To say Elon University and the University of Iowa are different would be an understatement. 

Elon is home to just over 6,000 undergraduate students, while UI is home to over 30,000. 

The cities the universities are located in boast a distinct population discrepancy, too. Though the university is technically within the Burlington, North Carolina metropolitan area (pop. roughly 130,000), Elon University is located in the eponymous city of Elon, which has a population of only 11,000 citizens. 

Those figures are much smaller than Iowa City, which is home to over 75,000 people in the city proper and over 170,000 in the metro area. 

Moving from the small community of Elon to Iowa City would be a big change for anyone, but try moving across the country and playing college football.

That's the challenge Kahmari Brown currently faces. After two seasons at Elon, the defensive lineman packed his bags and headed to Iowa City for his final two seasons of eligibility. 

There's no question that the step up from the Colonial Athletic Association to the Big Ten will be tough for Brown, but his first two seasons with the Phoenix were a good indication that he can bring plenty to the table for Iowa. 

Elon went 6-6 in both of Brown's seasons there, but he was probably the reason why it stayed at the .500 mark during his sophomore season in 2025. Brown collected a CAA-best 12 sacks, becoming the first player in Phoenix history to compile double-digit sacks in a single season. He was named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press. 

Brown left Elon tied for the most sacks in program history (16.5), entering the transfer portal on Nov. 24. 247Sports ranked him as a three-star prospect, and Brown committed to the Hawkeyes on Jan. 6. 

It's now already been five months since Brown arrived on campus. The obvious aforementioned differences between Elon and Iowa immediately caught Brown's eye, but he says the biggest change has been the coaching staff. 

Though the Phoenix had the same head coach, Tony Trisciani, for Brown's two seasons there, they featured a new offensive and defensive coordinator in his second season.

Coaching changes are a rarity at Iowa, though. Kirk Ferentz is entering his 28th year as head coach, while defensive line coach Kelvin Bell is entering his 15th season (eighth as defensive line coach) on the Hawkeyes' staff. 

That unprecedented longevity is what brought brown to Iowa City in the first place. 

"I will rinse and repeat with that again, that they've [the coaches] been here since before I was born, and I find that to be a real important factor in why I'm here," Brown said at media availability on June 17. 

Iowa's defensive line has been completely overhauled this year. Max Llewellyn, Ethan Hurkett, and Aaron Graves all graduated in the offseason, leaving the new, yet experienced Brown in the spotlight. 

Brown says the high standard of great defensive line play at Iowa is what has helped him adjust, but also credited the strong relationship between his fellow teammates and his coaches as a primary reason as well. 

"Everybody's a team, everybody's going to be together, and we sit down and have meals together, outside activities together, which is big," Brown said. 

Brown still has over two months to get acclimated with the Hawkeyes' system before the 2026 season begins. More things will need to be learned in that time frame, but one thing Brown already knows about is the lore of Kinnick Stadium - including the always-raucous north end zone. 

"I've heard a lot about the wave, the wave is really big here, and just the atmosphere of being at the north end zone, and the atmosphere of being down there is just unreal," Brown said. 

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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at [email protected]