Senior safety La’Shavion Brown landed on the Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Newcomer team as well as earning second-team all-league honors last fall. (Photo by GoRedbirds.com)
By Dan Verdun
NORMAL – La’Shavion Brown’s coaches and teammates talk about the Illinois State safety always having a smile on his face.
But don’t be fooled.
“A guy like that? You’ve really got to be prepared for him to come down,” linebacker Mason Kaplan said.
Kaplan would know. After all, he transferred to ISU as a quarterback and stared across the line at players the likes of Brown.
“He’s a guy that can play 15 yards back in coverage. He can play over the post, but he can also come down and make a tackle for loss or sack in the backfield,” Kaplan said. “He’s definitely a guy you have to have your eye on in protection. He’s involved everywhere.”
Head coach Brock Spack has always liked athletic safeties going back to his days as a coordinator in the Big Ten Conference at Purdue.
Brown arrived at ISU last year as a transfer from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. By season’s end, the 6-foot-2, 215-pounder had landed on the Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Newcomer team as well as earning second-team all-league honors.
“He runs pretty well. He’s a good athlete and a natural mover. He’s got a high football IQ. He loves practice,” Spack said.
Spack favors safeties that are strong, physical players. In recent years, that’s meant the likes of Luther Kirk, Christian Uphoff and Keondre Jackson.
Add Brown to the list.
“We’ve had some really physical guys here that are basically linebackers playing safeties. That’s what he is,” Spack said.
ISU defensive coordinator Travis Niekamp agrees.
“I think he fits in with all the guys we’ve had,” Niekamp said. “Obviously, he’s an intimidating young man from a frame-size standpoint. He’s a runner and a hitter. He can cover and he can activate. Those are all things we want from those guys. He’s fixing to have a big year for us.”
Back to that smile.
“He’s a lot of fun,” cornerback Doreon Dubose said, “but he loves to hit.”
So, does Brown seek out contact on every play?
“Always,” he said with a chuckle. “I just like running through people’s faces all the time. It gives me that little rush. It keeps me going. I just like hitting.”
That said, there’s a time and a place and there’s room for improvement.
“We’ve really worked hard on getting him to drop his target,” Spack said. “He likes to work through the head and shoulder area, which puts you on thin ice with targeting (penalties) when you do that.”
Brown recognizes he’s still a work in progress. The Fairhope, Ala., native has focused on “moving around the field, reading my keys and playing faster.”
He also sees himself as the last line of defense.
“I love being back there. You get to see everything. If someone messes up in front of you, my coaches have always taught me to correct the guys in front of you,” Brown said.
Sometimes that requires a hard hit – finished off with a smile.
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
Find us on social media!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PSPigskin
Facebook: Prairie State Pigskin
Instagram: Prairiestatepigskin
Blue Sky: PSPigskin
Prairie State Pigskin 
Leave a comment