Brian Allen’s frustration grew. Allen played linebacker at Florida State in the dynasty days. He had made the transition into coaching. And he knew what a Division I football player looked and played like.

He just couldn’t figure out why there was minimal interest from coaches in Shyheim Brown.

“Teams that should have been beating my doors down to get this kid, it wasn’t happening,” Allen recalled.

Sitting around the fire pit one night with some of Lake City Columbia’s players and coaches, Allen took action and began contacting college coaches. And he began with coach Mike Norvell, who had called him not long after he took over at Florida State.

“Coach Norvell reached out and was just like, ‘Brian, anything you need don't ever hesitate to pick up the phone.’ And I did,” Allen said. “I’m not necessarily saying ‘call his bluff,’ but I got a kid here that could have played with us when I was there playing with Reinard Wilsons and learning from the Peter Boulwares and Peter Warricks. He picked up the phone and called me.

“I was like, ‘Coach, look at this film, look at his tape. You be the judge of it.’ And within 24 hours, I was getting a call back from him saying, ‘We’re going to tell him later, but I wanted to call you and tell you we’re going to offer this kid. He’s good.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, coach, I know.’ ”

The story is one of the best of how FSU’s class of 2021 was built. Brown was an under-the-radar prospect. After Tuesday’s practice, Norvell recalled the conversation with Allen from a few years ago.

“He called me about midway through the season and he said, ‘Coach, I think I got one.’ His description is, ‘He would have played on the teams that I was a part of.’ And so I got a chance to watch Shy and I loved him,” Norvell said. “The versatility, he played corner, safety, linebacker. Everything you could imagine. I offered him that day. Getting to know Shyheim, it was the ultimate belief of what he would grow into.”

Brown made an impression at Columbia High, and made a name for himself with a blocked extra-point attempt on the final play of the FSU-LSU game in September 2022. But he has also grown into quite the versatile safety.

The redshirt sophomore has 27 tackles, two sacks and an interception but has played his best football the past month. He had a season-high eight tackles at Clemson, seven tackles and 1.5 sacks against Syracuse and a diving interception of Duke’s Riley Leonard, the first of his career.

“He’s been having success,” defensive coordinator Adam Fuller said. “It was great to see him get the interception. I’ve seen this coming with him, continuing to challenge him, coach him, put him in good situations. This has been a long investment for him and for us. It’s good to see it pay off. He’s one of our better players, I think he’ll continue to get better.”

Brown played in just three games in 2021, taking a redshirt, but he was able to see considerable playing time the next fall. While he had 36 tackles and 1.5 sacks, it was the Block on the Bayou that earned Brown time in the spotlight.

After the game, he juggled calls and texts as he waited to be interviewed at the Caesars Superdome. One such call came in from his excited mom, with Brown comically (and repeatedly) telling her to “calm down” to laughter from a teammate and nearby observers. In a big game on the big stage on a Sunday night, Brown rushed off the left edge of LSU’s line, dove and made an unforgettable play.

Columbia coaches had seen it all before.

“What I saw was the same kid that blocked six in high school his senior year,” Allen said. “He did it all. Blocked punts. Blocked field goals. Blocked PATs. Big receptions. Interceptions. Forced fumbles. Fumble recoveries. Kickoff returns. I wasn’t surprised.”

Like many young players, special teams was an entry point to more playing time on offense or defense. Even with an All-ACC standout in Jammie Robinson as well as a veteran like Akeem Dent in 2022, Brown still was on the field for 442 snaps.

Brown has steadily improved as playing time has stacked week after week, and he’s already up to 353 snaps in seven games. He made yet another big play against LSU in the 2023 opener, combining on a sack of Jayden Daniels on fourth down.

He has been effective in coverage and hasn’t missed a tackle in the last four games. He has timed up the delayed blitz well, catching Syracuse’s Garrett Shrader a few times. While communication had been an issue in the FSU secondary earlier in the year, notably against Boston College and early at Clemson, Brown spoke up about how good the defensive backfield played against Syracuse.

“It was an elite level of communication,” Brown said. “There was no hesitation out on the field. There wasn't no execution, no arguments. When we communicate, as you seen today, can't nobody really mess with us.”

In the win over Duke, Brown earned his highest coverage grade (88.7) from Pro Football Focus. He was also part of a defense that has pitched three straight second-half shutouts for the FSU defense and had a pair of fourth-down stops against the Blue Devils, one of them coming near the goal line.

“On the team, we got a saying, 'January to January,' ” Brown said. “That work we put in the off-season, fall camp, spring, summer, that prepares you for those moments like that. Anytime we can stop as a defense the offense from scoring, that's our job. And it's whatever it takes down there.”

Fuller acknowledged there was plenty of learning on the fly in 2022 for Brown. Those opportunities prepared him for this fall, with Brown taking on an expanded role as Robinson moved on to the NFL.

“Last year, we kind of forced the role on to him, because we knew what was there,” Fuller said. “This year, obviously, he was going to get more opportunities, I think he's taken advantage of them. He still has moments that he would like to get better at. Shyheim has got an incredibly high ceiling, both as a player and as a leader.”

If not for Allen’s efforts, who knows where Brown would have gone to school. Allen thinks there was some interest from a few Group of 5 programs, but not with the level of intensity that he felt Brown earned. Not until FSU coaches saw Brown’s film.

“He’s very coachable,” Norvell said. “He wants to be great. You see him playing at a very high level. I think these last couple games he’s playing as good as anybody.”

Allen, of course, watches FSU’s games with a focus on his program as well as Brown. He sees many of the similar plays Brown made at Columbia as well as his progress the last few years with FSU’s coaches.

“I’m not surprised at all,” Allen said. “I believe his ceiling is extremely high as he competes and matures and the game starts to slow down. I think that’s a big part of what we’re seeing this year is a big understanding of scheme and what he’s doing is allowing him to play fast. And it’s showing up in a big way.

“I’m just extremely proud that he’s gone over there and he’s making people believe.”

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