Clemson ‘felt like home’ to Peach State safety on official visit

The Clemson Insider caught up with Milton (Alpharetta, Ga.) three-star Robert Billings after the 2023 safety took his official visit to Clemson this weekend. “It was good,” Billings said in a phone interview Sunday. “I enjoyed spending time with …

The Clemson Insider caught up with Milton (Alpharetta, Ga.) three-star Robert Billings after the 2023 safety took his official visit to Clemson this weekend.

“It was good,” Billings said in a phone interview Sunday. “I enjoyed spending time with some of the current players on the roster. We went over to Coach Swinney’s house, I’m sure you’ve seen that video. Just getting to meet all the members of the coaching staff, getting to meet everybody on the team, it just felt like family. It felt like home.”

Billings, of course, is referencing the video below in which Swinney hit a fadeaway jumper over Edison (Miami, Fla.) 2023 four-star wide receiver and Clemson commit, Nathaniel Joseph.

Billings indicated that the highlight of this weekend’s official visit was getting to go to Swinney’s house on Saturday night. He enjoyed getting to speak with Clemson’s head coach and his wife, Kathleen.

Clemson safeties Andrew Mubuka and RJ Mickens served as the Peach State safety’s player hosts this weekend.

“I feel like I was on the team, it was cool,” he said. “I hung out with (sophomore cornerback) Nate Wiggins and (junior safety) Tyler Venables. We all just hung out, me and a couple of other recruits. I just felt like I was a player, as one of the guys.”

Billings was accompanied this weekend by his sisters and his mother. He said that his mom is rooting for Clemson and that she wants him to go there, especially after this weekend’s visit.

With that being said, where does Clemson currently stand in the mix of things?

“They’re definitely a contender in my recruitment,” Billings said. “I think if I were to drop like a top-three, they’d definitely be in there.”

Billings featured Clemson among his top schools last month, along with Oregon, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Duke, North Carolina, Michigan and Florida State.

“Just based off me and Coach (Mickey) Conn’s relationship alone, I feel comfortable with what he’s been telling me and the visions he has,” Billings said of Clemson safeties coach/co-defensive coordinator Mickey Conn, in an interview with TCI last month explaining why the Tigers are in his top group.

“He can coach better when I move to the next level. I just felt comfortable when I went there on my visit. It just felt like family up there, like a family vibe, even though they preach that a lot. I just feel comfortable, even after football, I could maybe get a job on the staff later in life. I feel like they would set me up perfectly for life.”

This weekend’s official visit only further confirmed how Billings feels about the program. The first time he visited Tiger Town, he got a good grasp of things, but this visit put things over the top, as the Peach State safety got to see what the Clemson program was all about.

“They just preached family,” Billings continued. “It really felt like a family. It felt like home. Coach Swinney, he really likes his former players. He has 28 former players on his staff. He takes care of the guys, who got their degrees and try and put them into the program. They really preach education, get your degree and graduate.”

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