Clemson offer too good to pass up for Howard

Trent Howard had accepted he wouldn’t be afforded the opportunity to play college football at his dream school.

For most football players in the state of Alabama, that’s either Alabama or Auburn. His father, Johnny, was even a starting offensive lineman on the 1992 Alabama national championship team.

But for the Briarwood Christian School senior offensive lineman, Clemson University was always his top choice.

“Being up there the last five years doing their camp, and it’s just a different culture,” Howard said of what stood out about Clemson. “It’s such a family atmosphere.”

Unfortunately for Howard, Clemson didn’t have a spot for him. Until recently, at least.

Last June, Clemson delivered the news to Howard that, while the Tigers’ coaching staff was impressed with him, there was no scholarship available.

“I went forward with my recruiting, and Georgia Tech came around,” Howard said.

Howard committed to Georgia Tech soon thereafter, with a new head coach in Geoff Collins and offensive line coach Brent Key, a native of Clay who has also coached at Alabama in recent years.

Howard essentially halted his recruiting process at that time, declining to take any other visits. That is until Clemson contacted him in December.

“Coach [Dabo] Swinney called and said they had a lineman that’s not going to come back for his senior year,” Howard recalled. “That opens up another spot on the offensive line, and he wanted to know if I wanted that spot.”

Howard most certainly did.

“Obviously, it was a tough deal with Georgia Tech, because it’s not like they did anything wrong. At the end of the day, Clemson was my dream school, and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like that,” he said.

Now, Howard will join former Briarwood teammate Carson Donnelly on Clemson’s roster in the fall.

Even though he hasn’t arrived at Clemson yet, Howard has already been through a week of college football in his mind. He took part in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic a week after committing to the Tigers.

“[Spain Park head] coach [Shawn] Raney phrased it the best, it was our first college week of practice, as far as the caliber of players at every position that we had.” Howard said.

Raney served as the head coach of the Alabama team, while Homewood head coach Ben Berguson was the team’s offensive line coach. Howard earned the Scholar Athlete Award from the event as well.

Howard has wrapped up an illustrious career at Briarwood, where his teams won 47 games over the four years that he was a varsity player. He played his first three years for Fred Yancey, one of the all-time greats, and his final year helping usher in the Matthew Forester era.

“I’ve been able to taste the best of both worlds,” Howard said of his time at Briarwood. “The biggest thing to take away is the relationships and lessons I learned playing the game.”

Howard added he “would not be where I am” without the people he’s crossed paths with during his time at Briarwood. He’s also in awe of how everything worked out.

“I could not say this is not a God thing,” he said. “The lineman who wasn’t coming back, had he waited two weeks, then I would’ve already signed with Georgia Tech, and it wouldn’t even be on the table.”

A dream come true, indeed.