Why former South Carolina QB Jason Brown isn’t ready to let football go

There’s a ruckus in the background as former South Carolina quarterback Jason Brown picks up his iPhone. His teammates at Jackson State are slapping around a ping-pong ball, keeping things light after another day of offseason workouts.

Brown laughs. He remembers that youthful energy, even if his true freshman year at St. Francis, the small FCS school in Pennsylvania where he began his college career, is almost six years past.

“You sit back and you think about it,” Brown said. “Man, I’m the oldest guy here.”

Brown has literally been in college almost long enough to earn a doctorate. He’s spent time at four schools — St. Francis, South Carolina, Virginia Tech and, now, Jackson State — since 2017. He’s entered the transfer portal thrice and lost quarterback battles at two different places.

Most with that track record would hang it up and turn in for a 9-to-5 job like most everyone else.

Brown hasn’t. Why?

“The doubt, for one thing,” said his father, Jason Brown Sr.. “But, if he gets that chance, everyone will see. And then the questions will be like, ‘Well, he’s doing this now. Maybe things were done wrong at previous stops?’ It’s more that way: Let (him) prove all these guys wrong.”

“It was stressful (to enter the portal again) just because you don’t know if you’re gonna go anywhere,” Jason Brown added. “It’s a scary situation to go through. But I’m just thankful that I was able to end up at a really, really, really good FCS program at Jackson State.”

A football path from Virginia and South Carolina to Mississippi

Documenting Brown’s path through college football could fill a Hemingway novel.

The Virginia native was under-recruited out of high school, as much a product of the broken ankle he suffered toward the end of his junior year that limited his exposure. He had sniffs from local schools like Penn State and Maryland, but offers never came.

Brown eventually landed at St. Francis, where he starred alongside future Gamecock teammate E.J. Jenkins. Three seasons and a portal entry later, he was in Columbia, battling Luke Doty and Colten Gauthier for the starting quarterback job heading into Shane Beamer’s first full season at South Carolina.

He lost the quarterback battle at USC twice, once to Doty and again to Zeb Noland — the graduate assistant-turned-starter in the wake of Doty’s preseason camp foot injury. When Noland and Doty both went down, Brown was given his shot out of necessity more than anything else. He surprised, guiding South Carolina to wins over Auburn and Florida to help the Gamecocks get bowl-eligible.

“I’ve said it for a long time: He’s a natural leader, a natural quarterback,” former Gamecocks offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said ahead of the Florida victory in 2021. “And even when he wasn’t playing, he had that intangible — just like shooting me a random text, or things he would say on the sideline or in the locker room, or how he is in the meeting room, how he would prepare. He’s always had that.”

Brown, at least in theory, had a chance to compete for the starting job in 2022 — then Spencer Rattler committed to South Carolina. Brown hit the portal for a second time, landing at Virginia Tech.

No less than 24 hours after Brown committed to the Hokies, the staff in Blacksburg netted a pledge from Marshall transfer Grant Wells. Another quarterback competition followed. Once more, Brown was passed over.

Granted a seventh year of eligibility in December, Brown hit the portal a third time. A handful of FCS schools kicked the tires on him. Jackson State, in the vacuum following Deion Sanders’ departure as head coach, won out.

“It’s a tornado, really,” Jason Sr. said. “... I don’t think there’s anybody else that has his story. I’m pretty sure he could write a book if he wanted to.”

Brown won’t pretend there haven’t been moments of uncertainty throughout the process. How many schools really want a player who’s played at so many places already?

He concedes he doubted his ability at times, but the past has a way of motivating. During the doldrums of a 3-8 season at Virginia Tech this fall in which he was again relegated to the bench, Brown rewatched his film from the USC wins over Florida and Auburn in 2021.

It wasn’t a cockiness thing. It was a glimpse into what he could do, even if Blacksburg wasn’t the place to carry out those beliefs.

“Sometimes I get to thinking, ‘Damn, am I really good at football anymore? I’ve played it forever,’ ” Brown said, laughing. “... It’s like, ‘I don’t know if I can really do this anymore.’ And then I watch the game back and I’m like, ‘Man, I threw three touchdowns against Auburn. I’m all right.’”

Taking over at post-Deion Sanders Jackson State

Jackson State should finally afford Brown a chance to be the guy.

Incumbent starter Shedeur Sanders is off to Colorado with his father, now the head coach in Boulder. Seven of the players who helped the Tigers get to the Celebration Bowl last year followed suit.

That Coach Prime has departed Jackson, though, hasn’t completely changed the outlook for the FCS program that hadn’t had a winning season in the seven years prior to Sanders’ arrival. T.C. Taylor, a JSU legend in his own right as a player, was tabbed the head coach on Dec. 13, thanks in part to Sanders’ full-throated and public recommendation.

The Tigers, too, haven’t stopped pillaging the transfer portal for Power Five talent. JSU’s 2023 class currently includes imports from LSU, Southern Cal, Oregon and Minnesota.

Jason Sr. says he’s always been his son’s biggest critic. It’s a force of habit, having coached him from the time he was 5 years old until he reached high school. That, along with their ongoing tradition of watching film together and the four or five FaceTimes they share per day.

They both know Jason needs a big season if professional aspirations are to be an option. Fifty touchdowns and 4,000 yards, Jason Sr. estimates. (Shedeur Sanders passed for 3,231 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2022.)

Still, there’s a comfort in finding a spot seemingly willing to let Brown flourish — even if it took more than half-a-decade to get there.

“It’s not running from competition,” Brown assures. “But … to attain the goals that I want to attain — which is to go to the league — nobody’s gonna want to pick up a guy that was a backup. I gotta go out there and play at some point.”