Corey Brown Sr. has an old soul.

At 23 years old, he's not your average college student. Oh, he's got some of the same hopes, dreams and concerns regarding his future—where he'll go, what he'll do, what he hopes to accomplish as he leaves his mark on the world. But unlike most of his peers, Brown has a built-in support system wherever he goes.

That's his wife of three years, Alexis, and their kids CJ (three years old, and short for Corey Jr.) and Audrey (one). To juggle a marriage, children, college and Division I football is a balancing act that's certainly not for everyone, but Brown clearly relishes his roles as dominant on-field force and doting father and husband away from Fortera Stadium.

At 302 pounds, Brown is a natural space-eater inside who has become a disruptive backfield force for the Governors over the past two years. Entering the Nov. 10 contest at Eastern Illinois, he'd racked up least 0.5 tackles for loss in seven consecutive games. But if you want to really appreciate it, as Brown does, think about laying concrete, day after day, in the heat of the summer.

Because that's what Brown was doing before he came to Austin Peay.

After a dominant prep career at Columbus (Miss.) High, Brown enrolled at Northwest Mississippi Community College. It's there that he got engaged on Sept. 24, 2014 to Alexis and it's while he was there that the couple said their respective, "I do's," and welcomed CJ into their lives. But it's also there where Brown, after signing a National Letter of Intent with Southeast Missouri, had to make some tough choices.

"My recruiting process started kind of slow, and I think it's because I was married with kids and they had to come with me," he said. "More and more coaches came through and they were either with it or they weren't in regards to my family.

"Three days before report day, I called and just told them I couldn't do it. It was during the summer and I was just in a moment, as a father and husband, where I couldn't leave them. I was just over it, I didn't even want to play football anymore."

He took the semester off, working at a concrete-laying job secured for him by an uncle. He watched football, went to games and found himself missing the game. He wanted back in; he'd need to find a school, obviously, but it also had to be the right situation for his family.

Sometimes fate finds you, though.

"(Former Austin Peay) Coach (Marcus) West's brother lives close to me and I saw him in the mall one day," Brown said. "He told me to call him up; I sent him my film and told him I wanted to play ball again. I was also talking to SEMO and they wanted me back but also, I'd burnt them once and I can't blame them (for being leery). But they released me, I came on a visit and I was bought in immediately.

"Once everything was figured out, my wife was sold on it. But that initial conversation, where I told her that I wanted to play football again, she had a lot of questions. But I needed my degree; the job I had, I couldn't see myself doing that forever."

Having family housing available on-campus at Emerald Hill certainly helped ease the transition, as did joining a team whose coaching staff was comprised of quite a few young, married families with kids. In many respects, he could relate better to his coaches than his teammates; they understood his family dynamic even better than his peers did.

In a way, the time away did Brown some good. He came back to football with renewed vigor. And he got to experience the workforce and learned that he didn't just want college for football; he wanted the degree that goes with it.

"You get out in the workforce, you realize education is the key," he said. "It gives you a better appreciation for it. I think it made me a better student, that this isn't a joke; I'm not just doing this to play football, I actually need it."

With the end of the line approaching for his college career, Brown's begun to ponder what's next. As anyone with his size and skills will tell you, of course he'd entertain the idea of playing at the next level. But if that doesn't transpire, he's got a plan.

He's always got a plan.

"I really want to coach," he said. "I love the game a lot and football coaches have helped me so much from high school through now. You need people in your life. This wouldn't be possible without my wife or my coaches. I want to be able to return that favor and help others.