Clemson QB Chase Brice, backup to Trevor Lawrence for 2 years, will transfer
There has long been speculation that Clemson backup quarterback Chase Brice would transfer. On Thursday, Brice made it official.
The Georgia native announced his decision to leave the program on Twitter. He will graduate in May and has two more years of eligibility remaining.
“During my time at Clemson, I’ve wanted to stay the course and be the best quarterback, best competitor, best student, best person and best teammate I could be and tried to represent the Clemson family with as much class and character as I possibly could,” Brice said in a statement. “While it’s both exciting and sad, today, I’m announcing my intention to transfer from Clemson and continue my college football career elsewhere.”
Brice was 50-of-85 passing for 581 yards with four touchdowns this season. He was the top backup to Trevor Lawrence in 2018 and 2019.
As a redshirt freshman a year ago, Brice was 32-of-51 with five touchdowns. Against Syracuse, he came in for an injured Lawrence and led the game-winning drive as the Tigers overcame a double-digit deficit to beat the Orange. His performance was one of the most critical moments in the team’s 15-0 national championship season.
Brice, in his announcement, touted his “first-class experience at Clemson.”
“It’s been the best three years of my life accomplishing what we’ve accomplished. What we’ve done together has been historic and special, but while the world will remember what we did, we’ll always remember who we did it with. It’s been an honor to be your teammate, and we will be family for life.
“Thank you for believing in me when I ran out onto the field against Syracuse that day in 2018 and every day since. ... No matter where I end next, I’ll always be proud to have been a Clemson Tiger.”
Brice was a highly-regarded prospect coming out of Georgia. 247Sports ranked him as the 11th-best quarterback in the country. There is speculation he could join Jeff Scott at South Florida. Scott, Clemson’s co-offensive coordinator, took the job at USF last month.
There was also speculation Brice could land at Georgia, although he may opt to look elsewhere with Wake Forest QB Jamie Newman announcing plans to attend Georgia as a grad transfer earlier this month.
Even with Brice moving on, the Tigers have plenty of talent at quarterback for next season. In addition to Lawrence returning, the Tigers have former four-star QB recruit Taisun Phommachanh, and the Tigers just signed the No. 1 QB for the class of 2020 in D.J. Uiagalelei.
“When you come to a program like Clemson, you know in years to come there’s going to be quarterbacks coming in ready to play, compete,” Brice said before the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State. “I came here because I wanted to be invested in the program. Coach [Dabo] Swinney is one of the top coaches in college football. And then the culture here at Clemson is incredible. Being coached by coach Swinney and the coaches we have on this staff, my teammates, it’s been a great three years so far.”
Brice told The State he does not have any visits set up thus far.
“I do not know anything at this time,” he said in a text message.
This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 4:41 PM.
