In the days since LSU beat Clemson in the national championship game, there have been significant changes to both teams’ rosters and coaching staffs. And that now includes Clemson backup quarterback Chase Brice moving on.
The Tigers’ backup, a redshirt sophomore, announced Thursday on Twitter than he plans to transfer to another program with two years of eligibility remaining. However, Brice is a grad transfer, meaning he’ll be eligible to play immediately in the 2020-21 season.
In a lengthy post on Twitter, Brice thanked his teammates, coaches, fans and family, calling his time at Clemson “the best three years of my life” and saying he’ll “always be proud to have been a Clemson Tiger.” He wrote, in part:
“During my time at Clemson, I’ve wanted to stay the course and be the best quarterback, best competitor, best student, best person and best teammate I could be and tried to represent the Clemson Family with as much class and character as I possibly could. And while it’s both exciting and sad to say, today, I’m announcing my intention to transfer from Clemson and continue my college football career elsewhere.”
Reach heights, never reach limits.
God Bless, 7 pic.twitter.com/flhOkHS6y9— Chase Brice (@chasebrice7) January 16, 2020
Reacting to the news, Lawrence surely understands why Brice is transferring. Lawrence will be at Clemson for at least one more year, and, as one of the best quarterbacks in college football, it doesn’t seem like anyone can steal that starting position away from him.
So in response, Lawrence tweeted his support for Brice, even if he’s sad about the move.
Sad to see one of my best friends leave, but more excited to see how his journey ends up!! Love you dude https://t.co/nasfW2HI1c
— Trevor Lawrence (@Trevorlawrencee) January 17, 2020
16. You’ve been nothing but great since you’ve stepped on campus. Can’t appreciate you enough! Love ya like a brother, gonna miss you and the guys so much!! Great QB but an even better person! Let’s go be great! https://t.co/44cbKtrbFx
— Chase Brice (@chasebrice7) January 17, 2020
After redshirting in 2017, Brice has been starter Trevor Lawrence’s backup for most of the last two seasons. (He was also behind former Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant, who lost his starting job to Lawrence and transferred after the 2018 season.) And because of that, he really hasn’t played much.
He threw for a season-high 106 yards and ran for his only touchdown of the season in the Tigers’ dominant win over Virginia in the ACC championship game.
But perhaps his most memorable game in his brief time at Clemson is from 2018 when he stepped in to help lead the team to a four-point win over Syracuse. At that point, Bryant had announced his plans to transfer after the first four games of the season — he was still eligible to redshirt that year — and Lawrence was injured in the first half against the Orange. So Brice came in.
While it was far from a perfect game — he went 7-for-13 for 83 yards and an interception — he helped Clemson rally in the comeback win, as the Tigers remained undefeated in what turned out to be a 15-0 national championship year.
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