Position: OLB
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 225
Hometown: Dundee, Fl
High School: Victory Christian Academy
Year: Sophomore
The Hoos are always happy when they can get a quality recruit out of Florida. There are so many football schools in the state that it can be difficult to outrecruit them. Brim is the type of guy the Hoos would go after, because he's very interested in academics. It also helps that Brim's hometown isn't really all that close to the major FL football powerhouses.
There was a time when Brim would've been slotted at S. Under coach Al Groh, Brim wouldn't have been big enough to play LB and therefore he would've ended up being a big, slow safety as opposed to a small, quick LB. In college football the small, quick LB is the better player. In the NFL...well actually in the NFL the small, quick LB is still better. But the big, slow LB doesn't make the NFL.
Brim was rated as a high 3 star recruit by ESPN, 3 stars by Rivals and 2 stars by Scout. He was ranked the #46 OLB by Rivals, the #142 S by Scout and the #38 Athlete by ESPN. The Hoos mostly recruited him as an OLB, but he expressed interest in playing offense. Having played QB in HS, that may have been his preferred position, but it wasn't realistic. He was given a look at WR or TE, but OLB was where he stuck.
As an OLB, he looks a bit like LaRoy Reynolds. Reynolds was initially slotted at S, but that was under the previous regime. Reynolds moved to OLB and became an All-ACC player there. Brim has the same type of potential. Last season, in a mostly special teams role, he combined 8 tackles and forced two fumbles. He saw some time at OLB, and even recorded a half-sack.
Brim is a big hitter, something that might've been more evident at S than at OLB. He liked to make a big hit, and sometimes that causes him to miss tackles he should make. He has outstanding speed for an OLB, which help him in pass coverage. He's best in a zone, which is good since that's the scheme the Hoos often play. He'll handle a TE or RB from time to time, but mostly he'll be used in a flat zone. In run support, he's strong enough to take on blockers at the point of attack, but also fast enough to run down plays from behind.
He's currently the starting SLB, in what had been Reynolds' spot. The Hoos do not always use their Sam and Will LBs like a typical 4-3 team. The Sam will sometimes be in man coverage, sometimes in zone coverage and sometimes rushing the passer. Brim has very little experience rushing the passer, despite his half sack last season. In Jon Tenuta's defense, he'll get up to speed as a pass rusher quickly. Brim is still young and raw, so he'll be given some latitude if he struggles. But Henry Coley could move back to OLB, and D.J. Hill has shown promise there as well. So Brim will have to get up to speed to keep the starting gig.
Brim has a very good athletic profile, and he's already put on about 10 pounds of muscle in his first year in the program. As he builds up his strength and technique, he's going to be very good LB, perhaps even better than Reynolds.