When Mike Reed hits the road in search of secondary prospects, he looks for a variety of players.

The baseline for cornerback is cut and dry.

“You look for athleticism, quick feet, quickness and can he act in competition? Does he want to be

the best? Is he competing every day? Never taking plays off — that’s what you look for,” Reed said. “Then, from that, I can coach. That’s what they pay me to do.

“But I like to see a kid who’s got some athleticism, who’s not scared to fight. That type of thing. When you see it, you’ll know it.”

There are two types of cornerbacks. Boundary cornerbacks line up on the short-side of the field. Field cornerbacks play on the wide-side.

“You’ve got to understand the semantics of college football are a little different than the pros, because of the hash-marks,” Reed said. “The hash-marks are wider, so now you have a kid, when you talk about a hash-mark, you talk about 12-15 yards from the sideline. That’s where they run the football. That’s where, probably, your bigger, taller, stronger receivers are.

“You don’t want to put a kid over there who’s 5-8, 160 pounds. He ain’t going to hold up. Case in point, you look at Todd Gurley. Most of his runs go to the boundary side of the field. You talk about physics. I ain’t a smart guy. I’m not mathematician. But 5-8, 160 pounds going up against a

kid who’s 230, 240.”

Reed added, “What you do is try to get a guy who’s bigger, a guy to the boundary who can support in the run, can blitz and also can cover those 6-4 receivers. So he’s got to have a lot on his plate. Usually, those guys are anywhere from 5-11 (or) taller, maybe 195-200 pounds. Speed, you’ve got to be just as fast as those X-receivers.

“The field guy is usually a guy that can cover a lot more space. He’s probably faster, better

footwork, quick feet, more explosive, a kid that has the ability to where, OK, he can go over here and cover half that field and not worry about it.”

At Clemson, the safety positions are interchangeable.

“And that’s how you want it,” Reed said. “I don’t have a picture-perfect — he’s got to be tough. He’s got to be tough. He’s got to be able to run. He’s got to have good ball skills. And you’ve got to be able to tackle. That’s cut and dry. That’s top, and I’ll base everything off that.”

The nickel position is a hybrid.

“You’re not really a linebacker. You’re not really a safety. You’re not really a corner,” Reed said. “He’s kind of all three mixed into one guy. Then, he’s got to have the capability, mentally, to know the run fits, know the pass responsibilities.”

It’s a position Clemson evaluates and recruits to. It’s a necessity in today’s game.

“You have to, because the game is more spread-open, wide-open,” Reed said. “You’re seeing three and four receivers on the field and a lot of times you don’t want to put a true linebacker there, because he’s not going to be able to cover the slot. You’re not going to want to put a true safety in there, because now they’re going to be able to run the football.”