Reed sees benefits of boost to Clemson coaching staff

Mike Reed feels like Clemson is seeing the benefits of more special teams coaches.

Ariana Pensy - Correspondent - Thursday, September 12 2024

CLEMSON - Mike Reed does it all as a coach for the Clemson Tigers.

He is an assistant head coach, special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach. This season, the Tigers brought in some help for Reed in his duties on special teams.

Former NFL punter Ryan Allen is part of those additions.

“This guy has done it and has done it on every level and had success. He probably (has) more credibility coaching punters than I would,” Reed said. “They probably look at me like (a) unicorn, (like I got) a horn on my head. But this guy brings that credibility with him and it’s great to have him in the room because now those guys can have a specialty coach to go to that can tell them all the intricacies of punting the ball or kicking the ball.”

During his playing days, Reed was a cornerback. He was with Boston College from 1991 to 1994, where he recorded six interceptions, including a pick-six. In 1995, he was selected in the seventh round by the Carolina Panthers. His coaching journey with the Tigers began in 2013 when he became the cornerbacks coach, working with NFL players like the Atlanta Falcons’ A.J. Terrell and the Baltimore Ravens’ Nate Wiggins.

Allen was an All-American punter for Louisiana Tech from 2010 to 2012. In his final season in college football, he led the NCAA in punting yards per punt with 48 yards. While he did not get drafted coming out of college, Allen landed on the roster for the New England Patriots from 2013 to 2018 and would win three Super Bowls during that time. He finished his career playing for the Indianapolis Colts in 2020. Now serving in his first year as a coach for Clemson, his presence already seems to benefit graduate punter Aidan Swanson, who is currently averaging 44.5 yards per punt, the highest average of his career.

Another change to the special teams coaching staff was Will Gilchrist's promotion from a player development assistant to the Director of Special Teams. Reed says Gilchrist helps the coaching staff in this new capacity by providing another set of eyes.

“He was on the staff last year, but there was only a certain amount of things that he could do. Now, he’s actually out there. He can help us coach. So, it gives us another set of eyes. So, now our kids are constantly getting coached,” Reed said. “As we say now, the player to coach ratio is one-to-one. So, there’s somebody that’s coaching that kid every play, every snap whereas in the previous years, you may miss a guy because you’re looking at somebody else too. Well now, everyone has a specific coach coaching them on every play. So, it allows them (to) get direct feedback right now.”

Gilchrist also brings a lot of coaching experience with him. While he was a highly-recruited quarterback prospect in high school, he switched to wide receiver in 2012 while playing at Memphis. During his collegiate career, Gilchrist also played seven games on special teams. In 2014, he started coaching with Hardin County High School in Tennessee as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

His coaching experience with special teams started at South Florida where he was the special teams analyst in 2020. Now going into his second season with the Tigers, his familiarity with the players and football knowledge should prove beneficial for Clemson throughout this season.