Andrew Mukuba has been a jack of all trades on the back end of Clemson’s defense the last two seasons, but that’s going to change a bit next season.

Mukuba may still move around some, but Clemson doesn’t plan to play him at corner going forward, safeties coach Mickey Conn said Friday. That will allow the rising junior to focus the majority of his reps at strong safety, where he’s been starting for the Tigers since his freshman season.

“We want to put him in a spot, at the strong safety or the nickel, and let him play,” Conn said. “He’s a talented player.”

Mukuba has gotten 20 of his 21 career starts at safety but has cross-trained at both corner spots in the past. When injuries piled up on the outside early last season, the 6-foot, 190-pounder moved over to get a spot start at corner against NC State.

Mukuba didn’t make it until halftime of that game after getting ejected early for targeting, and injuries also piled up as part of a trying season in which his performance suffered. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said earlier in the spring that he felt like Mukuba took a step back in his development last season, and Conn indicated that struggles in coverage played a part in the decision to keep Mukuba exclusively at safety moving forward.

Conn added that he has seen a healthy Mukuba make strides this spring in that facet of his game, though.

“We’ve all got to remember he was still a young player last year and still learning with technique and that sort of thing,” Conn said. “I’ve really seen improvement this spring in his man technique and just his footwork. He’s a lot more fluid and fast.

“I think he lacked a little bit of confidence last year. He had a disclosed elbow and a hurt ankle and knee and just some things where it’s hard to play when you’re not at that kind of speed and skill that he plays with.”

More quality depth at corner, Conn said, also has the Tigers feeling like they don’t have the same need for Mukuba at the position that they did last season.

“We’ve got some guys at corner there that are stepping up and doing a really good job,” he said. “You saw the way Nate (Wiggins) finished the year last year. Toriano (Pride Jr.) is really coming on and some of those other guys at that position. We just have a little more depth there and more experience, so we feel like we can really let Andrew play what he came here to play and play at a high level. And he’s going to do that.”

Mukuba is part of a secondary that’s returning every starter from last season. A freshman All-American in 2021, Mukuba has 104 tackles, 13 pass breakups and interception in 25 career games.

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