Dogs keeping in touch with Brown

Mississippi State has made Long Beach three-star linebacker Richie Brown a priority since the beginning.

The Bulldogs were the first school to offer the Magnolia State standout and have kept in constant contact ever since.

"I'm looking at a whole bunch of letters that I just got from them (Thursday)," Brown said. "They are definitely keeping in touch with me. They are making sure that I know they want me at their school. I respect that. I'm going to come down to Big Dawg Camp and hang out with Coach (Geoff) Collins, Coach (Dan) Mullen and Coach (Les) Koenning. They are all sending me letters and messages on Facebook very periodically making sure they stay in touch with me."

Brown has visited Starkville several times over the spring and summer but plans to make one more trip to the Big Dawg Camp on July 22nd.

While MSU is his only definite camp left this summer Brown stated that he would probably also make stops at Ole Miss and LSU as well this month. Other "iffy" trips left on the docket at Miami, Nebraska and Stanford depend on how his high school's 7-on-7 schedule shapes out as to which visits were left.

As Brown continues to visit campuses he is looking at several aspects that will ultimately help him make his decision down the road.

"It's really just kind of a feel," Brown said. "If I step on a campus and feel a relationship with the coaches and a team that I feel like is going to be a winning program and a team that I can fit into. Playing time is kind of a factor too but I'm not that worried about that. Most of the schools are talking about early playing time. I just have to see what team I fit in with best and obviously go somewhere that you are wanted too. That's very encouraging."

As for that decision, the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder expects that to come following his senior campaign at Long Beach High School.

"I'm most likely just going to wait until after my season," Brown said. "I'm not really going to think about it until after my season. I'm just going to focus on my season. A lot of coaches are asking because they don't want me to wait so much because they get nervous. I really don't think I need to make a decision before my season. I feel like I need to wait and get a better feel for all the schools and how they play out during the season too."

Brown currently has offers from Arkansas State, Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, MSU, Ole Miss, Southern Miss and Stanford.

"It's going pretty smooth right now," Brown said. "I haven't been anywhere recently. Right now I'm focusing on hitting the weights and getting faster and stronger."

As a junior Brown recorded 151 tackles and recovered four fumbles -taking two back for touchdowns earning second team All-State honors. Offensively he rushed 50 times for 333 yards and 7 touchdowns and hauled in nine passes for 214 yards and another score helping lead Bearcats to a 10-2 record and into the first round of the Class 5A State Playoffs.

In 2009 as a sophomore has 162 stops (13.5 per game), two sacks, one interceptions and two fumble recoveries on defense including a 31 tackle (19 solo, 12 assists) effort in a 35-25 win over Vancleave.

Brown is hoping to improve upon even those impressive numbers as a senior.

"We are definitely planning on dominating on defense and hopefully offense too," Brown said. "We're most likely going to be the number one defense in Mississippi. That's what we are shooting for. We're really expecting to compete for a state championship. As long as we get our offense going I think we'll definitely be making another run for that state championship game in the playoffs."

Brown is rated No. 28 inside linebacker in the country by Rivals.com