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Since he became a New England Patriot, there have been doubters when it comes to Josh Uche.

The former Michigan linebacker was supposed to be a game wrecker. Someone who would help the Patriots continue to stay competitive as a cornerstone of the defense. The only problem was, that hadn’t happened in the first two seasons of his career.

Until 2022.

Uche has exploded onto the scene with 10.5 sacks, 21 solo tackles and two forced fumbles and he recently won Defensive Player of the Week in the AFC after a dominant game against the Cardinals. Prior to this breakout season, Uche’s teammates have always believed in him, but many others didn’t. There is one guy however, that believed in Uche a long time ago and has continued to do so.

UMass head coach Don Brown.

When announcing his recruiting class on National Signing Day Wednesday, Brown talked about how he still uses Uche and teammate Jabrill Peppers as comparisons when scouring the country for the next great defensive player in high school.

“I love to use guys that I’ve worked with to kind of…the guys relate to it too when you’re a recruit,” said Brown. “They’re going ‘oh, ok, I know who Uche is,’ I think that hits home for them (as far as) what I think (a player’s) strengths are. It’s like Jabrill Peppers, that was really one of the big time vipers I’ve ever had. So, when you say his name, the high school guys kind of get it. So, yeah, I think that’s fair to use it and I don’t think it’s dangerous territory.

“Relating guys to good players means you’re a good player. I think that’s a fun thing.”

So, what is it in particular that Brown has believed in all these years with Uche? Exactly what we’re all seeing now, his ability to make life miserable for quarterbacks.

“That’s all I got to go by, is my brain,” Brown said emphatically. “Josh Uche was 215 lbs. from Christopher Columbus High School. He was a guy that could rush the passer. When I was at BC, I started recruiting him. Then, he kind of followed me to Michigan and we ended up taking him. With him, the development part was the linebacker piece. The thing the man could always do was get off the ball and get after the quarterback, he could always do that.

“Our thing was, get him up to speed and keep working hard to develop him as a linebacker, but his pass rush stuff was above reproach.”