The Cardinal Countdown: 39 Days Until Kickoff

#39 Taveon Graves

Class: RS Sophomore

Ht/Wt: 5-5/178

Position: Running Back

Hometown: Rineyville, KY

Twitter: N/A

Thoughts: If you needed another reason to hate the 2018 season, I got an extra ticket in my pocket to hop aboard the ‘Bitter Express’ for another trip around the ole’ stadium. Sure, the record stunk, the effort stunk, the coaching stunk, but what just dawned on me moments ago was that in the midst of a 2-10 season the Cards never got a large enough lead to let some of the 3 deep get a crack at seeing the field. I love watching those guys who kill it every week finally see some action and make the most of there five minutes. One of those guys without question that I wanted to see was Taveon Graves, all 5-5/178 of him.

Graves, who walked on with the Cards out of North Hardin is the human representation of the one inch punch. It may not look there is much behind it, but my man can leave bruises. I’ll re-post his high school tape below so you can refresh your memory on what he brings to the table. I mean, who wouldn’t love to see the Cards up 35 on Wake Forest and the ‘Graves Digger’ is running all over Dave Clawson’s lifeless body.

Check out this tweet from William Caudill back during the spring. What a great visual.

Wish Taveon the best and here’s hoping he goes for over a hundo on some poor defense who can’t see him or catch him.

Sweet Tweet: No tweets for Graves that I could find so grab your popcorn and enjoy…

Season 1, Episode 6 of “Hi, My Name Is…”

Hi, My Name Is: ShaDon Brown

I grew up in: Danville, KY

I played football at: Campbellsville (Linebacker)

I previously coached at: University of Colorado (Defensive Passing Game Coordinator/Safeties)

I am now the: Safeties Coach

I’ve been a coach for: 16 years at the professional, collegiate, and high school levels

I am: Married, with three kids

Fun Fact: Brown was the Head Coach at Rowan County High School in 2010 where he not only took his team to a Class 4A championship but he himself was named Class 4A District 8 Coach of the Year.

CardinalStrong says: Brown is a nice “local” pickup for the staff, being a Kentucky native Brown can not only offer assistance in navigating the Bluegrass out on the recruiting trail (stay out of Fayette County) but he also has some coaching chops to boot. With over 15 years in the profession and success and multiple levels Brown has shown he can teach and lead, two vital traits for a program looking to get back on track.

Brown has jumped around a little on the defensive side of the ball but the last four seasons he has been focused on the secondary, the last line of defense in preventing your opponent from getting into the endzone. It takes a real man to play out there on an island, just ask Tom Hanks. Brown came to the Cards via Colorado where the Buffs secondary lead the Pac-12 in 2018 only allowing a completion percentage of 56.7%. They also had 78 passes defended or broken up last season. In comparison, Louisville had 48.

Brown has some talent in the safeties group with Yeast, Khane Pass, and TreSean Smith but will also be tasked with developing some younger players to fill those voids in the next couple years. Brown has already successfully helped pull in 2020 talent in Kameron Wilson, Tim Lawson, and a local athlete in his position group in Josh Minkins Jr. I think the future of the safeties will rely heavily on recruiting those slightly smaller guys that aren’t scared to get in the mix. Bryan Brown has done that well at App State, he needs to get help from Shadon to repeat his success here. “Brown & Brown: We Won’t Quit, Until You Get Hit”