THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Vandal defensive end Brown looking forward to big season

Early in Sam Brown’s football career at the University of Idaho, one of his teammates was Colbey Nosworthy, the former Coeur d’Alene High star. 

Turns out, they had played against each other in high school. In 2019, Nosworthy and the Coeur d’Alene Vikings beat Brown and the Central Valley Bears 35-13 at CV. 

Nosworthy scored two touchdowns in that game, one on a pass reception to open the scoring, the other on a fourth-quarter interception return to seal the victory. 

When they became teammates at Idaho, “I didn’t bring it up,” Brown said of their high school meeting. 

Did Nosworthy mention it? 

“Oh yeah,” Brown said with a laugh, at last month’s Big Sky Football Kickoff at Airway Heights. 

FAST-FORWARD to 2025, where Brown, a redshirt senior defensive end for the Vandals, is playing for his third head coach, and has gone from preferred walk-on to scholarship athlete to cracking the two-deep for Idaho’s season opener Saturday at Washington State. 

Brown was recruited to Idaho by coach Paul Petrino, earned a scholarship in spring 2022 by Eck, who was the Vandals’ coach for three seasons, and now is playing for former Idaho assistant Thomas Ford Jr., where earlier this week Brown was named one of the Vandals’ six rotating captains. 

“Petrino, I’ve got to thank him for giving me the opportunity," Brown said. “I’m blessed that I got the opportunity to walk on from him. Then Eck, even more, because he believed in me, and put me on scholarship. And obviously there was a lot of hard work that went into that. Ford ... gave me this leadership opportunity. That’s kind of the nature of college sports — there’s change always. But I think we’re in a really fortunate situation.” 

The 6-foot-3, 260-pound Brown played in 10 games for Idaho as a redshirt freshman in 2022, totaling 12 tackles. He appeared in all 13 games in 2023, with 11 total tackles. Last season, he had 18 tackles in 14 games. 

Brown was one of the two players selected by Ford to meet with the media at the Big Sky football event last month. 

“Sam is just one of those guys, I think, is going to have a breakout season,” Ford said. “Sam’s really had a phenomenal winter, spring and summer. He’s a guy I’ve held in really high regard when I was an assistant, and just a guy I think is going to have a breakout season.”

WHILE ATTENDING Central Valley, Brown said he “pretty much recruited myself” to colleges. 

“I sent emails to every Big Sky school with my tape, and Idaho was the one that responded,” Brown said. “And it’s worked out really well.” 

He said being a local kid playing for the Vandals “means everything to me.” 

Despite having to go through not one, but two, coaching changes during his time in Moscow, Brown said he never put much thought into entering the transfer portal. 

“When I was a kid in Spokane, kids were wearing Eastern (Washington) shirts,” Brown said. “I’ve got a lot of family that went to Eastern, and didn’t really hear of Idaho until I got into middle school and high school. I knew if they there going to offer me I was going to go there as a walk-on.” 

Even if he grew up an Oregon Ducks fan. 

“But I think a lot of little kids are Oregon fans,” Brown said. “But as I grew older I saw what it meant to be one of those guys in Spokane, seeing what it meant to be a Big Sky football player, whether it’s the Griz or Eastern or Idaho ... you look up to them. That’s the realist football gets out here.” 

TWO OF Brown's teammates on the Idaho defensive line are Matyus McLain of Priest River High and Trevor Miller of Post Falls High, both redshirt sophomores. 

“I love those guys; they’re the young guys that I took under my wing,” Brown said. 

Even if they are battling each other for playing time. Earlier this week, when Idaho’s depth chart for the WSU game was released, McLain was listed as a starting defensive end, ahead of Brown. 

Brown says there are enough snaps to go around. 

“D-line, if you’re playing more than nine plays in a row, you’re not going hard enough at the speed we play,” Brown said. “Matyus is looking to be a huge piece in that, rotating in a lot this year, and Trevor’s probably going to be in a similar boat, getting opportunities, so I’m just excited. You’ve got a little bit of inner-room competition, but on Saturdays you want everybody to do great.” 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.