With 48 days until South Carolina football kicks off 2026, a look back at No. 48 Eric Brown

South Carolina football will take the field for the first time in 2026 on September 5 against Kent State. Williams-Brice Stadium will play host to the Gamecocks and Golden Flashes at 12:45 p.m., just 48 days from today. A number often skipped on college rosters, 48 hasn’t been a common one in starting lineups in Columbia. Of the top players to wear it, most were linebackers, but arguably the best of them was Eric Brown, who wore No. 48 from 1989 to 1993. Questions about this story? Kevin Miller is discussing it with subscribers on The Insiders Forum. Following the unexpected coaching change from Joe Morrison to Sparky Woods (after the former’s untimely death), Brown became a member of Woods’ first signing class in Columbia. However, he redshirted his first year on campus. It didn’t take long for Brown to impress Woods and the coaching staff. The Baltimore, Maryland native earned a starting job at linebacker during his redshirt freshman campaign. Then, as a sophomore in 1991, Brown logged 101 tackles and three interceptions. Both of those numbers were good for the South Carolina team lead. ’92 and ’93 were two more strong seasons for Brown. By the time his career ended, he had logged 181 solo tackles and around 300 total stops. His solo tackle number is the fifth-best at South Carolina since 1982. See other jersey countdown stories like this on GamecockCentral.com. Not long after his playing days ended, Brown then got into coaching. He has spent time at both the high school and college levels. Some of his collegiate stops included Edward Waters College, Methodist University, Livingston College, Johnson C. Smith University, VMI, and Winston-Salem State. Brown, who worked for his former head coach Sparky Woods at VMI and spent several years coaching high school ball in North Carolina, was the head coach at St. John’s High School in the Palmetto State in 2024 and 2025, where he worked under athletic director and former USC teammate Hank Campbell. He hired former Gamecock running back Cory Boyd as his offensive coordinator at the Lowcountry program.