By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

When you think of Xavier Brewer, you think about the good guys. There is good reason for that – he is one.

During his four years at Clemson, Brewer was a guy that would do anything for his teammates and the program. Without fail, he came to every press conference he was asked to attend. It did not matter if there was Chick-fil-A there or not. He showed up on Mondays and Tuesdays and even after games, win or lose.

And it wasn’t always fun either. A lot of times he had to answer questions about himself. Like, “Why did you blow that coverage?” or “What were you thinking on that play?” or “Why did you take such a bad angle?” But not matter what the question, the Jacksonville, FL native answered them all and he always did it with a smile.

“He is just one of those guys that gets it,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.

Brewer does get it. He remembers when things were not so good at Clemson. Like the first six weeks of the 2008 season. A redshirt at the time, he remembered what it was like when former head coach Tommy Bowden was forced to step aside and Swinney come on as the interim coach, trying to salvage what he could from a season that had so much promise.

“We were young and dumb,” Brewer said. “We worried about what was going to happen. We did not know who are coach was going to be so we were all talking about transferring and all that. But Coach Swinney was the guy who recruited me. He brought me into his office and talked some sense into me.

“I knew then I was not going anywhere. He told me, ‘You are going to help me get this thing straight.’ It’s been cool to see it actually come true.”

Since that day, Brewer and Swinney have never really spoken much about that conversation. Swinney has just went out there and coached and Brewer has done whatever was needed to help the Tigers win.

Since then Clemson has won a lot. In the last two years, the Tigers have posted a 21-6 record, including an 11-2 mark this past year and a No. 9 ranking in the Final USA Today Coaches Poll. During his career, Brewer was part of a class that won 36 games – the most by a senior class since the 1991 class. They also won an ACC Championship, three division titles and two bowl games.

“There is so much that goes into faith and believing, and that’s what Coach Swinney is all about,” Brewer said. “He has been able to instill that in us and has been able to change the program from the inside-out.”

It’s because of players like Brewer that transition was smooth. During his career, he was one of the more versatile players on the team. At some point he played all four positions in the secondary, while totaling 193 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, a caused fumble and five interceptions.

Brewer’s natural position was at corner, though, where he started the last six games of the season due to a season-ending injury to Darius Robinson. When he permanently moved to corner, Brewer began to make a lot of big plays to help turn things around on a defense that struggled earlier in the season.

He finished his senior year with 64 tackles, including seven for loss. He had two interceptions and broke up five passes. He caused a fumble at Wake Forest, had a sack and a caused fumble against Maryland and then had another sack against South Carolina.

But the biggest play he made this season came in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. With Clemson trailing LSU 24-13 late in the third quarter, LSU faced a third down-and-two from its own 19. Needing to get the football back to his offense, Brewer timed the snap and came off the edge untouched where he tackled running back Jeremy Hill a yard short of the first down as the quarter ended.

It was a big momentum play as Clemson got the ball back to start the fourth quarter, beginning one of the best comebacks in Clemson’s long bowl history. It was also a play of redemption for Brewer, who had jumped off sides on the previous play, setting up the third-and-short situation.

“This is how I wanted to go out,” Brewer said. “I wish we could have won a national championship, but we let two (games) slip away. But, this is definitely the next best thing, beating a top 10 team in the Georgia Dome on New Year’s Eve.

“It was awesome.”