A former five-star recruit ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in the country, Bryan Bresee could basically pick anywhere he wanted to go for college.

Bresee had a top five comprised of Clemson, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State and Penn State. Ultimately, it came down to the Tigers and Bulldogs for the Damascus (Md.) High School star, and he ended up committing to Clemson on April 23, 2019.

So why did Bresee ultimately chose to play for the Tigers?

Bresee reflected on his college decision during an interview with NBC’s Mike Florio and Chris Simms at the NFL Combine earlier this month.

“Clemson and Georgia were my last two schools,” he said. “Clemson had just had Christian (Wilkins) and Dexter (Lawrence) and Clelin (Ferrell) and Austin Bryant and all those guys leave, and I saw what they had and what they were building at Clemson. And meeting with all the coaches, I thought it was where I would grow the most as a player and as a man and be challenged. So, that’s what it came down to for me.”

A two-time first-team USA Today All-American in 2018 and 2019, and the Gatorade Player of the Year in Maryland as a junior in 2018, Bresee concluded his career at Damascus with 134 total tackles, 80.5 tackles for loss and 35 sacks. He then burst onto the collegiate scene as a freshman All-American in 2020, becoming the second ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year in Clemson history.

Bresee was a three-time All-ACC selection and finished his Clemson career (2020-22) credited with 64 total tackles (15.0 for loss), 9.0 sacks, four pass breakups, an interception, a forced fumble and a safety over 26 games (21 starts).

Coming out of high school, Bresee got to choose where he wanted to play. Now, coming out of Clemson, the projected first-round pick by many is waiting to see which NFL team will choose him in next month’s draft (April 27-29, Kansas City).

Dear Old Clemson has added the Tiger Sack Pack to our online store.  Save by getting the Two Pack of signed cards from two of the nation’s top defensive ends, Myles Murphy and Xavier Thomas.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. 

Dear Old Clemson is doing NIL the ‘Clemson way’, but we need your help to make sure we build a sustainable, repeatable model that will help keep Clemson competitive with the other top programs around the nation.

Dabo Swinney: “We need your assistance more than ever to provide meaningful NIL opportunities. Tiger Impact, Dear Old Clemson and other collectives allow student-athletes to utilize their voice and platform to maximize their NIL opportunities and strengthen their impact in the community.”

Graham Neff:
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