The Ed Reed era ended before it began. Bethune-Cookman decided not to hire Reed as their next head coach and really, who can blame them?
Reed, who worked with his alma mater Miami before he got the job, was ticked off about how things were on the Bethune-Cookman campus.
He dragged the school on a podcast which didn’t sit well with the administration. He talked about having to pick up trash and how his office wasn’t even prepared before arrived.
“Do something about it, man,” he exclaimed. “Come help us clean this s–t up! … I should leave. I’m not even under contract.”
He got his wish as the school didn’t approve his contract. But Reed’s frustration just highlights the issues with a lot of HBCUs – a lot of these schools just don’t have the money that big-name coaches or players may expect.
I don’t know what Reed expected when he walked through the door. but a lot of these schools don’t have the money or the facilities to attract big-name coaches or players.
Deion Sanders was the exception to the rule. According to reports, he is worth $40 million but I would dare say most of the things Jackson State has now, are probably because Sanders bought them with his own money.
Reed is like a guy who goes on “Married at First Sight”. He agrees to walk down the aisle before seeing what his new bride looks like and then gets mad when he finds out she’s not his type.
It’s amazing to see how many people are unaware of how bad things are at a lot of HBCUs. Why do you think they play bigger DI schools in football knowing they’d get destroyed? Because they need the money. There are several horror stories of several HBCUs not being able to feed players if they go on the road or the facilities not being up to par with their DI counterparts.
Not saying Bethune-Cookman isn’t in the wrong here because, to a certain extent, they are. If they want to attract the right coach for that job, they need to act as if they care.
The problems at HBCUs go beyond Ed Reed and Bethum-Cookman. It’s going to take deep pockets and a caring heart to resolve most of these issues. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of that right now.
About Stacey Mickles
Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.