TRINITY FOOTBALL: Wildcats' McClain brothers leading by example

Lineman McClain Brown and his brother, Carson, are setting examples for the Trinity Wildcats. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE
It didn’t take long for new Trinity coach Brian Seymore to notice Carson and McClain Brown. When he’d put the Wildcat linemen through one-on-one drills, the competitive nature came out in the brothers. 

“We do some one-on-one stuff and they go up against each other and it gets pretty good,” Seymore said. “They get after it. McClain’s a little younger, but he doesn’t back down. Carson doesn’t weigh as much, but neither of them back down from the other.

“They’ve both got motors. They’re both going to play as hard as they can, as long as they can and give every ounce of energy they’ve got for the team. You get kids like that, you’ve got a chance to win. They’re not the biggest kids but they’re going to win with heart and effort.”

Carson is the older of the two by 14 months, one inch taller at 6-foot-2, but just barely over 200 pounds, about 20 pounds lighter than his younger brother. It can make for some interesting battles when the linemen square off in drills. 

“Out here, when we do one on ones, we get into it pretty good,” Carson said. “He’s grown a few inches in the past year, so we’re now about the same size, but I can still whip him.”

As the younger of the two, McClain has spent much of his life hearing stories about his older brother.

“That can get aggravating sometimes,” McClain admitted. “I’m sure he feels the same way about it when people are talking about me.”

On the field, however, the pair are bookends, with Carson playing right guard and defensive tackle and McClain playing left guard and defensive tackle. 

“Sometimes I’ll do the play wrong, sometimes he will, but we’re pretty good at correcting each other and holding each other accountable,” Carson said. 

“The majority of the time, he’s just giving me a good example,” McClain said. “That can sometimes get competitive. It’s cool that we play the same position, but opposite sides of the ball, so if we ever have questions we can go to each other.”

Carson may be a little better on his pulling ability as a guard because of his foot speed, whereas McClain may be slightly better on interior blocking because he weighs a little more. Together, Seymore wouldn’t trade the Brown brothers for anyone. 

 “Those guys, just because they’re the most experienced guys coming back, kind of keep the whole offensive line straight,” Seymore said. “To me, they’re the glue right now because we’ve got so many parts that haven’t been settled yet, even after week one. Those guys have been very consistent and they help the guys on the left and the right -- whether it be the tackles or whether it be the center.”

The Wildcats have been through a lot over the last year, losing their head coach and virtually all of their coaching staff. In addition to those players who graduated, several others transferred. And when the new coaching staff arrived, they installed new schemes on both sides of the ball. 

The players, meanwhile, went right out and picked up where they left off, beating Booker T. Washington 33-22 in the season opener last week in Tuskegee. 

“Offensively, it was pretty easy because our plays this year are very similar to what they were last year,” Carson said. “The defense wasn’t very hard to learn, either. The coaches made it simple for us.”

“I expected really good things because I had heard really good things about Coach Seymore before he came and (line) Coach (J.L.) Gaston,” McClain said. “(Coach Gaston) is a really cool guy. He puts us to work, too.” 

The Wildcats play their 2023 home opener on Friday against Montgomery Academy at Regsdale-Boykin Field. No series has been more hotly contested, with Montgomery Academy winning 21 of the 47 meetings.

“It’s going to be a really good environment,” McClain said. “I feel like it’s going to be a good game.”

“Everybody’s going to be jacked up because it’s Montgomery Academy,” Seymore said. “It’s a huge game in both of these communities and to be honest, Montgomery Academy has had the best of us four out of the last five times in three years. We want to get that turned around.”