When he served as defensive coordinator for the Penn State Nittany Lions, Tom Allen used the term “Lion” for the position in his defense that included the responsibilities of a safety, nickel corner and outside linebacker. That hybrid position was also known as the “Husky” when Allen coached at Indiana.

So now that Allen is Clemson’s defensive coordinator, what will he call that position in the Tigers’ defense?

The name should come as no surprise.

“It’s the ‘Tiger,’” Allen said Wednesday when he met with the media.

Clemson has multiple candidates to fill that “Tiger” (nickel) position, including rising juniors Shelton Lewis and Khalil Barnes, as well as Misun “Tink” Kelley – the talented redshirt sophomore wide receiver/defensive back who will spend the majority of spring practice working on the defensive side of the ball.

“Yeah, we’ve got several guys,” Allen said. “Shelton Lewis is a guy that’s been there as well. Tink is a guy who had been on offense and now he’s on defense. He plays both sides actually, goes on both sides during our team periods. He’s got some good reps there. Khalil Barnes is another one that’s going to play some there. He’s not played there yet, but he’s played there in the past. He’s a guy that’s going to get some reps there as well.”

Whoever mans the “Tiger” position for the Tigers will be playing a crucial role in Allen’s defense.

“It’s an important position for us in our defense,” Allen explained. “It’s the nickel position. When we get into third downs, we call it the ‘Star.’ But on base downs, it’s the ‘Tiger’ position. We’ve had different names for it in other places, but it allows us to be able to do a lot of things schematically that are really critical to our system, and we’ve got several guys that are vying for playing time there.”