Forgive Brodie Croyle for the lost look in his eyes. Forgive him for the look of surprise that's constantly spread across his face.

This is new to him. The classes, the football, the time management, the sense of responsibility -- all of it.

Croyle just turned 18 years old in February and in theory, should still be in high school, preparing for his prom and planning his senior ditch day.

	Brodie Croyle jump started his Alabama career by graduating high school early and arriving in time for spring practice.

But instead, he's at the University of Alabama, a two-hour drive from his parents' Rainbow City, Ala. home, where he's learning to read defenses, studying psychology and adjusting to the speed of the college game.

He's been on campus since January, just the latest prep superstar to graduate high school a semester early and get a jump start on spring football and the college life. It's a trend that was virtually non-existent in the early-90s but is quickly becoming more common -- especially for blue chip quarterbacks.

Last year, it was Tennessee's Casey Clausen and Florida's Brock Berlin who generated spring football excitement with their early campus arrivals. This year, it's Croyle.

The benefits are obvious: An easier adjustment to college without the football season to worry about. A month of spring practice to get acclimated to the college game. And the ability to transfer and not loose eligibility should the school not be the right fit.

But there are negatives, too. Like missing out on the fun that accompanies that last semester of high school. Or planning your life far enough ahead that you take summer and night classes in high school just so you can be eligible to graduate early.

'It was a no-brainer'
For Croyle, who decided to leave early in the fall of his junior year, the positives far outweighed the negatives.

"It was a no-brainer," said Croyle, the son of former Alabama defensive end John Croyle. "I mentioned it to my dad after seeing Casey and Brock do it and he thought it was a great idea. Mom wasn't too keen about her last child moving out of the home early, but all in all, they wanted me to chase my dreams."

For many of these high schoolers, that's just what it boils down to. Ask them about the sacrifices, about missing out on the lasting memories of high school, and they just shrug their shoulders and insist it's the price they have to pay to achieve greatness.

Such was the case with Clausen, who enrolled at Tennessee knowing the Vols were shaky at quarterback. Clausen figured a strong spring practice could catapult him to some playing time as a true freshman.

	Casey Clausen threw for 2,969 yards and 22 TDs last season.

"I loved high school, I really did," Clausen said. "But it was time to move on. Everybody knows you don't get much done that last semester anyway. I had accomplished what I wanted there. I was ready to take on a new challenge and move on with my life."

The adjustment wasn't an easy one. Not only did he have to take night classes to keep ahead, but he also had no time off between his high school finals and the first day of college.

The way the two schedules worked out, Clausen was forced to drive with his dad from their home in Southern California to Knoxville, Tenn. on Monday and Tuesday of finals week, fly back to California to take finals on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and then fly back to Tennessee to start school Monday morning.

"It wasn't easy, but there wasn't a lot of choice in the matter," Clausen said. "I knew how important those finals were. You do what you have to do."

It's paid off. Just ask Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer. Fulmer watched as Clausen earned the Vols starting job in Week 6 of the fall season. From there, he led the team to a 6-1 record while earning second-team All-SEC honors. And Fulmer gives much of the credit to Clausen's early arrival.

"There's probably an 85 to 90 percent chance he wouldn't have been able to do nearly what he did if he hadn't been with us in the spring," Fulmer said. "Anytime you can get your men on campus a little earlier, it's a plus. Especially for QBs."

'Kids are getting too serious, too quick'
Yet not everyone agrees this is a good thing. Many college head coaches, including Miami's Larry Coker and USC's Pete Carroll, prefer that their recruits stay in high school for their entire senior year and join the team during summer workouts.

"That last semester is one of the greatest periods in a young man's life," Carroll said. "I think these days, kids are getting too serious, too quick."

Coker can see both sides of the issue.

"Selfishly, it's a great idea, especially if it's at the right position like quarterback," he said. "But if it was my son, I don't know if I'd think it's that great. I'd want him to stay. You already grow up fast enough."

One of the players Carroll inherited when he took the USC job this winter, lineman Jacob Rogers, was an early arrival under Paul Hackett in 1999.

And like Clausen and Croyle, Rogers stands by his decision -- even though it has yet to make him a starter on the field.

"If I had to decide it again, I'd do it in a heartbeat," Rogers said. "When you first get here, be it in the spring or the fall, it's just such an immediate shock. And getting here early helped me understand what to expect -- both on the football field and in the classroom -- before anyone else."

'It's a win-win situation'
Another benefit is career flexibility. J.P. Losman, a close friend of Clausen's from Southern California, knows all about that.

Losman, a blue-chip prospect from Venice, Calif., enrolled at UCLA after graduating high school a semester early in 1999. But after his first semester and a month of spring practice, he realized UCLA wasn't the place for him.

So that summer, he transferred to Tulane. NCAA transfer regulations forced him to sit out the 1999 season, but he kept the year of eligibility he would have lost had he played a season with the Bruins.

In other words, he was able to get a feel for what UCLA was like without losing a thing. Even all his credits transferred.

"It's a win-win situation," said Losman, who will compete to be Tulane's starting quarterback this fall. "If things work out, they work out. But if they don't, by going early, you can leave and still have four years of football ahead of you."

Prior to leaving California, Losman and Clausen both promised their parents they would return home for prom and graduation. That drew plenty of razzing from their new teammates. Croyle made the same promise back in January. And his new Alabama teammates are set to make sure he lives up to it.

"They've been telling me they're going to beat me up if I don't go back," he said. "They're going to make me do it.

"But it isn't something I miss. After all, a week of college will always beat a week of high school."

Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at wayne.drehs@espn.com.