Brock Fienberg is determined to play at the Power-4 level.
So much so that the in-state linebacker is putting off college for a year and reclassifying to the 2026 class. He will be moving to Boston later this month to attend the prestigious prep school, Phillips Academy Andover.
Feinberg prefers to go the prep school route rather than spending a year or two at a lower level school and having to enter the transfer portal for a shot at moving up to the Power-4 level.
“I didn’t have the best opportunity as a class of 2025,” Feinberg told The Clemson Insider. “I ende up not having a D1 opportunity, so I would have to go lower level and then go into the transfer portal.”
As a senior at Wando last season, Feinberg was credited with 50 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and, one forced fumble and two quarterback hurries.
Hw will now take the production up north, and if he can turn in a strong season, he is hopeful some better opportunities will present themselves.
“I didn’t know much about the prep school up north because they don’t have much of that here in the south,” Feinberg added. “They said, ‘Hey, we got you on full ride, we are paying everything.’ That is a heck of an opportunity, so I am going to bet on myself and reclass.”
Bill Belichick, Ernie Adams, JFK JR, George H.W. Bush Sr. and George Bush Jr. are just a few of the more succesful stories to have come through Phillips Academy Andover. While none of those men made their names on the football field while attending the school, Feinberg is hoping that will eventually be his story.
“I love the sport of football,” Feinberg said. “It is a prestigious school. Huge names have come through there. It is going to help me academically and help me make new connections. I said, ‘Ok, I am not losing anything out of this.’ There are no negatives about it.”
Last summer, Feinberg spent three days working out at Dabo Swinney’s high school camp, but he chose not to attend this summer, seeing as he had better opportunities with other schools that were showing more interest. Plus, Wes Gooddwin was his main contact at Clemson, and he is now on Brent Venables’ staff at Oklahoma.
Charlotte, Tulsa, Murray State and Buffalo were some of the schools to have offered Feinberg as a 2025 recruit. Syracuse offered him a PWO spot after he’d impressed head coach Fran Brown during a camp stop while he was still on staff at Georgia.
Now that he has reclassified, he is hearing from FIU, Furman, Boston College, Ohio and Western Carolina. However, it is Clemson, the lifelong Tigers fan is hoping to hear from at some point before signing day..
“If you look at P4 schools, Clemson is just different,” Feinberg said. “I literally just watched a commit in the 2025 class tear an ACL, and they still took him. They could have said they didn’t want him anymore. They are the top team in the state. I love how coach Swinney loves his players. His loyalty and respect to his players and how he treats them like family. I don’t think it can get much better than that.”
Photo courtesy of Brock Feinberg