Dabo Swinney and the Clemson football program were a decision away from not landing breakout freshman wide receiver Tyler Brown.
Opportunities come in many different ways, and for Brown with Clemson, it was a decommitment that made all the difference. The Tigers had former four-star recruit Nathanial Joseph decommit from the program in June of 2022 to sign with opponent Miami. This opened up a spot for Brown to decommit from Minnesota and join the Tigers.
For Swinney, he sees this as God’s favor.
“He’s a kid that we had been evaluating, but we had a kid decommit, and boom – the world’s coming to an end, right, a kid decommits that we really wanted. But that’s why I look at it as God’s favor,” Swinney said. “I always focus on who we do get. I go back to one year we had a defensive lineman that was committed, and he ends up decommitting, but we got this guy named Shaq Lawson [in the 2013 recruiting class] who wasn’t as highly rated, and I think Shaq’s still playing [in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills] and ended up being a first-round draft pick [in 2016]. So, it’s a blessing that we got [Brown], first of all, how it worked out.”
“So, really proud of him,” Swinney added of Brown, a Greenville native. “Great family. He’s a Clemson kid. I’ve got pictures of him at the rock when he was a little shorter than he is now. He was a little bitty guy, and his dad just a really good family. It’s really cool. This kid loves Clemson.”
Brown has been a revelation for Clemson this season and looks possibly be the best wide receiver on the team right now. He currently leads the team in receptions (21) and receiving yards (316) while tied for a team lead in receiving touchdowns with two.
In Clemson’s Week 5 31-14 win over Syracuse, Brown had the best game of his young career. He recorded career highs in receptions (nine) and receiving yards (153) while earning ACC Rookie of the Week and ACC Receiver of the Week honors.
Brown is the real deal, and Clemson got lucky with how this turned out.