Blaine Brown (March 19, 2026)

Sophomore pitcher and designated hitter Blaine Brown joins the show inside the show for this week's Kiv's Korner, presented by Calhoun's.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:03

It's time for a show within the show. It's Kibbs Corner presented by Calhoun. A taste of Tennessee, nine area locations. And available at Food City Center, too, which is a good thing. This is Ross Kibbs, Tennessee assistant baseball coach. He's in charge of recruiting. And this is his show within a show. Welcome and please introduce our guest.

SPEAKER_03 0:25

We have a very exciting guest. Exciting because if we're on defense, he would be out there and not just playing position, but in the center of the diamond. He pitches, yes. He's kind of settled in in the three-hole for your Tennessee volunteers. Blaine Brown from Paraland, Texas. Transfer for the Vols. Yeah. Another hot commodity like Landon Mack was, and very excited to have him. We're glad to be here. Most excited to have you on the corner. Finally, I'm on the corner. This is your segment, so let me talk about you a little bit. You go into the portal, you're making a decision. You obviously have a lot of people that are fighting for your commitment. What's one thing about Rocky Top that you were so attracted to that ultimately led to your decision?

SPEAKER_00 1:07

I would say just the culture. You know, everyone, everyone loves each other here, and just the the vibe here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

It's a good vibe. It's a good vibe. When you're going through the process and you're visiting other schools, is the two-way thing something that's important to you while you're going through that, or were you willing to settle out on the mound or or just as a hitter?

SPEAKER_00 1:29

No, two-way thing was a pretty important thing. I entered and just getting the opportunity to uh to do both was pretty big for me.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

I'm gonna ask you this because I know Coach Keith would ask you this. Is it hard to manage doing both? Like, is your schedule different than everybody else? And and how does something that's what I would do with that? He's becoming a journalist trying to get better. What what does your week look like compared to someone that might just pitch or might just hit?

SPEAKER_00 2:00

I would say my week would probably consist of finding time to do both, you know. Because they gotta I still have to get everything in at the end of the day. So just finding time and communicating with Ren and he to find good times to do you want me to go do pitching right here, or do you want me to do some outfield work and then touching the mound and throwing some pretty big ping too? Do you feel like Keegan's pretty flexible with how the weights work too? Keegan Keegan's very flexible. If I need some, if I need to do a little something extra, then I'll get in there with him. If I need to move up my time or get in earlier to lift or lift another day, like he's very flexible with that, which I really appreciate.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

How does Ren work around your bull pens and your hitting and your lifting? Is that like you said, communicating, but does he have to manage how many bullets are in that arm, or how does that work?

SPEAKER_00 2:53

He usually leaves that up to me, you know, how I feel that day and whether or not I want to do a little extra, or if I just felt good that day, then just leave it at that.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

So I want to ask you what as we're in Southeastern Conference play now, what do you hope your role is pitching as we get deeper into the conference schedule?

SPEAKER_00 3:12

You know, kind of just a role that can come in and get out when I need it, when my name is called, and just doing whatever to help the team.

SPEAKER_02 3:19

How does the staff potentially see him? Because you're building this thing, you're still building, you'll build it into April, you'll build it into May, and hopefully well into June. Yes. As you build this thing up, where do you think he can can help that way on the map?

SPEAKER_03 3:35

Well, the arm talent is unquestionable, and we've talked about this. You've gotten brought up on the corner before because it is kind of you've been cornered. You love that he's kind of a Martian where you know Shohei is similar, and I'm not putting Shohei Otani pressure on you, but it it is similar where you have to develop both, right? So right now, it seems like Tuesdays have been our development for him, getting his four outs, five outs, etc. With the expectation that whether it be the end of SEC play, certainly in Hoover, and then postseason, it's a weapon that we can utilize. So to answer your question, he's gonna get some innings in this league, and uh we expect it to go similarly to how it is when he gets up there and hits. Talk about him as a hitter. This was why I felt so confident recruiting him and the the rest of the staff. Yes, it's it's attractive when it's a guy that's throwing 95 plus miles per hour with his left arm. Yes, that's attractive. But the power potential, how it plays into our ballpark being left-handed, um, the ability to use the whole field is really exciting. And then I correct me if I'm wrong, power guy, swing and miss guy, we didn't feel that way. We felt like the hand eye, the hit tool, like they say, in professional baseball, was always there. And the power has just come because he's six foot six and you know, 200 plus pounds, and he's strong into your leverage. But creating an atmosphere, which Chuck and E certainly do, uh, to develop the entire field of a hitter has where I've seen the most jump. So we knew it was in there, super excited about the middle of the lineup power potential, but he's he's proven to be a contact guy as well.

SPEAKER_02 5:25

Are you pleased with your development as a hitter? Oh, I'm well he has to say he has to be. I know he's being well coached. I'm asking, is he pleased with what he's been able to do so far and where he thinks it can go this year as you get deeper into hitting SEC pitching?

SPEAKER_00 5:52

I mean, yeah, always there's always something to improve on, always. So I mean, just getting better each day is the key to key to success.

SPEAKER_03 6:01

Well well, what is one thing? I knew you you wanted to ask. Go ahead. Well, what is one thing that you have to get better at going through this league? Because this is a man set. Yeah, it is, and you know, there's no this is not a slight at the AAC conference. I coached in it when I was at Houston, but it it's different depth-wise as far as the arms that are gonna run out there. What was one thing that you're like, I'm focusing on this, I'm improving on this, this is why I'm a first round talent.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

I think just the mindset, I think the biggest thing for me was the mental side of the game and just understanding like you're not gonna have success all the time. Just kind of staying like level headed. It's like not getting too high on your highs and not too on your lows, and just sticking with my team no matter what happens.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

Hardest thing to do as a hitter is not let one at bat carry over to the next at bat. And they used to say about Pete Rose that his reason for being such a great hitter, such a successful hitter through the course of his career is he was one of the few guys that most players saw that could start off 0 for three and end up two for five. Yeah, because he would come back and you know, you're 0 for 3, you're thinking, man, I'm taking the collar here, and this is this is bad. And then he could get up there and pop two hits in the seventh and ninth inning and help you win a baseball game.

SPEAKER_03 7:17

Yeah, there's some kids that watch this because we're pretty PG 13 on this show. What's one thing you would tell them about failure? Since you have to do it in both.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

So the other day for no, you're bringing up failure. It's better. So I bring up coaching, you're bringing up failure. Okay, great. Well, you have to train failure too.

SPEAKER_03 7:34

Sure. I mean, literally a game of failure. That's why it's so fun. Yeah. You know, a couple weeks back, it doesn't go how you wanted it against ETSU on the mound, but you still come up the next half inning and drive in a run to tie the game. Yeah. How do you manage the emotions of uh-oh, didn't go like it was supposed to on the mound, but I still got a job to do, you know, being a two-way guy in the lineup.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Yeah, coming out and I I was always running off. It was kind of just understanding like it is what it is, like it happened. Like at that point, it was just like I was I was like backing on my teammate B Fred, who came in and shut it down, stopped that bleeding, and then as I'm getting ready to hit it, it was just like, all right, my role is just I'm gonna hit now. Yep. And then I didn't let it affect, got the pitch I saw, and did what I was supposed to do. Whacked it.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

Kibbs Corner continues, presented by our great friends at Calhoun. I wish I had Calhoun right now. Blaine, do you like Calhoun? Yeah, I like Calhoun. Do you like Calhoun? I love Calhoun. Yeah, I have a huge Calhoun's guy. Calhoun nine area locations. They are the sponsor of Kibbs Corner. This is Ross Kivitt. He is the Kiv in Kibb's Corner. Yeah. Talking baseball, talking to Blaine Brown, star volunteer, two-way player. Yes. And we actually have another star. Yeah. I like Star.

SPEAKER_03 8:54

Star's good. I want you to bring because this is nostalgia for you.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

What we like to say is this is a family show. Right now, it really is a family show because Blaine Brown's dad is joining us now, and his name is Chris Brown. And if you think, huh, he looks very familiar. It's not because of the White Sox hat. He didn't play for the White Sox. He played at Colorado. He was a third-round draft pick of your Tennessee Titans. And he ran with Eddie George. He ran with Travis Henry, ball great. He ran certainly with a lot of good backs in the NFL, had a really nice career, and was one of my very favorite players that I ever covered. So Chris Brown, when I heard your son was coming to Tennessee, I have to say I nearly wept because I was so happy, but also because that made me so old.

SPEAKER_03 9:51

Chris, I was very thankful as well. For job security purposes.

SPEAKER_02 10:05

How did that happen?

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Well, man, you know, I I expose my kids to everything. I let them figure out their path. You know, his first sport he played with soccer. It didn't work out too good. But you know, you know, I would have to give credit to maybe my wife on that one. Because she played softball growing up. And I ain't got I ain't played base baseball a day in my life.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

So going into the family dynamic, take yourself out of it. Who's the best athlete in the family?

SPEAKER_01 10:35

Best athlete in the family. This is hard hitters over here. We're talking all around. Yes. Who's who do you think is the best athlete? I'll probably give it to the youngest one. I'll give it to the youngest one. He's actually he's actually pretty dang good on the basketball court. I'm not gonna lie. He's actually pretty good.

SPEAKER_03 10:59

We already talked about Blaine's basketball court experience up here in the T-Rex, and his teammates called it broke from a household name in the T-Rex.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

He gets that from me then. I couldn't play basketball.

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Did you play basketball, Chris?

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Uh a little bit in high school, if you want to call it that.

SPEAKER_03 11:19

How's Houston right now? How's the weather down there?

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Oh, it looks like 80 degrees.

SPEAKER_03 11:24

I'm loving it. I was just in Paraland looking at Ridge Point High School.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

Oh, he was over at Ridge Point. Okay. They got some talent over there.

SPEAKER_03 11:31

They do. We're looking for the we're looking for the next Blaine Brown. We like going into Texas, which leads me to my next question. When Blaine says he's going to transfer, he comes to UHM and a transfer and he leaves the state of Texas, where I presume you got to see him play a whole bunch. Yeah. What was your first reaction? How did you feel about that? And when you guys came on the visit and then he decided on Tennessee, what were the feelings about kind of being so far from home?

SPEAKER_01 11:59

You know, I mean, I was a little spoiled this freshman year, only a 20-minute drive, get to watch every game. I'm not gonna lie, but you know, you gotta do what's best for him, and that was a decision he made. I was all about behind him. Let's roll. We're gonna do it, we're gonna step both feet in it and go.

SPEAKER_03 12:14

Yeah, I appreciate that. And I won't give too much, Mike, on when we got the phone call, but he was at a different establishment in this league, and it felt really good because we got his commitment, but also because of where he was when we got the phone call.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

Let me ask you, Chris, are you more nervous as a dad when Blaine's hitting or Blaine's pitching?

SPEAKER_01 12:36

Oh man, honestly, I don't really get nervous because I got no control over it. You know, I hope he goes out and performs great, but I I can't control it. So I enjoy being a fan and I don't really get too nervous about him. But I do get frustrated sometimes when he doesn't do what he's supposed to do, you know. But when he goes out there and does what he's supposed to do, it's all good.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

When he says that, Blaine, I mean, because Chris just said he didn't play baseball. Yeah. So what is your dad's advice to you before or after games like? Being that he was a I mean, he was a successful professional athlete, high-level athlete in his own right.

SPEAKER_00 13:14

Usually I I call him after the games and he'll tell me what he saw, and I'll tell him what I thought or what I felt during the game. And we kind of we kind of like meet in the middle on something, and then it's like, all right, we figure out what's wrong, and tomorrow we'll work on getting it better. So it's usually what it consists of.

SPEAKER_03 13:32

What about growing up? Your dad was a professional athlete, you're you're starting to really come into your own as a baseball player, your junior and senior year in high school for sure. Dad to see you play then, and then as a freshman in college and now as a sophomore. How was growing up, not in that shadow, but with the expectation of, well, your dad was a professional athlete, so you sure need to be one.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

Yeah. Growing up like that, it was it was kind of like it was kind of not I wouldn't say hard, but it was kind of like I knew it was there, but it was like I also wanted, you know, I wanted to be myself, you know. So growing up, I I'm I really appreciate it. Like now I look back on it, I really appreciate everything he really did for me growing up.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

Chris, where do you think because you were a pro athlete, you were able to help him the most in anything in regards to the process?

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Oh, I mean, just trying to slow it down. Like just because you work on one thing one day, you're not gonna be perfect at it in the next tomorrow. So it's it's a slow process, you know, especially when from his sophomore year to his junior year when he grew like seven inches and he looked like a baby giraffe running and everything looked painful and he couldn't, he didn't know where the ball was going, couldn't swing that. I was like, just stick with it. I promise. Next year it was gonna be all right. You know, that was more of the thing I tried to do with that.

SPEAKER_03 14:52

How about helping with expectations? They call him Blaine Tani up here in the clubhouse. Do they really? Yeah, that's a fun nickname. We can we can get that trending. Uh how about dealing with some expectation? Obviously, he's earned all of the accolades from the past, and obviously, all of the the we call it hype from now and then through the future. But dealing with that, or how do you navigate that for Blaine?

SPEAKER_01 15:16

Really just gotta focus. It's gonna be good days, you're gonna have bad days. You're gonna have days where people love you and days where people don't think you're that good. You gotta stay even, Keel, and just go about your work, do your business, and trust the process. You know how to hit, you know how to pitch. Like, don't worry about the outside noise, it's just noise, and keep moving.

SPEAKER_02 15:34

You inherited several things from your dad. You look like your dad, you're tall like your dad. But the thing that stands out to me, and just in the brief time I've had a chance to watch you play, you have your dad's even tempered manner. Your dad never let things rattle him. I mean, he was he was the same all the time, which is why people within our building always valued him so much, is because he was so consistent. That's the biggest thing where you have a similarity, you think?

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Uh, 100%.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:04

Well, what about mom? No offense, Chris, but mom was a really good athlete. And this show is for everybody. So, how about uh a little bit of luck? You get your jumping, the ability to jump, the ability to work fast around the bases, because you have scored from first a couple of times.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

A couple of those, yeah, for sure. My mom, yeah, really appreciate my mom.

SPEAKER_03 16:26

I thought your dad was gonna say she was the best athlete to get some brownie. She likes he liked brownie. He likes he likes to mess with it. Now you now you're starting stuff now.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Now you're gonna start stuff.

SPEAKER_03 16:39

She knows. She doesn't need any iPhone from Pops. She knows that she's the better athlete.

SPEAKER_02 16:44

Now, Chris, I'm told you were pretty sold on Tennessee from the jump. What sold you about this program, this school, and this place where you played the majority of your pro career?

SPEAKER_01 16:57

Part of that, like being in Tennessee, spent what, five years there. I've been to Knoxville before, and you know, I really enjoyed my time there. It's a beautiful part of the country, but I mean, I was gonna let him make his decision, and he he went with it.

SPEAKER_03 17:12

Thank you again for that, letting him make that decision. One more thing on the decision process, because the portal is such a a heavy piece of recruiting. When you're going through, and you said culture earlier, when you're going through the culture, is dad helping you kind of identify what you're you need to look for? Because this is another thing. I'm starting to get this journalist thing down, yeah. Because this is a yes, you can, but you said on your visit, I'm gonna pick a spot and I'm staying here. This is where I'm gonna get drafted out of, and I'm gonna pick a spot that gives me that best chance. So, what kind of advice may be it going through that?

SPEAKER_00 17:50

Yeah, I would say just whatever like feels right, you know, like like whatever you like. If you feel like this is home, like when I first stepped here and when I was coming around and being around everyone, you know, like when we went out to dinner, like we ever everyone just felt like the family, like it's a it's a family, like everyone's there for each other, and I kind of uh locked it a lot, and I knew this is where it's like. Take them to Calhoun's.

SPEAKER_02 18:16

That's there we go. That's why we're doing it. There we go. All right, well, so we'll wrap up. Chris Brown, so good to see you. And so thrilled your outstanding son, Blaine Brown, is part of the Tennessee baseball program. Thank you for joining us on Kibb's Corner. Ross, would you like to wrap up here?

SPEAKER_03 18:32

Thank you, Chris. We'll see you in uh in a couple of weeks at one of these series. Blaine Brown, everybody, really excited to have him in our three-hole and then pitching. Looking forward to seeing your development over the next couple of months into the summer. Yep. This will be fun.

SPEAKER_02 18:45

Kibb's Corner presented by Calhouns, a taste of Tennessee.