5-star LB Sammy Brown visiting Tennessee this weekend
Jefferson (Ga.) five-star linebacker Sammy Brown is focusing on five schools as he closes down his recruitment: Tennessee, Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Ohio State.
He will take official visits to each of those five schools before he makes a decision, he told On3’s Chad Simmons earlier this week.
The Tigers, Bulldogs, Sooners and Buckeyes will each host him in the month of June, but the Volunteers will get the first shot at him this weekend in Knoxville. On Saturday afternoon, Brown posted a phooto from the visit alongside a number of other Tennessee recruiting and coaches as part of their #865Live event.
The 6-foot-2, 225-pounder is the No. 16 overall prospect in the 2024 class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He ranks as the No. 2 linebacker and the No. 4 recruit in Georgia.
Brown is looking at a commitment potentially in July or August before his high school season begins and is hitting each campus once more before he makes a decision.
“This is the end game,” Brown told Simmons. “These next five weeks I’ll be on official visits and then I’ll wrap things up. I’m about to dive in deep with each school, hit all the details and it’ll be the icing on the cake for my recruiting process.
… Academics, football, the fit, the depth chart, the weight room, I’m diving into every category. This is it for me.”
Sammy Brown breaks down Tennessee, other contenders
Clemson: “Clemson probably has one of the best cultures in college football. It is family-based and it is a strong culture there. At Clemson, as a player, you as able to talk to anyone at any time about anything. They are great people there. Because of that culture, Clemson is bringing in great people that are great football players and that is why they are successful.”
Georgia: “The best thing about Georgia is, they don’t care who they are playing, they don’t care what time of the day it is and they don’t care what part of the year it is, they are going to get after it. Georgia just goes hard. They get after in the weight room, on the practice field, in games and Georgia plays old-fashioned football that is physical and tough. That is how I like to go. That is super attractive to me because that is how I like to work every day.”
Ohio State: “There’s a lot of history with linebackers at Ohio State. A lot of people call it LBU. Coach James Laranitus just came back and I used to watch his film before I played. He is a beast I would learn from. Then Coach Jim Knowles is my kind of coach. He is an old-fashioned coach that gets on your butt, yells at his players and that is what I like. I want to be coached hard and pushed. Coach Knowles really is high on my list.”
Oklahoma: “The biggest thing about Oklahoma for me is how involved they are at the linebacker position. You have Ted Roof, a historic defensive coach that knows what he is doing and Brent Venables is the head coach, a former defensive coordinator and a former linebackers coach, so Oklahoma has guys that coach my position with great knowledge and experience. That people are great with linebackers and they are doing the right thing.”
Tennessee: “It’s about the culture at Tennessee. They are the come-up after a great year last year and I see them doing it again this season. I think last season with a reflection of what they have done under Coach Josh Heupel and the entire coaching staff. Tennessee is just a great spot right now.”