Sweatsuit wearing Mike Reed is in Clemson to 'finish the job'

Mike Reed's sweatsuit is a part of his mindset in season prep.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Aug 23 12:40:05 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON – Mike Reed is in Clemson to finish the job, and if he has to do it wearing a sweatsuit to practice every day, then that’s what he will do.

Reed wears a couple of different hats within the coaching staff – he’s the cornerbacks coach, the special teams coordinator, and assistant head coach.

In nine years on staff, Reed has helped the Tigers to a 110-15 record and four national championship game appearances, including national titles in 2016 and 2018. Reed guided starting cornerbacks Andrew Booth Jr. and Mario Goodrich to first-team All-ACC honors in 2021, becoming the first pair of cornerbacks from a single school to sweep first-team honors since North Carolina’s Dre Bly and Robert Williams in 1997.

Reed is full of energy at practice, moving from drill to drill and station to station with the speed of a much younger man (he turned 50 last week), and he’s recognizable for the heavy gray hooded sweatshirt and heavy gray sweatpants he wears. Even on the hottest days.

“It's not really hot, it kind of protects me from the sun, the sun doesn't hit me,” Reed said last week. “So you get kind of used to it, it's a mindset. If the players can put on a helmet and run around surely the coaches can put on a sweatshirt and do it."

Reed was promoted to assistant head coach last December, and we asked him what those duties entail.

“Anything coach Swinney doesn't want to do, I do. But it really hasn't changed my mindset because for me I'm that personable guy that's supposed to speak to everybody,” Reed said. “I told the kids in the meeting today that Collin Sadler was walking next to me - he's a young freshman and doesn't smile a lot. He’s one of those old school throwback offensive lineman so I told him before we got to the practice field I was going to make him laugh- two minutes later he was laughing. If you don’t love the people, this is not a job for you.”

Reed has had opportunities to leave Clemson and take jobs elsewhere, but that isn’t his style. He wants to be in Clemson until the job is finished.

“When you're around good people, you don't want to just go somewhere. I'm not one of those guys that wants to go to the unknown,” Reed said. “My family loves it here, and I made relationships with guys and I can't leave them. You recruit a kid, you make a relationship with the parents and the family. I can't just say I'm leaving for something else, I want to finish the job. And if it means I'm here the rest of my career, I'm here the rest of my career. It's a great place to be.”

What does it mean to “finish the job?”

“I don't base it on winning a championship. For me, it's about these young men,” Reed said. “The reason why I got into this game is to one help them be successful. So that job will really never end, so I don't know what that means.”

Other notes

On freshman corners Toriano Pride and Jeadyn Lukus

“Well, in recruiting, I'm one of those guys, I don’t want want to feel like I wasted time going and recruiting somebody. So, if I recruit you, I want to play you. Heck, I may die tomorrow. I wanna say, hey, I saw you play. That's with any kid I'm recruiting. I'm recruiting you for a purpose. I want to see you play, the schools investing in you. So let's go make something happen. Let's play.”

More on Pride’s improvement

“There are certain things you can do in high school and get away with. At this level, you cannot. Everything matters. In high school, you may take a shortcut to something. This level you can't. Especially with the guys we go against every day. He's got to be very precise as a corner anywhere. One wrong move may not be a short play there could be a big play, could be a touchdown. So, just trying to coach him up and be technically sound. So, at the end of the day, he can rely on technique rather than guessing anything of that nature.”

On Fred Davis

“One, he's a corner, so I'm the biggest cheerleader. So, when I see kids make those strides, that's what you love to see. Sometimes, you want it to happen earlier. But hey, God's got his plan for everything, and he's stuck to it. Where a lot of kids would have transferred or run from it, he stuck in there, and he's learned his lesson and grown. His work ethic is more refined. He's taking a lot of accountability on some things, and he's starting to put himself in a leadership role, where he's trying to hold other guys accountable.”

On Nate Wiggins

“I mean, Nate is doing a good job, but all the rest of them are doing a good job. I want a very good group, I don't want to have just one guy. I want to be able to get in a situation where I throw anybody out there, and there's no drop-off. Nate's having a good camp but gotta make sure they're all sitting in an uncomfortable state. I don't want them to feel like they've arrived.”

On Sheridan Jones

“He's my leader. He's in a great place. I love where he's at, you know. He recently graduated, and like I said, that's the ultimate goal -- is to graduate. He's got something in his pocket, so now he can go out there and play."

On Malcolm Greene being healthy

“He is like a spark plug. He's like the energizer bunny. If he doesn't bring that juice, I'm gonna find him. That's one thing he does, and I love him. You guys saw me on signing day. I cried about him because he's a very emotional kid. He plays passionately. He's a loving guy. He's a great young man. Everything you ask him, he does. He is the epitome of a Clemson player, and I'm one of his biggest cheerleaders.”