The NFL draft is a flurry of emotions and Clemson cornerbacks coach Mike Reed is well aware of all that goes into it. During his playing career, he spent four years playing football at Boston College and competed on three bowl teams.

After his senior season, he entered the 1995 NFL draft, which was the expansion year for the Carolina Panthers. As the days went along, Reed hadn’t heard his name called until the very last pick to the Panthers. That year, Reed became Mr. Irrelevant.

“There’s two emotions. There’s the emotion of not knowing and being very mad. I tell people that the draft can be very cruel,” Reed said. “You go from getting phone calls saying you’re gonna be a third-round draft pick to teams actually calling you 10 minutes before the pick saying we’re getting ready to pick you and you look on the TV screen and somebody else’s name goes across.”

The emotions were heavy. Reed had turned off the lights, turned the TV off and he received the call from then-Carolina owner Jerry Richardson, asking what airport he was flying out of and that he would be taken as Mr. Irrelevant. That was a term that was alien to Reed and it ended up becoming a part of him for the rest of his career.

”I had no clue what Mr. Irrelevant was because one, I didn’t watch the draft so I didn’t have the prelude of Mr. Irrelevant and didn’t see it so I was upset,” Reed said. “After a while, when people started educating me on what Mr. Irrelevant was, I was excited because, one, I got a signing bonus that was more than the fifth-round draft pick. I went to California and I was in the parade with Mickey and Minnie and I felt like a first-round draft choice.”

At this state in his career, Reed has seen many talents go through the Clemson football program and the experience he has going through the draft process helps him lead these young men through the emotions of it all. The conflicting feelings Reed felt are something that he’s called back on. Names like AJ Terrell, Mackenzie Alexander, Andrew Booth Jr. and more received this wisdom, and Reed helps prepare them for the moment.

”Your worth is going to be attracted by the things you do on the field or things that you don’t do on the field or the things you do off the field,” Reed said. “Do all that you can and make sure everything that you put out there is positive.”