‘Ready for the role’: Brewer has blossomed as leader on and off field for CCU football
C.J. Brewer didn’t have to take on a leadership role this season as a fifth-year senior on the Coastal Carolina football team.
His teammates and coaches had already ordained him a leader based on his character and work ethic, and the characteristics he had already displayed over the past few years.
So his influence on the team off the field was already well established.
On the field, he has never been more of a presence than he was in CCU’s 38-23 win over Kansas on Saturday night.
The defensive lineman recorded three tackles for a loss of yards, including two sacks, and three quarterback hurries while also contributing a touchdown reception on the offensive side of the ball to get the Chants off to a fast start in this unprecedented season.
“I do think that was probably my best game since I’ve been here,” Brewer said. “It’s just a matter of working, just grinding. I made a lot of sacrifices, doing a lot of things different this offseason. Me and Tarron Jackson, that’s my roommate, so me and him made a lot of sacrifices, just trying to hold each other accountable, making sure we’re taking care of our bodies.”
Leadership role
Brewer was voted one of four team captains this year by his teammates. He and Jackson, a decorated senior defensive end who is also a captain, take a professional approach to their craft to the point of eating right and doing yoga daily.
“I feel I’ve had leader aspects really the whole time here,” Brewer said. “This year with me being a senior I’m trying my best to step it up on and off the field, making sure I’m doing the right thing. Because if I’m not doing the right thing I can’t tell nobody else to do this and do that, and I’m doing the wrong thing. It’s just a matter of staying focused and making sacrifices.
“Being a leader, a lot comes with it, and I feel I’m ready for the role.”
They have also been at the forefront – along with a number of the team’s other upperclassmen – of directing the team to combat the possible spread of the coronavirus through the program, which could derail the season, by making personal sacrifices, avoiding crowds and leading a more solitary existence in this unusual time.
“The whole time all the older guys have been letting the younger guys know, ‘Hey, we’re going to need y’all. I know you guys are young and I know you guys want to be around a lot of people but this year is just different you can’t do that right now,’ ” Brewer said. “So really I just give a shout out to all the younger guys on the team that made that sacrifice for us so we could come out and go to Kansas and get that [win] we got.”
Brewer took the lead role in a team video released a couple weeks ago promoting social and racial justice with the theme “Be The Change.” He opened the video with a statement and also was the last to speak individually, with a number of his teammates speaking in between.
The team’s unity council – previously called the Leadership Council – organized the video and chose Brewer to be the face of it.
“The guys really looked at me being the vocal leader of the team,” he said. “It was mainly the other guys who wanted me to do it. I didn’t have a problem doing it because those are things I want to speak out about, trying to get change to happen. . . . That really touched my heart that the other guys came to me and said, ‘Hey C.J., we’d love for you to be the intro on the video.’ ”
Making plays
Brewer, who is 6-2 and 280 pounds out of Bowdon, Georgia, was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Second Team after ranking third on the team with 54 total tackles, including 16 for loss and 16 solo stops, and recording seven quarterback hurries.
He is part of the most heralded defensive front in CCU history that also includes outside pass rushers Jackson and Jeffrey Gunter – who are the only two Chants ever named First Team All-Sun Belt – and big run stopper Jerrod Clark.
Brewer, Jackson and Gunter, who is a defensive end/outside linebacker hybrid, combined for six tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hurries against Kansas.
“It definitely makes our job easier because they know what to do,” said senior Silas Kelly, who combined with fellow middle linebacker Teddy Gallagher to account for 15 tackles Saturday. “We can talk to them before the play and discuss what we think is going to happen and make out calls and checks and alerts and they’re all smart enough to make that happen. Teddy and I work with them kind of in conjunction to dissect whatever’s going to happen on offense.
“It makes our job a lot easier, especially when Tarron and Jeff and C.J. are throwing guys around up there and clearing out holes for us.”
Brewer has been studying more film this season and is identifying offensive alignments and plays that might be coming for his teammates.
CCU defensive line coach Skylor Magee said Brewer is already preparing for his career after college.
“What people don’t realize about C.J. is he wants to be a coach, so he is extremely detail-oriented,” Magee said. “He helps coach the young guys. He can probably coach all three positions [on the defensive line] and play all three positions. Having a guy like him alone obviously makes my job easier.
“This [defensive line] is a special one, mainly because I think a lot of these guys, the way they approach the game, they do it for each other. They really do and they believe that.”
Brewer got his first collegiate action on the offensive side of the ball on two consecutive snaps late in the first quarter with the No. 38 rather than his customary 52. He blocked on the first play, then released from his slot position to catch a 2-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Grayson McCall that gave the Chants a 14-0 lead.
He said he was perfect on the play every time it was run in practice. “I didn’t drop it none,” he boasted. “I told them, ‘These hands right here are like glue. I’m going to catch it. If you throw it to me I’m grabbing it.’ It just felt amazing, the coaches just trusting me to make the right play.”
A bright future
Brewer earned an undergraduate history degree in three years and expects to earn his Master’s in instructional technology this upcoming spring.
He hasn’t ruled out returning to the CCU football team in 2021 with the extra year of eligibility that was granted to all fall student-athletes by the NCAA because of the disruption caused by the coronavirus, but said he hasn’t thought it through yet.
He enjoys being involved with community service, though it has been harder to do this offseason. “I try to put my voice out there,” he said. “. . . I’m trying my best to lead by example, help out as much as I can, be vocal about the things that are going on and try my best to do what I can do for the world, for my team, teammates, family, everything.”
One of his favorite causes is the Tim Tebow Foundation’s Night to Shine prom experience for special needs individuals. He has taken part in a local Night to Shine event for the past three years as a date/chaperon, and has joined teammates and convinced many of them to participate.
“I think this past year probably three-fourths of the team went right before the coronavirus hit,” Brewer said. “. . . I mainly try to get all my younger teammates to go, all the freshmen and sophomores, so they can actually see that we’re blessed to be in the spot we are playing college football. I always tell the guys there are many people who want to be in your spot, be in your shoes.”
Friday’s game
What: Campbell at Coastal Carolina
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Brooks Stadium, Conway
TV: ESPN
Radio: WRNN 99.5 FM
Online: www.goccusports.com
This story was originally published September 16, 2020 at 9:53 AM.
