Editor’s Note: The stats included in this piece were current at the release of the Herald’s homecoming print magazine on Oct. 27.

WKU Co-Defensive Coordinator Da’Von Brown’s collegiate career at Florida Atlantic University didn’t end with the trip to the NFL Draft he had envisioned.

Brown was a star defensive back in his hometown of Belle Glade, Florida, a town with a population of just 17,363 in 2024, according to the United States Census Bureau.  He said if you weren’t playing sports in Belle Glade, “you’re working in a sugar mill or you’re in the streets.”

Brown dominated at Royal Palm Community High School during his junior year, leading the team with seven interceptions. His play earned him a 3-star rating from 24/7 Sports and a scholarship from nearby FAU.

“When I got my first scholarship… I’d never seen my mom that happy for me,” Brown said. “Every time I walked up to the corner store, everybody knew about it. I became a celebrity off of one offer.”

Brown started his college football career at FAU in the 2016 season, playing as an Owl through the 2019 season. Brown started his career with lofty self-expectations.

“I want to be a freshman All-American, I want to lead the team in interceptions and in tackles,” Brown told the University Press, a student-run newspaper at FAU, in 2016. “I want to beat Florida, I want to beat Miami, all the big teams we play.

Unfortunately for Brown, his collegiate career didn’t pan out the way he  hoped. As a freshman, he saw limited action, totaling just three tackles. Brown wasn’t able to grow into the player he hoped; he graduated with just 115 total tackles and two forced fumbles in his three years of meaningful playing time.

“Some of the guys I played with that are in the NFL, I was more talented than them,” Brown said. “Could run faster, was more physical, but they wanted it more than me early on.”

Despite a late career lock-in, he never salvaged his NFL dream. His 76-tackle senior season “just wasn’t enough” to overcome a delayed work ethic.

“I was obsessed with the outside world,” Brown said. “You know, I’m from Florida, man, we like to have jewelry, look flashy, go out, hang out. I was obsessed with that.”

Brown said he didn’t figure out how to be a “pro” and give his full effort until his junior year, which he ended with 36 tackles.

As a coach, Brown challenges all of his players to sign a contract. Redshirt sophomore cornerback Nazir Ward said the contract is a commitment to the team, “to let us know we’re all in.”

The contract opens by warning players about being a “pro” before introducing the subhead, “women lie, men lie, the film do not.” Brown said the version of the contract obtained by the College Heights Herald is a clean version of the real thing, but confirmed the authenticity of the document.

The clauses of the contract go as follows:

I will show up every single day, only excuse is death.

Every single meeting in my (Brown’s) room, Coach Andy’s room, unit meeting, whatever meeting there is, I will have a notebook and pencil actively taking notes.

I will show up at least 6 minutes early to every meeting.

I will not duck smoke on the field, contact loafs are not allowed. Physical mistakes will happen but NEVER will I play slow.

If I have a problem with Coach Von I will come see him like a grown man. I will not be a toddler and post on social media, I will go directly to the root.

I will not ask Coach Dean or Coach AJ for a ride 5 minutes before something, I will be a pro and ask him way in advance.

I will not be causing drama on the sideline or off the field. If you want to cause drama go join a book club.

“I always tell them, they don’t have to sign this now,” Brown said. “But I understand who wants to be challenged. This is just me challenging these guys.”

His years as an Owl and late-career attitude shift gave him perspective and the tools to build a career in coaching. His experiences are valuable in mentoring the young minds of his football players on the Hill, Brown said.

Brown began his coaching career in 2020 at Geneva College before joining Lane Kiffin’s staff at Ole Miss as a graduate assistant and later defensive analyst. He arrived at WKU in 2023 as defensive backs coach and was promoted to co-defensive coordinator in January 2025.

“He’s (Brown) one of those coaches that will stick beside you through thick and thin,” Ward said. “He’s going to bring the best, the dog, out of you.”

Co-Defensive Coordinators Davis Merritt and Brown came in from their previous roles as position coaches to replace Tyson Summers, who took a defensive coordinator role at Colorado State. In Summers’s first and best year, his defense allowed 23 points and 384 yards per game, but laid the foundations for the culture on defense, Head Coach Tyson Helton said.

“They’ve (Brown and Merritt) now elevated that culture,” Helton said.

After a 63-0 loss at Alabama in the 2024-25 season, Brown supported Ward, telling him to keep his head high, Ward said.

The philosophy among the defensive coaching staff rewards hard work, giving more minutes to players who show up early and make plays in practice while those who don’t lose playing time, Brown said.

“I tell my guys all the time, I’m hard on them about every little thing, but only because I was lacking, or I didn’t do that when I was a player,” Brown said. “I didn’t put the work in. I wasn’t a pro.”

Brown’s accountability for his own work ethic as a player carried over into his career as a coach. WKU lost in a bad way, 45-21, to Toledo on Sept. 6, giving up three touchdowns through the air and two more on the ground.

Brown said the loss was more on the coaches than the players.

“Toledo game, as coaches, we made mistakes,” Brown said. “We put our guys in some bad calls. We own up to that. We got beat on that play, but that’s 85% coaching.”

The Hilltoppers are yet to give up less than 250 yards in a game all season. In the four games after giving up 508 yards against Toledo, the Hilltoppers have averaged 418.5 yards allowed per game, but stepped up in big moments against Delaware, Missouri State and Nevada.

Against Delaware, a big-man pick-six from Hilltopper redshirt sophomore linebacker Koron Heyward hyped up a deflated WKU sideline following a three-and-out coming out of halftime.

His defense is fourth in Conference USA in lowest points per game with 23.1 and second in interceptions despite giving up the second most total yards, 2822.

“I’m looking forward in the second half of this season, really watching those guys take it to a whole other level,” Helton said. “Our defensive coordinators, both Da’von Brown and Davis Merritt are doing a great job.”

Despite being tough on his players, Brown emphasizes accountability from the coaching staff.

“I’m a firm believer, man, that my players are a reflection of us,” Brown said. “So this is the way I carry myself and the way I care for my players.”