High Expectations Cards’ running back Isaac Brown feeling pressure for encore after big rookie year

By RUSS BROWN Photos By UofL Athletics

Sports psychologists say pressure on athletes to perform can cause numerous negative effects, such as increased anxiety and stress that can result in muscle tension, rapid heartbeat, and other physiological symptoms that impair performance. There is also a risk for loss of enjoyment, leading to diminished motivation and engagement. Athletes may also feel overwhelmed by expectations from coaches, teammates, family or fans. 

Whew! Welcome to Isaac Brown’s world. 

Brown is the sensational running back for Louisville’s football team who set himself up for increased expectations for 2025 with his dynamic true freshman season that earned him multiple awards and honors. Inevitably, that was followed by a slew of preseason kudos this year. 

The 5-foot-11, 190-pound all-purpose back rushed for 1,173 yards and 11 touchdowns on 165 carries last season and also caught 30 passes for 152 yards and a TD while appearing in all 13 games with nine starts, including the final eight. He broke Lamar Jackson’s freshman rushing record, tied Jackson’s mark with five 100-yard games and became the first true freshman in Louisville history to top 1,000 yards. He was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year and was also named a Freshman All-American. 

The accolades continued to pile up this summer. Brown, from Homestead, Fla., has earned six different preseason All-American honors and was voted to the 2025 Preseason All-ACC Team. He has also been named to preseason watchlists for four prestigious awards -- Paul Hornung, Doak Walker, Maxwell, and Walter Camp Player of the Year. As you can tell, it’s not just Cardinal fans or Louisville media that are touting him as one of the best running backs in all of college football. 

U of L does have other good offensive weapons such as quarterback Monroe Mills and wide receiver Chris Bell, but Brown is considered the most talented and therefore the most dangerous. The level of the Cards’ success could rise and fall depending on the level of his encore performance, and he doesn’t try to downplay the difficulty of dealing with the weight of those expectations. 

“It’s hard because I got a lot of pressure; they want me to perform how I performed last year,” Brown said. “I got a lot on my shoulders. I’m just trying to pray, hope I play better this year than last year, but I think I put in the work.” 

“I tell him, ‘don’t worry about that,’” running backs coach Chris Barclay said. “We try to focus on this year; we don’t focus on what happened last year. He talks about that, but we’ve had many conversations that there is no pressure. This is a new year and we’ve got to prove ourselves all over again. It’s almost like this is starting over from scratch. So let’s be great today, that’s all that matters. He’s a young guy, and there’s people in his ear and things like that. We just stay on him and communicate with him.” 

Brown said that last year he relied mostly on his instincts while trying to learn the playbook and adjusting to the physicality and speed of the college game compared to high school. 

“I was just out there running,” he says. “Now I feel like the game has slowed down for me, and I can have more explosive plays than I had last year. I got better on and off the field.” 

Maybe that’s why he has changed his jersey number from 25 to No. 1. Maybe that signifies he has confidence that his experience and improved strength and conditioning, which complements his natural athleticism and speed, will enable him to overcome any pressure and match the expectations. 

Brown is fortunate to have a mentor who has been through a similar situation. As a true freshman at Wake Forest in 2002, Barclay also came out of nowhere to gain 703 yards with nine touchdowns. He followed that with three straight 100-yard seasons and was named the ACC Player of the Year as a senior. 

Barclay has warned Brown that, due to his success last season, he will be the target of opposing defenses. Initially, at least, teams are likely to stack the line to give him less running room. 

“I spoke to him about that all summer,” Barclay said. “I remember coming into my sophomore year, the amount of pressure I felt. The way defenses adjusted to playing me, seeing heavier boxes. I told him, ‘Hey man, it might be a little crowded in there early on, and that’s out of respect for you and what all you have done. But we don’t need to go looking for the home run every time you touch the football. 

“‘As we continue to evolve offensively and the quarterback’s doing a great job distributing the football, it’ll loosen up some of those boxes and then we’ll be able to do our thing. So we don’t need to press. We need to make sure we play team football and then we can take advantage of the run opportunities.’” 

It should be noted that Brown isn’t Louisville’s only talented running back. Sophomore Duke Watson is also on the Doak Walker watchlist and redshirt sophomore Keyjuan “Bama” Brown has shown he’s capable of having a big game, giving U of L one of the deepest running backs contingent in the nation. Barclay jokingly calls them “The Three Stooges.” The Cards have dubbed their running back room “Zone 6”, because every time they touch the ball the goal is 6 points. 

“It’s almost like the game is happening in slow motion for these kids at times,” Barclay said. “Diagnosing reads earlier than they used to. Very dialed-in on pass protection. Seeing safety rotation for pre-snap reads. It’s been very exciting to see their growth.” 

And for Brown, there is some good news that comes along with the expectations. In contrast to the negative aspects at the top of this story, there is also the possibility of positive effects, according to psychologists. Those include increased focus and motivation, sharper concentration and higher effort levels. The right amount of pressure can also lead to optimal arousal, enhancing speed, strength and alertness, as well as mental toughness. 

Before the Voice-Tribune publishes again, we’ll have a good idea about how well Brown has adjusted and been able to cope with the pressure he said he was feeling even before taking the first handoff of the year. 

Louisville opened the season with the first of three consecutive home games on Aug. 30 against Eastern Kentucky. The Cards will host James Madison in L&N Stadium on Sept. 5 and Bowling Green on Sept. 20 before opening their ACC season at Pittsburgh on Sept. 27. They’ll return to face Virginia on Oct. 4.