Clemson defensive backs coach Mike Reed had some on-field time with Xavier McKinney earlier this summer during the Dabo Swinney Football Camp.

On Sunday, July 19, while McKinney was back in town for a visit, Reed was first to offer.

“We were just doing the tour. Once we got on the field we watched the video up on the jumbotron. Coach Reed, he was getting ready to go and he just let me know that they were going to offer, and (he) hoped that I would come there,” McKinney recently said, during an interview with TheClemsonInsider.

The 6-1, 170-pound safety from Roswell, Ga. was happy Reed pulled the trigger.

“I’ve always kind of followed Clemson,” McKinney said. “My brother, he got recruited there when he was in high school, and my family likes it a lot, so that was an offer I wanted to have.”

The campus seemed to suit his favor.

“The atmosphere, I kind of liked how it’s kind of closed in. It’s like the only thing there. I like the stadium and just how the classrooms are,” McKinney said.

When asked about the camp experience with Reed, McKinney said, “I think he was good with the drills that he was doing. He taught me a lot. A lot of the stuff, it was my first time doing it, so he taught me a lot. He’s real cool to hang around and get to talk to.”

Alabama offered the day as Clemson. McKinney got word about 10 minutes after he left Clemson.

“That was big, too. Of course, it’s Alabama, the biggest football program. I was real happy about that,” he said.

A few days later, he was in Tuscaloosa for a visit.

“It was good. It was all of what I expected it to be. I liked it a lot,” McKinney said.