Marcel Brooks is having fun playing linebacker again for TCU football
Talent hasn’t been a question when it comes to Marcel Brooks.
This is a player who was regarded as the second-best outside linebacker and a five-star prospect coming out of Flower Mound Marcus in 2019. He headed to LSU out of high school and was part of the Tigers’ national championship team that season. He returned home after the season, transferring to TCU.
But Brooks never caught on as a linebacker in Gary Patterson’s signature 4-2-5 defense and eventually flipped to wide receiver. Now he’s playing linebacker again with TCU transitioning to a 3-3-5 defense under coordinator Joe Gillespie.
Brooks has impressed throughout spring practices, seemingly making an impact play every day. He had a sack and an interception during Tuesday’s practice.
“When I was here the first two years, I honestly don’t think they knew where to put me,” Brooks said following Tuesday’s practice. “It was very hard to find a home and a position. It was just really hard. I don’t like talking about it.
“I like talking about the new staff and what they’ve given me and what opportunities they’ve given me. It’s just been a blessing. ... We’re building a culture, that’s what we’re doing. It’s fun when you’re building a culture.”
Coach Sonny Dykes has talked throughout spring about players having a fresh start with a new staff. Whether players were in the “doghouse” under the old regime, or simply fell out of favor for another reason, the coaching transition has brought new life to some.
Brooks considers himself one of the players who has benefited from the coaching change. He’s embraced the simplicity of Gillespie’s 3-3-5 defense that puts an emphasis on players being able to use their speed and instincts to make plays.
“They’ve been putting me in lethal positions to make plays and things like that using my athletic ability,” Brooks said. “I’ve really been liking it so far. I’ve been able to play fast and not really think as much in this defense. There’s some difficulties in there a little bit, just coming back and being a tad bit rusty from playing linebacker again from playing receiver for a year. Everything else though has been pretty good.”
Brooks, who has bulked up to 210 pounds, doesn’t feel like he’s really played football since coming to TCU. As a true freshman at LSU in 2019, he had eight tackles, 1 1/2 tackles for loss and 1 1/2 sacks.
In his first season with the Frogs in 2020, Brooks played mostly special teams in six games. Last season, Brooks saw limited action at wide receiver, finishing with five catches for 47 yards in eight games.
Asked if people have forgotten what he’s capable of, Brooks smiled and said: “Yes, very much so. I came from being a national champion to coming to school and not playing for two years. Now we’re playing linebacker and it doesn’t look like anything has changed.”
Brooks has impressed this spring and looks ready to make an impact this fall. His goals for the season are lofty, but straightforward.
“My goal is to win a national championship with this team that we have,” he said. “I don’t have any ‘I’ goals this year. I’m really worried about the team becoming the best team in the country.
“We still have to work really, really hard to get where we need to be. We have a really big gap and every day we’re closing it. Step by step.”
Takeaways from Practice 10
TCU had its 10th practice of the spring Tuesday and Brooks wasn’t the only defensive player making plays. Safety Bud Clark had a nice interception off QB Max Duggan during the one-on-one portion; defensive end Colt Ellison, linebacker Johnny Hodges, and safety Mark Perry all had sacks/ QB pressures during the team portion; and safety Abraham Camara made a nice tackle to stuff a run by Emari Demercado.
Offensively, quarterback Chandler Morris ran with the first-team to start the team portion with Duggan receiving first-team reps as well. The best play during team came on a run by receiver Derius Davis, who found an opening on a jet sweep and took it to the house.
This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 1:25 PM.
