Hall of Famer Ed Reed heads to Florida HBCU
Fred Jeter | 1/5/2023, 6 p.m.
The HBCU trend toward hiring celebrity football coaches continues.
NFL Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed is the new head coach at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Coach Reed, 44, was a five-time All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowl selection with Baltimore, helping the Ravens to the Super Bowl crown in 2013.
The University of Miami alumnus had 64 career NFL interceptions that he returned for a league record 1,590 yards. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.
At B-C, Coach Reed replaces Terry Sims, who was 2-9 this past season and 38-39 overall. In 2021, B-C moved from the MEAC to the SWAC.
Coach Reed’s previous coaching experience included one season as an assistant with the NFL Buffalo Bills and one season as an assistant with his alma mater, Miami.
Most recently he was the Hurricane’s chief of staff, an administrative position.
Coach Reed isn’t alone as a former NFL star now employed by an HBCU. Eddie George, a former Heisman Trophy winner and long-time NFL running back, is entering his third season at Tennessee State.
NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders served as Jackson State’s coach the past three years before moving on to Colorado.
Turning back the clock, Virginia Union’s head coach in 1994 was former NFL All-Pro wide receiver Harold Jackson.
