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Mark Stoops wants to add Ed Reed to Kentucky coaching staff

By Brad Berreman

LEXINGTON, KY - SEPTEMBER 30: Head coach Mark Stoops of the Kentucky Wildcats is seen before the game against the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Commonwealth Stadium on September 30, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
LEXINGTON, KY - SEPTEMBER 30: Head coach Mark Stoops of the Kentucky Wildcats is seen before the game against the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Commonwealth Stadium on September 30, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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Notable names are beginning to populate coaching staffs in college football, and if Mark Stoops has his way Ed Reed will be coming to Kentucky.

Arizona State went with a big name to replace Todd Graham as head coach, hiring Herm Edwards despite his being out of coaching for nearly a decade. This week rumors of Deion Sanders joining Willie Taggart’s staff at Florida State surfaced, which “Prime Time” didn’t exactly deny.

Now Mark Stoops, whose Kentucky team will look to finish the season on a high note with a win over Northwestern in the Music City Bowl on Friday, wants to add a notable name to his own coaching staff.

Stoops told Kentucky Sports Radio he’d like to bring Ed Reed onto his coaching staff. Programs will be able to hire a 10th on-field assistant coach after the conclusion of this season, so that’s where Reed would presumably fit. Reed was recently in town for a Kentucky basketball game, and that has apparently rekindled things on a coaching hire front for Stoops.

Stoops wanted to hire Reed as a defensive backs coach in 2016, but he took a job under Rex Ryan with the Buffalo Bills instead. That was just a one-year stint with Ryan’s firing, and Reed also professed his interest in the head coaching job at Miami (his alma mater) before Mark Richt was hired.

Stoops’ relationship with Reed dates back to 2001, when he was defensive backs coach at Miami and Reed was an All-American safety along with being named Co-Big East Defensive Player of the Year. Reed then went on to have a long, Hall of Fame-caliber NFL career, with nine Pro Bowl selections and a Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2004.

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Unlike Sanders, Reed has a little experience coaching at a level above high school. Kentucky’s pass defense fell off substantially this year, from 35th in the country (206.1 yards per game) in 2016 to 113th in the country (263.5 yards per game) entering bowl time. Reed can surely help bring the secondary’s level of play back up if he is brought in.

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