Note: The following appears in the NC State football gameday program.
It is safe to say that veteran offensive lineman Nathan Brooks has had the full student-athlete experience at Clemson. Brooks not only walked on to the football team in the fall of his freshman year, he is set to graduate in May with a degree in civil engineering.
Brooks spent most of his youth in Fort Mill, S.C., where he attended Fort Mill High School. During this younger years, he played baseball. It was not until his ninth-grade year that he decided to give football a shot.
“I always wanted to play football, but I never got the opportunity. Playing travel ball, I never had the off-time. I was playing year round. I got to high school and saw I had a better shot at playing football, so I started playing football.”
While he put in solid years of performance at Fort Mill High School, the COVID-19 pandemic and a late jump into the sport forced him to fly under the radar as a recruit. While Brooks was able to acquire some Division III offers, he ultimately settled on choosing a college where he could pursue a life-long desire of studying civil engineering.
“Originally in my junior year, I was about to go on some ‘Junior Days,’ then COVID hit the week before, so I never fully got the recruiting experience. I only went to one high school camp after my sophomore season, and that was it.
“Then coming to Clemson, I was coming for school, but since high school, my aspirations were always to play in college. I got some small offers, but it wasn’t anything big, which is why I decided on Clemson for my academics.”
Upon arrival to campus in the fall of 2021, Brooks pursued an opportunity.
“I saw an email that said ‘football tryouts,’ so I came to tryouts my freshman year. About two weeks after I got here, I got a call saying I made the team. Ever since then, I’ve been here.”
Since that moment, Brooks has had no regrets suiting up for the Tigers. He credited Offensive Line Coach Matt Luke and Head Coach Dabo Swinney for their continued support towards his formation as a person.
“It’s been great working with Coach Luke. He has definitely brought a different edge that we haven’t had in the past. It brought the guys closer together in the aspect that everyone is fighting for each other, not their individual self. Coach Swinney is Coach Swinney. He’s always been good, and he looks out for everyone.”
With nine credits left to take in the spring, Brooks hopes to graduate from Clemson in May with his degree in civil engineering. While a rare experience for an athlete, Brooks maintained that he has always had a desire to work in engineering since he was young.
“I have always liked designing and building different things. In high school, one of my summer jobs was landscaping. I mowed the yards in my neighborhood. For my other job, it was my neighbor and me building custom cabinetry. That was something I loved to do…building something with my hands and designing something like that. I don’t like sitting around.
“I did an internship during the summer at home where I was working with a construction company, doing a lot of civil site design and access for power poles.”
During his tenure with the program, he has seen the field four times, including six snaps in the win over App State. Through his continued devotion and work ethic, Brooks hopes to capitalize on this success in his final season.
