The Clemson Tigers continued to reload and dominate along the recruiting trail with the recent commitment of a four-star linebacker recruit out of Georgia. Clemson has always recruited well under Dabo Swinney, but recently, it has not been as good as usual. The recent commitment says they might be back on track to domination with their first commit of the 2027 class, Max Brown.
Brown committed to the Tigers over Ohio State and Tennessee, via Hayes Fawcett of On3 Sports.
At 6-foot and 215 pounds, he is a four-star linebacker from Jefferson, Georgia, who decided to commit to a school early despite having one more season of high school football. One massive factor in Clemson’s decision is that he is the younger brother of Clemson linebacker Sammy Brown.
Tennessee and Ohio State felt like they were in the running, but they couldn’t compete with the family factor that Clemson offers and had a leg up on the others.
It signals that the Tigers are keeping their hot streak alive. After a fairly disappointing recruiting class by Clemson standards in 2025, they were ranked 28th. They jumped to a top-five class in 2026, and with Brown’s commitment to start off the 2027 class, they are immediately a top-20 class after just one player.
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Brown is following in his brother’s footsteps and joining a linebacking corps with a rich recent history. Sammy Brown finished his high school career as a five-star recruit, and with his brother Max still having one more season of high school football, there is still a high probability that he joins his brother in the five-star club.
Clemson’s star has faded a little bit ever since the transfer portal and NIL were thrust into the forefront of college athletics. Head coach Dabo Swinney has been a vocal critic of both, and at first was someone who rarely even used the transfer portal, but has slowly used it even more.
However, Clemson got hot near the end of last season, on their way to a surprise berth in the College Football Playoff. With its production returning, they will almost be a top-five team in the preseason polls for the 2025 college football season.
Brown’s commitment is the latest signal that Clemson is here to stay. Despite fading a bit in recent years, they are still a powerhouse on the recruiting trail.
Jake Faigus graduated from the University of Arizona in 2022 and has had stops at Catena Media, Playmaker, DraftKings, USA Today, Spike Up, and Spotlight Sports Group. He also writes for Sporting News and works at iHeartMedia in Phoenix.
