Who is Max Brown? 3 things to know about the Florida Gators QB

Max Brown has gone from under-the-radar recruit to the national spotlight as Florida’s starting quarterback in a primetime game against No. 5 Florida State, a College Football Playoff contender. Kickoff from The Swamp is set for 7 p.m. ET, with the game airing on ESPN.

While diehard Gator fans may know Brown’s story, many in the college football world may be watching Brown for the first time, though he impressed off the bench in Florida’s loss to Mizzou.

Every play for Florida Gators QB Max Brown vs the Missouri Tigers pic.twitter.com/WflDLk9XXm

— Brandon Olsen (@WNS_Brandon) November 20, 2023

Here are 3 things to know about Brown ahead of his first start as Florida’s quarterback:

Brown was part of a more successful Gator team in the spring

Brown split time in the spring between Billy Napier’s football team and Kevin O’Sullivan’s baseball squad. While Brown was an outfielder on the 2023 Florida baseball team that made it to the College World Series finals, Brown’s bio says he did not appear in any games, taking a redshirt. Brown also redshirted with the UF football team in 2022.

Brown was set to play for a former Florida coach

Heading into National Signing Day, Napier wanted a high school quarterback for his 2022 recruiting class. He decided to flip a commitment from his old pal, Jim McElwain. After working together at Alabama, Napier was also on McElwain’s Colorado State staff.

Brown was not heavily sought-after as a prospect, rated the No. 96 QB of the 2022 class on the 247Sports Composite. Out of Lincoln Christian School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Brown had scholarship offers from Central Michigan, Temple and Washington when Florida got involved. He had been verbally committed to McElwain’s Central Michigan squad since July 25, 2021.

Napier’s staff got Brown to Gainesville for a UF visit on Jan. 21, 2022. Brown soon decommitted from Central Michigan and ended up signing with the Gators.

Brown moved past a more experienced quarterback on the depth chart

One of Napier’s first moves at Florida was signing former Ohio State QB Jack Miller out of the transfer portal. Miller, a 4-star recruit from the Class of 2020, competed with Anthony Richardson and Graham Mertz for the starting job each of the past 2 seasons.

Miller has dealt with injuries during his time in Gainesville, but Brown passed a healthy Miller on the depth chart during the 2023 season. Now, Brown gets his chance to show what he can do against one of the top teams in the country.

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.