6-foot-5 Texas linebacker Derrick Brown bullish on ASU’s appeal

Derrick Brown is exactly what Arizona State is looking for. He plays on the front seven, and he’s 6-foot-5. Everything else is gravy.

The junior from Texarkana, TX (the same place that produced LaMichael James and one heck of a George Strait lyric) perhaps had a leg up on many of his fellow 2022 recruits because he actually had a fall football season.

It was after he showed out at Texas High during his junior season that a majority of his 22 offers came.

“I was getting like four a day, three a day,” he said.

One of those was Arizona State. Defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce direct messages Brown and the two began talking, developing a relationship that Brown believes is unique amongst some of the other coaches who have reached out to him.

“We’re cool. We’re tight. We have a good relationship,” Brown said of Pierce. “I could get used to it; he’s like my (high school) coach -- which is something I’m looking for,” Brown said. “He understands what I’m saying and stuff like that. It’s very nice -- very rare also. You don’t really get that too much.

“Most coaches just talk about football. He talks about education and me being a better person myself outside of football.”

Pierce has spoken much about his desire to suit up bigger guys on the Sun Devils’ front. Despite playing mostly defensive end in high school, Brown said ASU and other schools are recruiting him as a defensive end/linebacker hybrid. For ASU fans, think someone like Tyler Johnson. He can come off the edge but drop back and play in coverage, too.

That’s the goal, at least. And Brown thinks the sky is the limit with his 6-foot-5, 210-pound frame.

“It helps me a lot because there’s not a lot of short defensive ends who can get where I’m at now. It helps against offensive linemen, too,” Brown said. “And you can see over the line and see what’s happening in the backfield.”

Plus, he noted, he has that football gene that allows him to flourish in between the white lines.

“I have a twitch. That’s all I can really say -- I have a twitch,” he said. “You can see the difference with every play; you can see the drive and mentality on every play.”

Brown said the four schools recruiting him the hardest are Baylor, Kentucky, Ole Miss, and ASU. While the Sun Devils are the clear outliers in terms of geography, that doesn’t seem like it’ll matter much in Brown’s recruitment. The junior didn’t mince words when he said, “I don’t have a problem getting away from Texas … I want to see something else.”

All that is good news for Arizona State, which has quickly made an impression on Brown.

“Their whole coaching staff, we’re building a bond,” Brown said. “And they have a good program. I’ve been thinking about it -- me and the people who help me with my decision, they’ve been thinking about it too. So far, so good.”

When asked about the ‘Pro Model’ that ASU has going with Pierce, head coach herm Edwards, defensive line coach Robert Rodriguez and others, Brown raved about the experience of talking with so many people with that level of experience.

Then he said something that surely gives ASU fans reason for optimism.

“When I got an offer (from ASU), I talked to like four different coaches on the call, and they were all from the NFL,” Brown said. “That was easier for me to (possibly) tilt my decision towards them.”

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