NSD '24: Late suggestion from opposing coach promotes McClinton to South Alabama

Trinity’s Webber McClinton signed a scholarship with South Alabama on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

It was late in the recruiting season when Webber McClinton finally heard from South Alabama.

And the back story on his recruiting was one for the ages.

 The Trinity senior accepted an offer from the Jaguars and new coach Major Applewhite, he announced on Wednesday in a signing ceremony in front of family and friends in the Trinity gym. But how he and South Alabama’s coaches found each other is a little unique. 

“I had been talking to Troy a little bit and East Tennessee State,” McClinton said. “But I didn’t hear very much from them as January was going on. Then South reached out.”  

South Alabama had found out about him through former Mobile Christian football coach Ronnie Cottrell. Cottrell, a former recruiting coordinator at the University of Alabama, spoke to Webber’s grandfather Buddy, a former All-American at Auburn University, about Webber and Walker McClinton.   

“After we played Mobile Christian, he reached out to my grandfather because he had grown up watching him,” McClinton said. “He didn’t realize we were his grandsons. He was very complimentary of me, thought I was a great player and he was shocked I didn’t have any offers so he wanted to do something for me.

“He had a lot of contacts with South Alabama and he actually got in contact with Coach Applewhite and their new receivers coach. He helped me out a lot to get this football offer. He’s an awesome guy.”

When Webber McClinton traveled to Mobile to visit South Alabama’s campus, he made sure to thank Cottrell for his help in securing an offer from the Jaguars.

“I knew of him because we had played them the year before and lost to them,” McClinton said. “I know he’s a great coach. He’s got a good recruiting background. One thing I found when I met him in Mobile in person the other day, he’s a true man of God and I love that about him.”

South Alabama coaches recruited McClinton, who excelled at both defensive back and receiver, to play offense for the Jaguars. That’s exactly where Trinity coach Brian Seymore thinks McClinton should play.

“I think he’s definitely a dual athlete, he can play multiple positions,” Seymore said. “I always liked his ability to catch the ball in space and how he can create with the ball in his hands, whether it’s quick screens, a quick hitch or a crossing route. Just get the ball in his hands. He has the ability to make folks miss and he’s got that burst to separate from defenders.

“I like him at receiver. He’s got really strong hands, runs really good routes and gets in and out of his breaks real well.”