Georgia Tech incoming freshman Gary Brown brings plenty of muscle to the roster.
Brown is his high school's record holder for the deadlift at 605 pounds. Brown, one of six incoming freshmen on the offensive line, can also bench press 345 pounds and squat 565 according to his Rivals recruiting profile page.
There is a reason Brown's Twitter handle is @PrinceDeadLift. The deadlift is a measure of lower-body power, not a small factor in successful offensive line play. That said, the workout plan sent to him by Tech coaches after his signing, to be done prior to his enrollment in June, was still an adjustment.
“It was tough at the beginning because I wasn’t really used to it, but as you start doing it more, it gets easy,” Brown said.
The most challenging aspect, Brown said, was the running, but he found that it trimmed fat weight. Brown is 6-foot-3, 295 pounds.
Brown said the plan is for him to play guard. He played both guard and tackle at Alonso High School in Tampa, Fla., where he graduated with honors.
“My main goal is to work hard and try my hardest my freshman year to try and start,” he said.
With Shaquille Mason and Trey Braun both returning as starters at guard, it’s not likely he would dislodge either, but he could be a candidate to make the two-deep depth chart. The whole of the second string lacks significant experience, so there could be some shuffling as preseason practice begins.
It was a group that Brown was eager to join, speaking before his arrival to campus. In his recruitment, Brown said he appreciated “how all the other teammates, they treat you like you’re one of them, even though you’re not on the team yet.”
He said that offensive line coach Mike Sewak, who had recruited him, “was kind of different from all the other coaches” and treated him like family. Brown chose Tech over a slew of offers including Nebraska, N.C. State and Kentucky.
Brown will wear uniform No. 73, previously worn by offensive tackle Chris Griffin, who moved to No. 72, which Morgan Bailey wore before graduating.
14th in a series of updates on Tech’s freshman class
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