Browne heading Midwest

Pete Sampson
IrishIllustrated.com Editor

Three years ago Max Browne walked the sidelines at Skyline High School as a junior high ball boy while a parade of college coaches visited the powerhouse program outside Seattle. When former Irish head coach Charlie Weis made the trip before Notre Dame beat Washington the next night, Browne watched main attractions Jake Heaps and Kasen Williams put on an aerial show.

Now it’s Browne’s turn to get looks as the next Skyline star quarterback. After backing up Heaps as a freshman, Browne took over the air-it-out offense last season, completing 294-of-432 passes (68 percent) for 4,182 yards, 50 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

College coaches are already taking notice. Washington offered before Browne made his first varsity start. Utah and California followed. On Monday night Clemson made the call cross-country to offer. Later this month Browne will travel to Notre Dame, Michigan and Wisconsin for camps.

Browne expects to throw in South Bend on June 23.

“At first glance Notre Dame is a great school if you’re a quarterback or even if you’re a player there, that’s big time tradition there and something I’m interested in,” Browne said. “You see movies like ‘Rudy’ and you can see tradition all over that school. The coaching staff is in their second or third year and I’m interested in seeing them. All I hear about Notre Dame is great things, both at the school and the alumni after it.

“I’m going in with an open mind and want to check everything out.”

That includes the Badgers and Wolverines too.

“All three schools are great,” Browne said. “Wisconsin has kind of blown up the last two years, winning the Big Ten conference title. I thought that while I’m down there I might as well check it out. All three schools stopped by and visited with my coach. Michigan is kind of like Notre Dame, a lot of tradition there. I don’t want to say they were struggling lately, but they haven’t been Top 5 where they want to be. But both are great programs.”

Considering the talent that’s come before him at Skyline, a relatively new high school located in Sammamish, about a half hour east of Seattle, Browne enters the recruiting process with a foundation. Skyline head coach Mat Taylor has dealt with recruiters before considering he’s produced two U.S. Army All-Americans the past two years.

Browne’s father played college football at Idaho as a kicker and his older brother was in the first graduating class at Skyline and played small school college football. Browne watched Heaps make a summer decision for BYU and Williams stay home with Washington, picking a program before his senior season.

“I’d say it’s definitely helped me, taken some pressure off but put some on following Heaps,” Browne said. “Recruiting is not something new at my school. My coach knows what to expect and answers me straight up.”

Browne has already visited Washington, where he’ll return this weekend for a passing tournament that includes three-star ’12 quarterback Jeff Lindquist, a Huskies commitment. Washington also has a commitment from four-star Cyler Miles at the position.

Browne has also visited Cal, Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA.

As much as Browne might look like the next big thing from Skyline, he’s content to wait his turn. With two days of school left in his sophomore year, Browne will defer to Williams as the star attraction around school for as long as possible.

Skyline went 12-2 last season, dropping its opener and falling again in the 4A state title game. Even without Williams at receiver next season, Browne is ready to take the next step. He’ll wait and see how life goes as a national recruit.

“I won’t be able to answer that question until Sept. 1 this season,” Browne laughed. “It’s not too hard to stay level-headed, that’s just how I was raised, to be humble, don’t get too high on good things or too low on bad things. This isn’t the first time Skyline has seen a big-time recruit. The community supports me, but it’s nice to be behind Jake and Kasen and learn from them.”