What's it like being a grad transfer QB? Let Chase Brice explain

Jan 23, 2020, 12:25 PM

https://247sports.com/Article/Chase-Brice-transfer-portal-graduate-transfer-quarterback-Clemson-football--142622860/

Chase Brice explains what it's like being a graduate transfer quarterback in the transfer portal era. As it turns out, the process started over a year ago.

Before he informed Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and well before his phone blew up following the announcement, Chase Brice formulated a plan. He finished the 2018 season as a national champion. He also ended it as Trevor Lawrence’s backup. That path didn’t project to change. Thus, Brice began to look forward to give himself options. That meant graduating within three years. He talked to his academic advisor and formulated a strategy to speed his path: 15 hours in the spring, 21 hours in the summer and 18 hours in the fall.

“That was the starting point,” Brice told 247Sports. “If you graduate you play right away. The graduation part gave me the option to leave if I wanted to.”

A quick aside: Brice is among the most sought-after quarterbacks in the transfer portal. He’s the rare graduate transfer with two years of eligibility, and a number of Power Five schools are coming hard after the soon-to-be graduate. It's a recruitment that at least somewhat resembles what Joe Burrow, then an Ohio State backup, went through two years ago.

Brice, in an interview earlier this week, took 247Sports through the experience of planning out a graduate transfer path at quarterback. It will come as no surprise that it’s a hectic process with more than a few tough choices.

Once Brice created a potential track toward graduation, he did his best to avoid distracting the Tigers. Brice threw 85 passes his junior season as Lawrence’s backup, finishing with 581 yards and four touchdowns against a single interception. Brice wasn’t called upon in 2019 to save the Tigers following a Lawrence injury; he famously did so in 2018 against Syracuse.

After three years sitting behind decorated college signal-callers – Kelly Bryant, Lawrence – Brice made the decision late in the year he’d progressed enough as a quarterback to explore his options as a transfer.

“I felt prepared to go in no matter the situation,” Brice said. “After that I knew I was ready to go play somewhere else.”

Brice texted Swinney the night after Clemson’s national championship loss to LSU. Swinney was sick, so the two arranged a call the next day. That’s when Brice told Swinney he planned to enter the transfer portal.

Swinney expected the conversation earlier in the year. Brice never brought it up to avoid distractions. Swinney told Brice he agreed with the choice; Brice was prepared to start elsewhere. Brice called it one of the best conversations with Swinney he’s ever had. Both Swinney and quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter have offered to help their former QB find a landing spot.

Once Brice talked to Clemson’s coaches, he went to compliance and asked to have his name entered in the portal. After filling out a few forms and waiting a couple of hours, his name popped up.

“We do this and leave because we want to play,” Brice said. “If I wanted to be a backup I might as well stay at Clemson and back up Trevor. The goal is to play. (Swinney and Streeter) are helping me by putting me in the best position to do that.”

A certain amount of planning occurred when Brice decided he was ready to enter the portal. Brice began to look at depth charts and follow coaching changes closely. He talked to some friends on college rosters. He has plenty, by the way. Brice led Georgia power Grayson High School to a state championship, and players from his high school are spread across FBS rosters throughout the country.

Bryant, who entered the portal last year before transferring to Missouri, has served as a resource for Brice as he navigates the transfer process. One group Brice hasn’t consulted is other transfer QBs. High school recruiting can often turn into a, ‘Where you going?’ sort of process for elite recruits. But Brice said he hasn’t talked to some of the other notable transfer quarterbacks this cycle like Anthony Brown, Jamie Newman (landed at Georgia), Feleipe Franks (Arkansas) and KJ Costello.

“I think it’s more we all need to find our own spot and not give anything away,” Brice said.

That leads to the last part of an extended process for Brice: Recruiting.

Brice said the transfer route is far less showy than his initial high school recruitment, where he was an Elite 11 passer and the No. 393 overall prospect in the 2017 class per the 247Sports Composite. Instead, schools are far more direct and open about what they’re looking for and what their depth chart situation.

Not that things are slow. Brice didn’t put his phone down in the initial hours after his name popped up in the portal. He was so busy talking to coaches via text, calls and DMs that his iPhone usage for the day checked in at 12 hours.

“It’s kind of like free agency without even knowing what free agency is,” Brice said.

As for what schools are reaching out, Brice is keeping things under wraps. He did say several Power Five schools have been in heavy communication and in many ways he's picked up where he left off with many of the schools that offered him as a recruit. He’s yet to set any visits and hopes to make them during spring practice to get a better feel for the coaching staffs he’s considering.

That thinking allows him to push his decision past National Signing Day, which might see several quarterback rooms shift with last-second movement on the trail.

Brice will graduate this May with a degree in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. He hopes to be a coach one day and figures this transfer process also serves as a networking opportunity over the long run.

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound rising redshirt junior began prepping for this transfer opportunity more than a year ago. Brice, who is taking all online classes this semester, is not in a hurry to make a decision. He's not revealing much, but Brice is confident saying one thing about his future.

“(There are) pretty good opportunities ahead,” Brice said.

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What's it like being a grad transfer QB? Let Chase Brice explain

Re: What's it like being a grad transfer QB? Let Chase Brice explain

Re: What's it like being a grad transfer QB? Let Chase Brice explain

Re: What's it like being a grad transfer QB? Let Chase Brice explain

chase is a class act and a Clemson man always

Re: What's it like being a grad transfer QB? Let Chase Brice explain

Re: What's it like being a grad transfer QB? Let Chase Brice explain

Hate to see Chase leave but I can't blame him one bit.

Re: Hate to see Chase leave but I can't blame him one bit.

Re: Hate to see Chase leave but I can't blame him one bit.

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