A few months after transferring from Texas A&M to South Carolina, defensive tackle Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy found himself in Florida — not for football, but for faith. Standing before a congregation in a crisp white shirt and bolo tie, the 6-foot-3, 315-pound lineman wasn’t giving a pregame speech. He was preaching.
“The sermon being: Dear younger me,” Brownlow-Dindy began. “Trust in God’s timing. … You think about that, and you say, ‘Sometimes, me and God’s timing does not align.’ Life is full of unexpected seasons. Instead of striving to control, trust in God’s plan. Find peace in timing.”
He continued, “Because no matter what you think or how you look at it, we’re gonna be on God’s timing regardless. So you might as well go with the flow.”
That message — one of patience and faith — is something Brownlow-Dindy has learned firsthand through football. Once a five-star recruit and No. 17 overall prospect nationally in the class of 2022, he was part of Texas A&M’s historic recruiting class that featured eight five-stars. But after injuries and depth chart struggles, his journey took an unexpected turn — a transfer to South Carolina, a new chapter, and a deeper trust in divine timing.
Now, as a redshirt junior for the Gamecocks, Brownlow-Dindy has emerged as one of South Carolina’s top defenders. Despite battling through injuries, he’s recorded 18 tackles and graded out as the team’s highest-rated defender, according to Pro Football Focus.
Yet his vision for the future extends beyond the gridiron. Brownlow-Dindy plans to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a preacher once his football career ends. He intends to enroll in the Texas School of Preaching, a two-year program founded by his father, Terrance Brownlow-Dindy, in College Station.
“Our students are not allowed to have a secular job while they’re here,” Terrance explained. “They’re in the classroom for eight hours a day. After that eight hours, they have to go home and, if they’re gonna be really successful, probably devote themselves to three more hours of study.”
Gabriel added, “They fit four years into two. It’s pretty rigorous, but you come out a different person.”
His path toward preaching began early. Home-schooled alongside his siblings, Gabriel grew up immersed in the Bible. Each morning began not with math or science, but with Scripture. His parents encouraged him and his siblings to study the Word deeply — and even to preach it.
“We would critique it and show them maybe some things they could’ve done better, what they did well,” Terrance said. “If you want a kid to learn something, put it in a game. We did lots of Bible Bowls, lots of Bible trivia.”
Those lessons have shaped how Gabriel now writes and delivers sermons when invited to guest-preach. He starts with a message or verse, outlines his thoughts, and then intertwines personal stories that help him connect with his audience.
“You want to relate to different people, so I’m not just talking,” Gabriel said. “Then you start using your life — things you’ve been through in your life that you can kind of relate to people.”
As Brownlow-Dindy prepares to return to College Station for South Carolina’s matchup against Texas A&M, the trip carries more than football significance. It’s a return to where his journey — both spiritual and athletic — took a defining turn.
“If I could write to my younger self,” he said, closing his Florida sermon, “I would tell him over and over: Trust God’s timing.”
