Sammy Brown, more freshmen stand out to Clemson defender stalwart

TJ Parker says Sammy Brown has progressed from spring practice to fall camp with a 'night and day' difference.

David Hood - Senior Writer - Tuesday, August 13 2024

CLEMSON – TJ Parker knows what a talented freshman should look like. After all, he was one this time last year and put together a stellar first season. As he looks out at his teammates on the practice field, he sees a lot of young talent on the way.

During the 2023 season, Parker was credited with 41 tackles (12.5 for loss), 5.5 sacks, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery in 457 snaps over 13 games (three starts). His 12.5 tackles for loss in 2023 broke Clemson's true freshman record (12.0 by Myles Murphy in 2020) and tied for the national lead among freshmen.

Fellow defensive end Darien Mayo is a true freshman looking to earn playing time, and Parker calls his younger teammate a freak.

“Mayo is a ball player. He's still obviously learning to play because he just got here,” Parker said. “He’s learning, and he’s made huge strides. He can make plays from what I've seen in scrimmages. He made like three tackles in a row or something like that and he's just such a freak athlete. I love to see what he’s going to do, and I'm helping him as much as I can.”

Other freshmen are also standing out.

“Sammy Brown is doing really good. Ashton Hampton is eye-opening to me,” Parker said. “He came in the summertime. He's opening my eyes. A lot of everybody else's eyes. He's doing very good. There's so many obviously - TJ Moore and Bryant Wesco on the other side of the ball, they are doing really good, really that class in general. Ricardo (Jones), they all doing really good. Champ (Thompson) is making very good strides. Champ came in, he knows what to do technique- wise. Obviously, he's still young, getting to know the playbook, feeling out the college world, but he's doing a lot of good things. I can't wait to see him play as well.”

Brown has a chance to earn playing time as a freshman.

“He's definitely smart. Obviously playing Mike linebacker is probably one of the hardest positions on defense,” Parker said of Brown. “You have to understand what everybody's doing, night and day difference, like I said, from spring into fall camp, you know what I'm saying? He's understanding the playbook much more, playing faster, reacting to things a lot better. So, I'm just super proud of his progression. I'm excited to see him to play as well.”