a native of chesapeake, virginia, sweat attended oscar f. smith high school where he was teammates with andrew brown. in his junior year, he recorded 94 tackles and helped oscar smith to march undefeated into the 2013 vhsl 6a state championship game, where they were upset by centreville high school 35–6. in off-season football camps, sweat impressed with his athleticism and triggered comparisons to jadeveon clowney.