Clemson’s cornerback group added a couple of much-needed reinforcements late last month when Kyler McMichael and Mario Goodrich arrived to campus. The pair of freshmen have a chance to contribute early for the Tigers, who are thin in terms of depth at the cornerback position.

According to cornerbacks coach Mike Reed, the early returns on McMichael and Goodrich have been good so far.

“Early impressions are explosiveness, strong, college-ready in Kyler McMichael,” Reed told TCI on Tuesday at Dabo Swinney’s media golf outing. “Guys that are watching a lot of film, studying and getting ready for the season. So, it’s been good. Everything’s been good so far. We’ll see when we put those pads on.”

Both Goodrich (6-2, 188) and McMichael (6-1, 185) come into Clemson ready to play from a physical standpoint. But it remains to be seen how they will handle the mental part of the game in fall camp, coming from high school to college.

“We’ll see,” Reed said. “You can’t really tell as far as the mentality of a player until you put those pads on. Until you get to that first scrimmage and they’re hitting somebody… Everybody looks good running around in shorts and shoulder pads and helmets. But when you start tackling, that’s when you see who’s the man and who’s the boy.”

Goodrich was ranked as a top-100 prospect in the 2018 recruiting class by Rivals. In his high school career, he recorded 11 interceptions, five of which he returned for touchdowns, along with 35 passes defensed, 140 total tackles and 13 tackles for loss.

McMichael, meanwhile, was considered a national top-100 prospect by all three major recruiting services and played in the U.S. Army All-American Game.

“You’ve got Kyler who is very dynamic, very explosive, very physical, who is college-ready body wise,” Reed said. “And then you look at Mario, you look at a kid that can make plays. Huge athleticism, great feet, long and also a physical kid. So, it’s going to be quite interesting to see them go to work.”

The duo joins Trayvon Mullen, A.J. Terrell, Mark Fields, LeAnthony Williams and Brian Dawkins Jr. in Clemson’s cornerback room.

The Tigers need McMichael and Goodrich to help provide quality depth as true freshmen, and Reed hopes to help make that happen.

“My expectations are to get them ready to play,” Reed said. “I don’t want them to sit on the bench. I want to see them play. So, my thing is I’ve got to get them ready to play.”

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