5-star football recruit Sammy Brown explains why he picked Clemson over Georgia

Sammy Brown remembers walking into his parents’ hotel room midway through his official Clemson football visit and getting emotional.

For months, the five-star linebacker recruit said he’d had a growing “gut feeling” the Tigers were his top option.

But now that he was on campus, taking in the sights and sounds of the program with players and coaches and other top prospects, the feeling was overwhelming.

Brown, the country’s No. 2 linebacker and No. 15 overall recruit out of Jefferson (Ga) High School, was planning to go through all of his official visits before choosing a school. That included a trip to Georgia, college football’s reigning back-to-back national champion.

In a quiet moment ahead of dinner in Clemson, though, he was ready to make an audible.

“This is it,” Brown remembers telling his parents, Becca and Mike. “I feel like this is the place. I’m 100% confident. I think this is God’s will.”

Their response?

“If you think this is the place, do it.”

Brown ended up verbally committing to Clemson before he left campus that June 2-4 weekend — a joyful moment that, according to him, prompted coach Dabo Swinney to jump on a table in excitement — and went public with his decision June 5.

Now, nearly three months after one of the more resounding commitments of college football’s 2024 recruiting cycle, Brown, 17, said he’s feeling great about his choice.

“I’ve just been super happy with it,” he said. “I’ve been very relaxed, that’s for sure. For the whole recruiting process to be over, I’ve been really happy with it. I just feel like a high school kid now, to be honest.”

He added of his spur-of-the-moment decision: “When you’re able to make that without any regrets or any second thoughts, I think that you’re at the right place.”

Sammy Brown visits Upstate SC

Brown addressed reporters last Friday after his Jefferson Dragons made a rare Upstate South Carolina appearance, traveling about an hour north from Georgia to play a non-conference game against the Wren Golden Hurricanes in Piedmont.

Suiting up just 30 miles away from Clemson’s Memorial Stadium, his future football home, Brown looked the part and then some in a 30-14 win.

On defense, where he’s a head-hunting linebacker, Brown had 17 total tackles (14 solo), a tackle for loss and a sack. On offense, where he doubles as a workhorse running back, Brown carried the ball 15 times for 127 yards (8.5 yards per carry) and two touchdowns.

He even chipped in as an emergency punter and nailed that assignment, too, punting three times for 174 yards (58.0 average) with a long of 75 yards. All three of his punts were downed inside the 20-yard line.

“Man of many talents I guess,” Brown said, smiling.

It was an on-brand performance for Brown, listed at 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds and named the 2022-23 MaxPreps Male National Athlete of the Year in June.

As a junior, he had nearly 1,500 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns to go along with 113 tackles, an individual wrestling state championship and two top 10 finishes at the state track and field championships.

The website 247Sports recently listed Brown — who’s also set a number of weightlifting records at his school — as the No. 1 player on its 2024 Freaks List, reserved for the country’s most athletically impressive and unique high school recruits.

Andrew Ivins of 247Sports described Brown as a “one-of-a-kind athlete with one-of-a-kind athletic markers,” later writing: “We might be only three years into this exercise, but never before have we come across a prospect with a profile like Brown — and, honestly, it might never happen again.”

‘Super excited to play’

Power Five schools have been all over Brown since his sophomore year; Clemson, which is usually picky about offering underclassmen, extended Brown its first scholarship offer for a Class of 2024 player back in March 2022.

Brown, who projects as an inside linebacker at the college level, said his long-standing relationships with Swinney and defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin — they share a love for hunting and fishing — and Clemson’s culture helped make the difference in his decision.

“I think he’s one of the best college coaches, maybe of all time,” Brown said of Swinney. “I really like how passionate he is. … He loves his players. When you commit, he really loves you like a son. He loves football and he loves coaching football.”

Brown was also considering Tennessee, Oklahoma and Ohio State, but his college decision essentially came down to Clemson versus Georgia. Coach Kirby Smart’s program has won back-to-back national championships and rarely, if ever, misses on in-state recruits. The Bulldogs also have the current No. 1 2024 recruiting class.

Brown, who plays less than an hour away from UGA’s Athens campus and was one of the program’s top 2024 targets, said it was “hard” to call Smart and co-defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann and tell them no, but both coaches were “super accepting” of his choice.

With Clemson linebackers Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Barrett Carter both expected to declare for the 2024 NFL Draft after their junior seasons, Brown said he’s currently planning to sign with Clemson in the December early period and enroll early at the school in January 2024.

“I think the Clemson defense the next couple of years is going to be probably one of the best ever with the ’23 class and the ’24 class,” Brown said. “I’ve just been really happy with what we’ve done and I’m super excited to play.”

Will Georgia try to flip him before that?

“Georgia?” Brown said. “No. I talked to Coach Schumann when (Jefferson) went to a 7-on-7. I talked to him a little bit, but it was no recruiting — just how I’ve been and all that stuff. He’s a really good guy. I don’t think he’d try to push anything like that.”

Clemson 2024 football commitments

Listed in order of overall national ranking in 247Sports composite

• 5-star LB Sammy Brown, Jefferson (Ga.), No. 15

• 5-star WR Bryan Wesco, Midlothian (Tex.), No. 16

• 4-star CB Corian Gipson, Lancaster (Tex.), No. 67

• 4-star TE Christian Bentancur, Marian Central Catholic (Ill.), No. 90

• 4-star WR TJ Moore, Tampa Catholic (Fla.), No. 130

• 4-star S Ricardo Jones, Northside (Ga.), No. 168

• 4-star DE Darien Mayo, Good Counsel (Md.), No. 213

• 4-star DL Hevin Brown-Shuler, Pace Academy (Ga.), No. 225

• 4-star S Noah Dixon, Troup County (Fla.), No. 255

• 4-star CB Tavoy Feagin, Carrollwood Day (Fla.), No. 259

• 4-star RB David Eziomume, North Cobb (Ga.), No. 366

• 4-star DL Champ Thompson, Meadowcreek (Ga.), No. 434

• 3-star IOL Ronan O’Connell, Fred J. Page (Tenn.), No. 566

• 3-star DE Adam Kissayi, Heritage (Fla.), No. 654

• 3-star S Ashton Hampton, Florida State Univ. School (Fla.), No. 685

• 3-star LB Drew Woodaz, Jesuit (Fla.), No. 1,074

• 3-star K Nolan Hauser, Hough (N.C.), No. 1,751