Central Michigan offers Jeannette sophomore Brett Birch

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, January 30, 2020 | 3:57 PM

Jeannette’s Brett Birch is just a sophomore, but his coaches have noted he can do things that are ahead of his years.

The way he runs routes. The way he makes catches in traffic and covers ground on defense. The way he leads by example.

“One-hundred percent,” Jayhawks coach Roy Hall said.

But Birch knows he can’t get his name on the radar by being passive.

The wide receiver and cornerback attends all of the workouts — in and out of season — uses social media to connect with college coaches and plays 7-on-7 football in the offseason.

Now he has a Division I scholarship offer, a fruit of his labor.

Birch on Wednesday received an offer to play at Central Michigan, a Football Bowl Subdivision program in the Mid-American Conference.

Birch (5-foot-10, 170 pounds), who runs a 4.6-second 40-yard dash and is big on offseason training, said he isn’t sure when Central Michigan began to recruit him.

“It was surprising for sure,” Birch said. “I’m very thankful and happy for it, but I’m not going to be satisfied and stop working because I’ve achieved this goal. It actually makes me want to work harder than ever now.”

Last season, Birch had 23 receptions for 246 yards and two touchdowns. He also returns kicks and punts and had four interceptions last season.

Very excited to announce that I have earned the opportunity to make my dream of playing D1 football come true and that I have earned my FIRST OFFER from Central Michigan University ????????@SteveFerentz @coachwil_412 pic.twitter.com/e0juRoPLc8

— “ BRETT BIRCH “ (@BirchBrett) January 29, 2020

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Jeannette