Tre’mon Morris-Brash came to UCF in 2019 with the potential to develop into an outstanding edge rusher. Five seasons later that’s exactly what has happened. Morris-Brash all season has been one of the leaders in NCAA statistics and in the Big 12 Conference in both tackles for loss and sacks. For multiple weeks in 2023 he has been the national leader in at least one of those categories, currently leading the conference (and ranking fourth nationally) in tackles for loss at 1.6 per game. He also stands third in the Big 12 in sacks at .68 per contest, while leading the Knights in both categories. That’s after he led UCF on both lists in 2022 as the conference coaches voted him a first-team All-American Athletic Conference lineman. He has been a major part of the Knights’ defensive front for five consecutive seasons, helping give that 2023 unit a veteran look. Here is his story:
I was born and grew up in Richmond (Virginia), and then in the sixth grade I moved with my dad to northern Virginia. I’m the youngest of five brothers, and I have three sisters. One of my brothers played football at Lynchburg. I had attended public schools most of my life, but I had a chance to receive a scholarship to St. John’s College High School (Chevy Chase, Maryland). It was 45 minutes to get there every day on a train and then a public bus, but it was a great opportunity for me. It made for some long days, but it was worth it.
I’ve been playing football since I was 5. I grew up playing offense--running back, quarterback, receiver. I did it all. I played on the freshman team at St. John’s and started at wide receiver and defensive end. Make that clear—it was wide receiver, not tight end. But my freshman year I broke my wrist and that was really it for me playing receiver. There were other kids on scholarships to play receiver and they needed to play. But I did grow up a true offensive player. I ended up strictly defense once I broke my wrist. Part of what makes me good on defense is the fact I used to play offense—things I could take from the offensive side.
I had a bunch of offers—just about everybody except Alabama, USC, UCLA. Alabama and Oklahoma were my dream schools growing up as a kid—I could see myself playing for them. When Oklahoma offered me I tried to commit right away, but they needed to wait and see my grades. A lot of schools kind of put me on hold because my GPA (grade-point average) wasn’t as good as it could have been. Then I got a 26 ACT score and that made sure I would qualify (academically).
Coach (Shane) Burnham was on Coach (Josh) Heupel’s staff at UCF. He had been at Rutgers and offered me there—actually my second scholarship offer. He was one of the coaches that always wanted me. Once he was at UCF he offered me--he always believed in me and believed I would qualify. I went to high school with Cam Goode and he signed with Virginia Tech, but he left in the summer. He had been committed there since he was a sophomore. He got an offer from UCF, too, so we decided to go together. We took our official visits to UCF together and those were the only visits we took. We were kind of a package deal. I wish he was still here.
I got a chance to play at UCF right away. That was the plan. I didn’t come to sit the bench—I had never done that my whole career. I was ready for it. I feel like that had a lot to do with being at St. John’s. A lot of the things I learned and did in high school translated here. I thought it would be a bigger transition than it turned out to be. The biggest thing was the weight room and seeing guys do what they do in there. I wasn’t the strongest guy, and there were guys lifting 500 pounds in the weight room. I wasn’t one of the guys doing that. I did need to get stronger, but I did not want to lose my quickness. Maybe there were some guys that lifted those 500 pounds, but that didn’t mean they could block me. It was a little bit of an eye-opener to understand that just lifting a lot of weight doesn’t always transfer to what you can do on the field.
I’ve definitely grown here at UCF. I think I’ve become more spiritual, and I think I’ve matured. As the years have gone by the coaches have made more use of my skillset in terms of game plans. Maybe they’ve gained more trust in knowing what I can do and believing they can count on me. And more so this year.
My success this year is mainly due to God, but it’s also partly due to my experience. It’s becoming more aware of other teams’ personnel—really taking my film study seriously. It’s about trying to have an idea what I’m going to get before the play happens. And getting myself in the right position to make the play. It’s not just me—it’s everybody around me. We’ve got a pretty experienced group on defense, especially up front. It’s about everybody working together.
Being in the Big 12 means we’re going up against better players. That’s been a challenge for everybody. At the end of the day, it’s still football. You see some new things, but in a lot of ways it’s the same. There are strong and better players and probably better coaches. It’s matter of being dialed in and locked into your assignment. Getting the call from the sideline and executing that call. It’s about playing football for the guy next to you.
Before the 2022 season, my plan was to leave (for the NFL). But the season did not go how I wanted it to go, and I definitely felt like I could put more stuff on tape and be better. Then with the move to the Big 12 I decided right away I needed to come back. My (draft) stock will be better.
My nickname has always been “Drop.” I wasn’t sick, but I used to have a cough, even at 3 months. They say I used to actually like cough drops a lot, so this has been going on a long time. After I got older and heard everybody calling me “Cough Drop,” well, of course I’m going to actually get some cough drops.
When I was 14 I was in a coma for 27 days with pneumothorax. I missed the first two months of school my eighth-grade year. I had to learn how to walk and do everything else again. It was definitely tough. One thing that did help me was my PE teacher told me I needed to do a lot of stretching. That stuck with me and even now makes me one of the most flexible players on the team. The only reason I’m still here is God. I’m truly grateful.
I think the whole rest of the season is about finishing. We as a team have to finish this year out strong. We need to win the Houston game and win a bowl game--and that will help everybody on the team. We’ve worked a long time to get to this point. It all goes so fast. It seems like I just got here to UCF. It seems like August was just yesterday. But I thank God that I will have a chance to play at the next level—and not long from now it will be right in front of my face.
I haven’t really reflected on everything that’s happened since I’ve been at UCF. It hasn’t sunk in that it’s about to be over. I just want to finish strong.