Local Semper Fidelis All-American Looks Forward to Official Visit

The 2016 season was quite a year for Pitt safety commit Bricen Garner(Pittsburgh Central Catholic Pittsburgh, Pa.) Bricen and his Pittsburgh Central Catholic teammates reached the pinnacle of Pennsylvania high school football by capturing the WPIAL and PIAA AAAA championships(Pennsylvania’s highest classification). Garner followed up his senior campaign by being named second team All-State and was selected to play in the prestigious Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl. He was noted as having a stellar week of practice by those in attendance. Following that up with a impressive showing in the game itself. Bricen played free safety for the East team. The game was played in Carson, California on Sunday, January 3rd, 2016 at the StubHub Center. Garner(6’2″ 175 lbs) has been committed to the Panthers since June 18th, 2015. He was later joined in commitment to the University of Pittsburgh by HS teammate Rashad Wheeler DT (6’3″ 270 lbs).
Prior to making his official visit on campus January 29th, 2016 I had an opportunity to ask Bricen a few questions.

MJ-“How excited are you in anticipation of your official visit to Pitt?”
BG-“I’m very excited for my official.”

MJ-“What did you take away from your Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl experience?”
BG-“One of the things I took away from the Semper Fi experience would be anything is possible if you have a set of good core values and team work is a major key to being successful whether its on the battlefield or on the football field, the stronger and more disciplined team is the higher chance at success you have.”MJ-“Sounds like an amazing experience.”

MJ-“Did it give you an opportunity to bond with fellow Semper Fidelis Bowl All-American and Pitt commit Chase Pine?”
BG-“Yeah, on the field everything just felt natural between us. I really enjoyed being able to practice and play in the game with him and I can’t wait to continue it at Pitt.”
MJ-“Great!”

MJ-“How has your time at Pittsburgh Central Catholic prepared you for the next level on and off the field?”
BG-“Central prepared in every way possible. On the field, I cant thank them enough our team was blessed to have a coaching staff that loves the game of football just as much as we do. Off the field, Central has prepared me for college and the real world and I thank them for that.”

MJ-“Winning the WPIAL and PIAA championships in your senior year. How special was that for you and your fellow seniors at Pittsburgh Central Catholic?”
BG-“Winning the WPIAL and the PIAA championship was a very special moment for me. As a kid that’s all you grow up dreaming about is hoisting the gold ball in front of your team, coaches and family. I can remember back to our freshman football season that’s all we used to talk about, winning it all our senior year. We wanted to go out on our terms and make our senior year one to remember.”

MJ-“Do you have a potential major/field of study you hope to pursue at Pitt?”
BG-“As of now I plan on majoring in Business and minoring in Accounting.”

MJ-“How much of a factor was the defensive scheme coach Narduzzi brought to Pitt a factor in your commitment?”
BG-“The defensive scheme was a huge factor I wanted to make sure I would be comfortable playing in the defense and learning the new scheme. On top of that I picked Pitt because it offers great academics and the campus lifestyle is very easy to fall in love with.”

MJ-“What type of off season program are you doing to prepare for fall camp?”
BG-‘During the off season I will be lifting and training with 2/10ths speed and agility.”

MJ-“What three words would you use to describe Bricen Garner?”
BG-“Fun, athletic and scholar.”

Watching Bricen’s Hudl highlights the first thing that jumps out at you is his ability to track and high point the ball on deep throws. He also displays the body control to intercept the ball, maintain possession and get his foot in bounds. For a safety he’s very smooth transitioning from his back pedal to turning and running. Shows great recovery speed covering a large amount of ground in a short amount of time. Another play he hand jams a slot receiver and fluidly gets himself into position on a bubble screen, a perfect example of a head-up form tackle for loss. As a ball carrier he shows high level balance, change of direction and above average acceleration. Garner is a true centerfielder at free safety covering a ton ground and displaying fantastic instincts at jumping routes and anticipating the ball being thrown. In my opinion he has one of the highest upsides in the 2016 class. With the multiple areas in his game he shows ability I feel like with P5 level strength and conditioning he can develop in to a high level DB for the Panthers.