Brian Calhoun attended Oak Creek High School in Oak Creek, Wisconsin where he was a three-sport athlete, playing football, basketball, and running track. As a junior, Brian earned all-region, all-conference, all-state, and all-American honors. He was also named Wisconsin’s Gatorade player of the year for his performance. As a senior, he once again earned all-region, all-conference, all-state, and all-American honors. He signed with the University of Colorado where he made an immediate impact on offense and special teams. He rushed for 314 yards and averaged 13.2 yards per kickoff return on the season. As a sophomore, Calhoun led the team in rushing with 810 yards on 195 attempts. He scored 5 touchdowns on the ground and added 32 receptions for 266 yards and another score. The coaches wanted to move him to receiver for his junior year, but Calhoun opted to transfer to the University of Wisconsin where he could stay at his natural position of running back. He sat out the 2004 season as a transfer, then emerged as one of the top backs in the nation for the Badgers as a junior. He carried the ball 348 times for 1,632 yards and 22 touchdowns that year. He also caught 53 passes for 571 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns. Brian Calhoun is four years removed from high school but still has a year of eligibility remaining due to his transfer season in 2004; however, he has opted to skip his senior season and enter the 2006 NFL draft.

Brian Calhoun is an explosive player who emerged as one of the top running backs in the nation as a junior. He has excellent vision and the speed to get outside and turn the corner. He is an elusive open field runner who will make defenders miss and is a threat to take it the distance every time he touches the football. He runs well between the tackles but is by no means a power runner and he will not break many tackles. He possesses soft hands and is a very good receiver out of the backfield. He is very good at protecting the football and is credited with 0 fumbles in his career (543 attempts). Although he lacks ideal size and strength for a featured back in the NFL, Calhoun has proven he can carry the load and stay healthy over the course of a long season. In 13 games as a junior, Calhoun averaged 27 carries per game including a career high 43 carries against Bowling Green. He carried the ball a total of 348 times as a junior. Only two NFL running backs, Shawn Alexander (370) and Tiki Barber (357) carried the ball more times in the 16 game 2005 NFL regular season. Brian Calhoun is a versatile player who can run, catch and return kicks. If he can improve his size and strength as well as his ability to pickup the blitz, he will be the total package at the professional level. He is one of the top running backs in the draft and should be selected in the late first or early second round in the 2006 NFL draft.