Brian Herrien was a last-second addition to Kirby Smart’s first recruiting class at the University of Georgia, a recruiting class half comprised of Mark Richt holdovers.
Due to issues with his grades early on in high school, Herrien was by no means a highly exposed recruit. Until he got his grades right and qualified for UGA, he was ranked by only one recruiting service and was listed as a very low three-star.
He arrived in Athens in June 2016 and made nearly immediate impact. His first touch as a Dawg was a 19 yard touchdown run late into Kirby Smart’s first game at the helm for his alma mater, sealing a win over North Carolina in the Georgia Dome (rest in pieces). He would go on to rush for 1,394 more yards and 12 more touchdowns without a single fumble in a four-year career.
Herrien, in an media appearance at this week’s NFL Combine, says that he has a number of teammates to thank for his success at Georgia.
According to Herrien, Nick Chubb had something he wanted to tell him at halftime of the 2018 Rose Bowl. It never came up, so weeks later Herrien sent a text message to Chubb, who was training prior to the NFL Combine.
Chubb remarked that he’d rather have told Herrien in person as opposed to over the phone, but Herrien describes the rest of the interaction.
“He was just telling me ‘go show them who you are. Tell them that you can be a starter and show them that you can be that guy. Me and Sony [Michel] was always telling you that.'”
As a young tailback behind two proven stars and future NFL Draft picks, the encouragement was monumental for Herrien.
“He was always encouraging me, always telling me that he could see it, that Sony could see it.”
He continued:
“It meant a lot because because he was an older guy and one who was [on the roster] before me.”
Herrien follows in his former teammates’ footsteps having received his invitation to the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine. Chubb and Michel performed strongly and were subsequently drafted in the first two rounds.
Two legendary Georgia pros have confidence Brian Herrien is capable of a similar future, and because of them, Herrien probably is, too.