Ex-Ravens Star Ed Reed Names Bethune-Cookman’s New Football Manager – Yahoo Sports – S Chronicles

Ed Reed is set to be Bethune-Cookman’s new football coach.

HBCU said Tuesday that it had approved in principle for the Pro Football Hall of Famer to adopt the program. A Florida native, Reed is currently Chief of Staff in Miami, where he starred from 1998-2001.

Reed, 44, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019, his first year of election. He had a glittering pro career, spending all but one of his 12 NFL seasons with the Baltimore Ravens.

Reed went on to become the league’s top safety during his time with the Ravens and redefined what ballhawking safety was in modern football. He led the league in interceptions three times and recorded 64 picks in 174 career games. Reed also returned seven of those interceptions for touchdowns, including multiple pick-sixes from 100+ yards.

Reed got into coaching in 2016 when he was the defensive backs coach for the Buffalo Bills. He was hired as an advisor by former Miami coach Manny Diaz in 2020 and remained in his role as chief of staff after the school hired Mario Cristobal ahead of the 2022 season.

The FCS school’s hiring of Reed follows the plan laid out by Jackson State when hiring Deion Sanders. While hiring Sanders at JSU was initially met with some skepticism, it turned out to be a great move for both the school and Sanders. Jackson State’s profile rose significantly and it became a force on the recruiting path — it landed top recruit of 2021, Travis Hunter — and that success produced results on the field. Jackson State had an unbeaten regular season in 2022 and Sanders is now the new coach at Colorado.

Similar to Sanders in Jackson State, Reed will be tackling a major rebuilding project at fellow SWAC Bethune-Cookman. The Wildcats went 2-9 in 2022 and their only wins came over Grambling State and Mississippi Valley State — teams that combined for five wins. Sander’s Jackson State program defeated Bethune-Cookman 48-8 and Miami opened its season with an easy 70-13 win over the Wildcats in a buying game designed in part to subsidize the Wildcats’ sports budget.

Miami legend Ed Reed joins Bethune Cookman as new coach (Photo by Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)