CLEMSON – In the spring of 2024, 18-year old Sammy Brown arrived on Clemson’s campus, omitting his final semester of high school to join the Tigers for winter and spring workouts.

Brown had already received the high school Butkus Award–given to the nation’s best high school linebacker–as well as a five-star designation and a laundry list of other accolades from his four-year prep career. The Jefferson, Ga., native was viewed as an obvious star in the making.

Still, his first few weeks at Clemson were not the smoothest.

“Sammy Brown was not great that first spring,” head coach Dabo Swinney said earlier this month. “He wasn’t. But you could see the attributes and if he would do the work, I think if he had come in the summer, it would have taken him a little longer. But if he’ll do the work, and you know a guy like Sammy is going to do it in May and June and July, you just knew he was going to take a jump. And he did. He did a heck of a job.” 

That progress translated to Brown winning the ACC’s Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, as well as several Freshman All-American honors. Learning under now-NFL linebackers Barrett Carter and Wade Woodaz, Brown posted 87 tackles. Despite starting in just four games, he finished with the second-most tackles on the team.

Fast forward two years, and Brown is no longer learning the ropes of spring and fall practices. He is no longer the wide-eyed freshman with all the rough-edged talent or the underclassman waiting for his turn as the Tigers’ most tenured ‘backer in the room. 

Instead, the 6-foot-2, 235-pound athlete is now a fully-developed junior that position coach Ben Boulware dubbed a “first-round linebacker” in a social media post this summer that showcased him running a blazing-fast 40-yard dash. 

Brown’s teammates got to watch his athleticism every day this summer and fall. Maybe more importantly, however, they got to watch him operate as the defense’s leader.

“Sammy Brown, man, he runs 4.3 (forty-yard dash),” said fellow linebacker Jeremiah Alexander. “He’s squatting 700 pounds, benching 400 pounds. He’s very smart. I feel like that kind of really separates him. Even though he’s a freak athletically, when he’s on the field, he’s very smart, and that just allows his athleticism to shine even more.”

“Every day is something new with Sammy,” Alexander continued. “He’s making calls, adjustments, and then my biggest thing for Sammy that I see him do every day and very well is his communication as a leader on the defense.” 

That football intelligence is an asset that Brown prides himself on, especially as the ‘quarterback’ of the defense at middle linebacker. Brown’s skill in that arena is not shocking, as the junior is a biology major on track to become a doctor, and is used to studying patterns every day.

Like a doctor with upwards of 10 years of training, however, Brown’s skills did not come overnight. They have been honed across three years, including those first few tough weeks as a freshman.

“I think one of the things that I pride myself in is being a very very intelligent player,” Brown said on ACC Network recently. “Somebody that I look up to who, you know, actually just got put in the Hall of Fame is Luke Kuechly. There’s so many videos of him just calling out plays while he’s playing. I think that just is another level of playing linebacker.

So, instead of, you know, reacting to what the offense is doing, you’re anticipating it. So that’s just an extra step that allows me to try to make more plays.”

Though Brown has been at Clemson for three fall camps, this season will be his first not learning a new defense, as defensive coordinator Tom Allen has returned for his second season with the Tigers. With a year of Allen’s scheme under his belt, Brown feels confident that he, as well as the rest of the linebackers, can take a step forward.

Personally, the Brown is hoping to become more vocal this year.

“Being a vocal leader has been one of the biggest things that I’ve worked on this spring, summer, and now getting into the fall,” Brown said. “Just understanding, with Wade leaving, with those guys last year leaving, just understanding how I can become the guy that’s going to get everybody riled up before the game.”

Though he may have more playing time, accolades and overall experience under his belt than any other linebacker on the team, Brown is fully conscious that he has to prove himself every day that he touches the field.

“That’s not entitled to me,” he said. “You know, I’ve still got to go to work every single day and make sure that I’m doing everything that I can to go out there and prove myself every single day because you know there’s guys behind me that are really really skilled and really really athletic.”

Brown and the linebackers will get their first chance to show off their improvement on Sept. 5, when Clemson heads to Baton Rouge, La., to take on LSU at Tiger Stadium.