Why return of Ed Reed, if only symbolically, leads surge by Miami Hurricanes football | Opinion
You see a little gray in Ed Reed’s full-but-neatly-trimmed beard now. His age has doubled since he was last an active part of Miami Hurricanes football as a player from 1998 to 2001. His new title now? “Chief of Staff”? It sounds grandly inflated, like he will be in a suit overseeing board meetings.
“I’m not hiring, I’m not firing. I’m coming here to help. I’m a piece of the puzzle,” Reed, now 41, described his own role Wednesday in being officially introduced on campus.
He will not be a coach on the field. He will not recruit except when prospects visit on campus. He will be more of an advisor/sounding board and right-hand man to coach Manny Diaz.
“I’m [his] Doc Holliday,” he said, of the Old West sidekick to Wyatt Earp. “I’ll be his huckleberry,” Reed added, citing southern slang for “I’m your man.”
More than as a counsel to Diaz, though, Reed is on board to be this:
An Example.
Reed was hired to be a mentor to players, to show them the right way. “Stand up. Be accountable,” he said.
He was a consensus All-American safety at UM. He was a vital part of the school’s last of five national championships, in 2001. He is the imprimatur of all The U has developed in terms of family and culture.
“Man, what a journey. Glad back to help the university get back to where our standards are here in Miami,” he said. “I’m always orange and green, man. It’s in my heart. It’s in my blood.”
There were a lot of reasons for Canes fans to love Wednesday, but none greater — at least symbolically, emotionally — than Reed rejoining the program.
The mood in Canesville could not have been much worse as 2019 ended, after the ignominy of a loss to crosstown lil’ brother FIU and then the utter embarrassment of a shutout loss to Louisiana Tech in a third-tier bowl to finish 6-7. Oh the indignity! It felt very much like a five-time national champion program had hit a new low.
The climb back up so far in 2020 — the comeback — has been impressive. Diaz is up off the mat and swinging. And hitting.
In Reed there is now a tangible, physical link from the glory days to now — Ed Reed, whose very name makes fans swoon, no matter that his won’t be a full-time, everyday presence around the team.
Diaz also signed a name offensive coordinator in Rhett Lashlee from SMU, who is experienced the uptempo spread offense Miami is converting to.
He welcomed quarterback D’Eriq King, former Houston starter who was outstanding in 2018, stepping out of the transfer portal and into Coral Gables as the (all but) certain starter.
He also welcomed as transfers pass rusher Quincy Roche, who had 13 sacks for Temple last season. and kicker Jose Borregales, a steal from FIU, to fill two positions of big need.
And on Wednesday, what’s left of National Signing Day, there was more positive recruiting news for UM even though most of the incoming class early signed in December. Miami’s signing day added elite safety Avantae Williams, a surprise get that Diaz called “a massive exclamation point” to his 2020 haul.
Despite tough years including last season, “The U brand is very strong,” Diaz said.
Bearing in mind public optimism is in the DNA of every coach who ever drew breath, Diaz said his Canes are a “much, much better outfit right now” than when last season ended.
But he also admits, “Now again, that’s just words, and we have to prove it, and we’re a long way from that” — a rare fundamental truth that cuts through everything else.
There is a deja vu quality around the refurbished optimism. Go back just one year.
Miami also had an exciting new offensive coordinator, except it was Dan Enos from Alabama, not Lashlee. Enos failed miserably.
The Canes welcomed an exciting new QB from the transfer portal, but it was Tate Martell from Ohio State, not King. Martell stalled low on the depth chart.
Reed is new. But will his presence prove more than symbolic?
UM football, two decades removed from its last national crown, has made a habit of relying on The Family, the past, to help revive the program. There was Randy Shannon as coach, the ex-Canes player. There was Mark Richt, also a former Canes player. There is Diaz, a former UM defensive coordinator. And now Reed, one of the best and most decorated Canes of all — imprimatur of the Glory Days.
Bringing in familiar names tends to be popular with a fan base in love with its memories. There is a mollifying quality. But it doesn’t mean they are the right moves by athletic boss Blake James, until they prove to be.
Maybe Diaz, now with Reed’s counsel, will flourish after his 2019 stumble and revive The U to full powers, but meantime his own truth overrides everything:
“That’s just words, and we have to prove it, and we’re a long way from that.”
The next step forward is the Feb. 29 start of spring practice.
The optimism might be fragile, but it is founded.
A solid recruiting class that got better Wednesday. A new offensive coordinator tailored to a dynamic new attack. A new quarterback that only two seasons ago threw 36 touchdown passes and scored 14 by running at the major-college level.
And Ed Reed, back to remind everybody what great looks like, and what this program used to be.
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 5:06 PM.
