Journey Brown has High Expectations for Caziah Holmes

Journey Brown trusts his gut instincts. It’s a trait that his grandmother instilled in him when he was growing up, and it’s one that he always bears in mind when he watches his Penn State teammates work out. When Jahan Dotson arrived in 2018, Brown’s gut told him that the freshman wideout was going to be a star. Same with cornerback Marquis Wilson last year.

“My gut has yet to fail me,” Brown said.

Right now, all of Brown’s instincts are telling him that freshman running back Caziah Holmes is headed in the same direction as Dotson and Wilson. Holmes arrived at Penn State in January, a four-star recruit and an early enrollee in the Class of 2020. The decision to enroll for the spring semester didn’t pay off as expected, as Penn State shut down its spring sports season before the football team’s off-season practice sessions were set to begin.

But even though Brown didn’t get to practice with Holmes, the redshirt junior running back did spend enough time with his new teammate to get a sense of his trajectory at the college level.

“I remember I was in Holuba, I was working out by myself, getting extra work, and I was walking out,” Brown recalled. “I got into Lasch and I see him walking into Holuba. I said, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ He said, ‘I’m gonna get some extra work in.’ And I’m leaving, I’m done. I said, ‘I’ll go with you.’

“So I put my cleats back on and we’re talking, getting to know each other, sharing our stories. He’s telling me the love he has for his grandma, and I’m telling him the love I have for mine. He’s a track guy, loved running track. So did I. So we’re more alike than I thought. I’ve grown on that kid, I have a lot of love for him, and it’s only been so many days. I can’t wait to get back with him and work with him and help make him into the back he wants to be.”

A native of Titusville, Fla., Holmes rushed for 1,472 yards as a senior at Cocoa High, and he isn’t the only Florida running back in the Nittany Lions’ freshman class. Another prospect, Keyvone Lee of St. Petersburg, is set to join his new teammates when the Nittany Lions’ freshman class assembles in University Park in the coming days.

Brown, who enjoyed a breakout season in 2019 with four triple-figure rushing performances in Penn State’s last five games, is eager to serve as a mentor to younger players like Holmes.

“I want to be that support system for him. And that goes for Noah Cain, that goes for Devyn Ford, that goes for Keyvone when he gets here, that goes for Tank Smith. That goes for all my running backs,” Brown said. “I just want nothing but the best for them, and I’m going to make sure that happens by pushing them to be the best they can be.

“Caziah Holmes can be a great running back,” he added. “He’s going to be very successful. Very intelligent kid, very loving person. The hour and a half that we were working out together, you could just see it, you could feel it. My grandma always told me to trust my gut, and I always trust my gut. I know that kid is going to be a beast.”

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