USF Athletics

Hard-Hitting McGee Motivated to Succeed at Linebacker and in Life

August 10, 2018

By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, AUG. 10, 2018 – Years after losing his father and making it out of the mean streets of Miami's Liberty City, super-athletic Khalid McGee is becoming a force for the USF defense. 

Already known as one of the hardest hitters on the team, McGee continues to take successful steps in his transition from safety to linebacker that began late last season. So far this fall, the senior is showing a great understanding of his new, full-time position and his physical ability is showing up all over the field.

The former Miami Northwestern High School track star opened eyes at camp last Sunday by sprinting out wide to cover a receiver. Amazingly enough, he did just that, staying stride for stride with the potential pass-catcher nearly 30 yards downfield.

"His athleticism really sticks out as far as chasing the ball as a run-and-hit linebacker," defensive coordinator Brian Jean-Mary said. "He's a work in progress every day, but he's got a chance to be the focal point of what we do on defense because of his athleticism at that position."

Up nearly 20 pounds to 213 this fall, McGee earned the top weakside linebacker spot on the post-spring depth chart and he's staying poised for a big season at the position.

"It's motivation every time I think about it," he said. "I want to make my family happy, my friends happy and the place I come from happy."

Like record-breaking former USF quarterback Quinton Flowers, McGee comes from Liberty City, a neighborhood in Miami where happiness isn't very easy to find. McGee could attest to that early in life when his father, Kevin, was taken from him.

"My dad passed away when I was 5 years old," McGee said. "My dad passed away to gang violence."

Fortunately for McGee, he had other loved ones who tried to make sure he didn't follow in his father's footsteps during his younger years. Angela, McGee's "hard-working" mother, was a police dispatcher for the city of Miami who always kept her children's safety as a top priority. Angela now works in Georgia and still calls McGee often to check on him.

"She used to always work overtime. It used to be my brother and I a lot," McGee said. "She never wanted us in the house by ourselves, so we used to always go to our aunt's house. My aunt, she still stays on me to this day."

So does McGee's older brother, Khambrel, a 25-year-old former defensive back at FIU and Hampton (Va.) University who now works for Miami's parks and recreation department.

"He was a father figure in my life," 20-year-old McGee said. "He taught me everything I know."

Although they provided support, Angela and Khambrel couldn't fully shield McGee from what surrounded them in the Liberty City area when he was a kid.

"I'm not perfect. I was a little troubled child growing up. That's what made (my mom) stay on me so much," McGee said. "Down there, it's so easy to get in trouble. The area I was in, you're easily influenced to just do bad things."

McGee put his childhood troubles in the rearview mirror pretty early on at Miami Northwestern High School. Not proud of his below-average grades as a freshman, the talented defensive back became a rising student-athlete on varsity by sophomore year, when he started to really focus on life after Liberty City.

"That's when the light bulb cut on," he said. "I had to get right."

USF and Life After Football
Since earning all-state honors at Miami Northwestern, McGee has remained on the right path at USF, seeing action in 36 games the past three seasons while majoring in criminology.

Like his favorite player Deion Sanders, McGee wants to have a career in pro football but eventually wants to continue a family tradition of working in public safety.

"I always wanted to be a firefighter, like my uncle," he said. "He's a lieutenant in Hialeah. I think firefighters are heroes."

But before he protects a community, McGee wants to prove he can thrive in a big-boy position like linebacker and see where it takes him. His teammates definitely like his progress, even the ones trying to block him in fall camp.

"Lid is always flying up to the ball," starting left tackle Eric Mayes said. "He makes everybody else better around him on the defensive side. We've got no choice but to step up as leaders and make our offense go as they go."

McGee credits his growing success at linebacker to spending the summer in the film room on top of his tireless work in the gym that has him near his season playing weight goal of 215 pounds.

"(Coach Jean-Mary) is just so impressed with how much I know the defense from last year. Last year, I was just being a football player – see ball, get ball," McGee said. "Now I really know the defense. I know every check that we have. He was very impressed with how much better I got."

McGee's mindset makes it easy to root for a guy who wants to make his biggest supporters happy in 2018 and years to come.

"You have to love the preparation, not just the games," he said. "You have to be a humble person with great character. 2018 is my year."

More McGee Notables

• PLAYING LIKE PRIME: Still wearing No. 21 in honor of his football hero, McGee actually got to meet Deion Sanders entering the 12^th grade when he attended the Prime Camp in Dallas. McGee still has a big poster of Sanders in his room and models his game after the Pro Football Hall of Famer. "Prime, he doesn't back down from anything," McGee said. "Prime, he talked trash and he just played hard."
• BULKING UP: McGee has gained nearly 20 pounds since playing at 195 last season thanks in part to USF head strength and conditioning coach Pat Moorer's guidance. "They put me on a weight meal plan. I stuck to it the whole summer and I gained weight," said McGee, who eats a ton of potatoes, corn and rice these days.
• FORMER TRACK STAR: McGee still remembers running the 100-meter dash in 10.8 seconds at Miami Northwestern High School. McGee also ran the third leg on a 4x100 relay state title team that also included Simino Walden (Marshall receiver), DeAndre Baker (Georgia defensive back) and Antonio Howard (Texas A&M defensive back).
• LID LOVES THE OUTDOORS: McGee's favorite thing to do outside of football growing up was getting outdoors for family activities. "I used to always fish with my grandad, Frank," he said. "My cousin and I used to always go fishing with him. He's let us go on the jet skis."

 
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USF posted its second straight 10-win season in 2017 (10-2) by winning its second straight Birmingham Bowl with a 38-34 victory over Texas Tech. USF is one of just 15 teams nationally to win 20-plus games in the last two seasons (21-4) and posted a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the top 25, reaching as high as No. 13 in Week 8 of the 2017 season. The Bulls have won five of their last six bowl appearances and made nine (6-3) total bowl appearances in 21 seasons, including a current run of three straight bowls. USF won a program-record 11 games in 2016 (11-2) and has posted 14 winning seasons. The USF program, which first took the field in 1997, reached No. 2 in the rankings in 2007 and has seen 30 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and had 28 first-team all-conference selections.
 
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