Brown on McCloud’s Season-Ending Injury, Opportunity It Presents

With redshirt sophomore linebacker Kobe McCloud out for the season with a knee injury, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney named three players – including highly touted true freshman Sammy Brown – who will be asked to fill the void left by McCloud’s injury and step into the main backup role at linebacker behind Barrett Carter and Wade Woodaz.

Brown met with the media Tuesday and spoke about McCloud’s season-ending injury, when asked if he sees it as an opportunity for him to step up even more moving forward into his freshman campaign with the Tigers.

“I feel really bad for Kobe because he had a really good fall camp, and he had been coming along. I was really proud of him, and I texted him yesterday and just let him know that everything happens for a reason,” Brown said.

“God’s going to let things happen for a reason, but I do see it as an opportunity. I’ve got to step up and take that role because he goes down. So I feel like this comes with great responsibility to fill his shoes.”

A former five-star and consensus top-35 national prospect from Georgia, Brown made his college debut on special teams in Clemson’s Aug. 31 season opener against UGA and then led the Tigers with 11 tackles, including two special teams stops, in last Saturday’s game vs. Appalachian State.

The 2023 High School Butkus Award winner as the nation’s top high school linebacker, Brown starred on both sides of the ball in high school as a linebacker/running back. As a senior, he amassed 153 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, three blocked kicks and two interceptions on defense. Offensively, he racked up 2,289 rushing yards and scored 40 touchdowns overall.