it from the huddle, from the quarterback, and from the wristband."
Reflecting on his playing experience as a true freshman last season, Brown said, "It helped a lot. Getting those games, we had a highlight at Georgia Tech and then Clemson got a little humbled. That's how the game goes, but me personally I took it as a learning experience and just to be great and just to get my feet wet in the game."
Brown identified the areas in which he has improved the most: "Throwing from the pocket and just being calm and going through progressions and just working hard talking with my guys being more of a leader too."
The physically gifted Brown, who currently weighs 225 pounds, has added 15 pounds since January and knows the importance of mental preparation in taking his game to the next level: "Let's say if Cam Newton had the same mindset as Tom Brady, he'd still be playing in the league right now– even with his physique and everything like that. So I feel like if I expand on my mental part of the game, then I'll be great forever."
