Why Clemson assistants Nick Eason, Mike Reed received raises

Clemson football assistant coaches received new contracts last week, with all nine coaches retained from the 2022 season having an extra year added to their deals.

Of the nine — two also received raises in defensive tackles coach Nick Eason and cornerbacks coach Mike Reed.

Eason and Reed each received a $50,000 pay bump and now both make $800,000 per year. They are also both on three-year contracts. You can view the new contracts for all 10 Clemson assistant coaches here.

After the Clemson Board of Trustees approved the new contracts on Friday, we spoke with Athletics Director Graham Neff about why Reed and Eason received raises, while other Clemson assistant coaches did not.

Neff said that the two are coaches who other schools have tried to hire away, but there were other factors, as well.

“You get the performance and just the development on the field with their position groups,” Neff said. “Sure, the recruiting aspect. I know there’s a lot of momentum with that within the program and let alone how Nick and Mike do that.”

Clemson signed the No. 10 class in the country for 2023, according to the On3 Consensus rankings, and Eason and Reed played a big part in that.

The Tigers signed arguably the top defensive line class in the country, led by five-star recruit Peter Woods. Eason was the primary recruiter for Woods and the majority of those defensive linemen.

Reed has established himself as one of the best cornerback recruiters in the country, serving as the lead recruiter for multiple four-star prospects in the class of 2023, as well as multiple highly-rated recruits in 2022 and other previous years.

Eason and Reed having players at their position group return for another season also factored into the raises, according to Neff.

There were seven Clemson players who could have turned pro and who Dabo Swinney expected to turn pro after the 2022 season that came back for another year, instead.

The group included defensive tackles Tyler Davis and Ruke Orhorhoro and cornerback Sheridan Jones — players who will work directly with Eason and Reed.

Defensive end Xavier Thomas and safety Jalyn Phillips are also coming back, and they will work with Eason and Reed some, too.

“And then you get to the retention, right? And a lot of the seniors and super seniors that came back — Eason and Reed are a big part of why they came back for development and another year of experience with them,” Neff said.

“So if you think through the guys that came back between Ruke and Tyler, Xavier Thomas, their time with Lemanski [Hall] and Eason a big part of that. And then Sheridan and Jalyn with Reed, a big part of that, as well.”