Max Browne patiently awaiting his turn

Many freshmen in college are worried about adjusting to college life and managing classes and newfound independence, but  redshirt freshman quarterback Max Browne has faced an especially interesting situation since graduating from high school a semester early and enrolling at USC in January of 2013. Unlike his peers, Browne was saddled with the additional adjustments caused by the many coaching changes and quarterback competitions USC football has seen in Browne’s less-than-two-year tenure.

Rising star · Redshirt freshman quarterback Max Browne, a five-star recruit in 2013, has played in two games for USC this season, in which he looked fully capable of carrying the Trojans in the years to come. – Mariya Dondonyan | Daily Trojan

Browne attended Skyline High School in Sammamish, Wash., where he won two championships with his team, acting as the starting quarterback his junior and senior seasons.

In 2012, he was named the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year. Browne followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Mitch, who won a state championship for Skyline in 2000.

Browne was five years old when his brother won the state championship, and it was then that Browne decided he wanted to play football.

“I have three older brothers, and my oldest brother won a state championship for my high school in 2000. I was five years old, and I just kind of took a liking to that,” Browne said. “I played other sports, but football was probably the thing I was best at. My brothers and my dad got me hooked on it early.”

Once Browne started playing football in third grade, there was never any doubt in his mind what position he would play.

“I always knew I wanted to play quarterback,” Browne said. “I really haven’t played a single different position since third grade. I’ve always been quarterback. I like being in control and having the ball in my hands every play. I had some success at it so over the years that’s where I found myself.”

Even though his brothers and his dad were the ones who sparked Browne’s interest in football, he’s the first in his family to play football at a Division I school, as his brother Mitch played at Claremont McKenna. When deciding which school to attend, Browne narrowed his options down to offers from USC, Alabama, Oklahoma and Washington.

“I decided I wanted to go here to get this degree, live in L.A., play in the Pac-12, a conference that I grew up following, and the quarterback tradition here just seemed like the perfect fit,” Browne said. “I looked at the full picture — the degree here, the other factors outside of football — and I decided this should be my home.”

Despite speculation that Browne would look to transfer after losing the quarterback battle to redshirt junior Cody Kessler, he is adamant that he never doubted his place at USC.

“In the real world of college football now, if you lose a competition battle, most guys transfer,” Browne said. “I knew getting recruited that it was a possibility that I would get beat out, but I never want to transfer, and a big reason why is this degree and my teammates, and I’ve never second guessed it.”

Browne is a communication major with an entrepreneurship minor. He is on pace to earn his degree in only three years, graduating next December. After he graduates, Browne hopes to attend graduate school at USC. If football doesn’t pan out as a career, Browne still wants to be involved in sports.

“I’d love to be an announcer of some sort,” Browne said. “I’d love to announce games and stuff. I could see myself being a coach, but I’m not sure that’s necessarily what I’d want to do. I’d love to work for ESPN.”

Outside of football, Browne admits that he enjoys being an average college student playing video games like FIFA and Madden, and spending time with friends. He also played basketball in high school, but stopped due to the risk of injury when he started getting heavily recruited for football. He enjoys following his favorite teams, the Seahawks and Mariners, and admits that he is a bandwagon LeBron James fan.

Browne hopes that after USC, he goes on to play in the NFL like some of his role models: Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady.

“I want to be a premier quarterback in the NFL,” Browne said. “That’s a big reason why I came here. Obviously, that’s a big goal to shoot for, but I wanna be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. That’s my goal, and it’s what I strive and work for every day.”