By Hale McGranahan.

Before going on to star in the NFL for 16 seasons, Brian Dawkins was an All-American free safety at Clemson.

Since retiring in 2011, Dawkins has kept himself around the game as an analyst for ESPN. He also works as an assistant coach at Valor Christian in Colorado, where his son Brian Jr. is a rising senior defensive back.

Junior and Senior Dawkins were in Clemson earlier this summer for the second session of the Dabo Swinney Football Camp. Before heading back home to Colorado, the younger Dawkins received his Clemson offer.

“I was about to go on a flight. I had to leave early, because I had a football practice the next day. Before I left, coach Swinney told me the good news that they were going to offer me and told me to take my time,” he told TheClemsonInsider.com, during a recent interview.

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“The opportunity to be there, if I ever chose to go there — it caught me by surprise basically.”

It was offer No. 1 for the 5-9, 158-pound defensive back.

“Other schools told me that they’re going to wait until the season. They want to see me personally. They want to see my full talent,” Dawkins said.

Washington State, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Colorado State and Wyoming are among the other schools that have expressed interest, but Clemson remains his only offer.

Dawkins went into further detail about his most recent time in Clemson.

“It was a really great experience, to really engage with the coaches, especially with DB coach there, who I was already familiar with, and get a feel for some of the drills they do,” he said.

Because of his father’s connection to the school, Dawkins has been on the Clemson campus several times over the years.

“It’s very nice,” he said. “It’s one of those college football towns and I like that. You can tell the fans there are really passionate about their sports teams.”

As a junior, Dawkins had 40 tackles and six interceptions.