Former Buff LB Southward Drowns - University of Colorado Athletics

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. ? Former University of Colorado linebacker Brandon Southward passed away here Wednesday (Feb. 23) afternoon, as the Colorado Springs native drowned in a friend’s pool. He had just turned 28 last December 3.

The coroner is still conducting his investigation, but first indications are that Southward may have suffered some kind of heart problem, possibly genetic, while swimming. He was pronounced dead at 3:20 p.m. eastern time in this community, just south of Daytona Beach.

Southward, who stood 6-foot-4 and weighed 240 pounds as a senior with the Buffaloes in 1998, played his high school ball at Colorado Springs Mitchell, and was the first recruit in CU’s 1995 class by then-first year head coach Rick Neuheisel. He lettered four seasons for the Buffaloes (1995-98) at both inside and outside linebacker, playing in 40 games overall (14 starts), with 167 career tackles. He was second on the team in tackles as a senior with 86, just one off the team lead; Hannibal Navies, now of the Green Bay Packers, had 87 that season.

Southward was recruited by former CU assistant Chuck Heater, who is now at Florida. Heater was saddened by the news. "He was a good kid. He was fun to recruit, made things exciting. The only recruit (in that era) I can recall who had Jim Morrison posters on his walls."

Assistant head coach Brian Cabral, who also coaches the inside linebackers at CU, was Southward’s coach his entire career in Boulder.

“He was a good athlete, so this is a shock, just devastating,” Cabral said. “He was happy go lucky, a free spirit in a good way. He took great care of his body, was well conditioned, did everything we asked of him, and he just loved every part of the game. He was a pleasure to coach. I spend a lot of time with my guys, and they’re like sons to me. This is a tough loss.”

Information on services was pending Thursday, as his parents were en route to Florida.