Ed Reed Speaks Out After Being Relieved Of His Duties As Head Coach At Bethune-Cookman, Claims He Turned Down Jackson State Offer From Deion Sanders For The Position

Ed Reed, Deion Sanders

Ed Reed Speaks Out After Being Relieved Of His Duties As Head Coach At Bethune-Cookman, Claims He Turned Down Jackson State Offer From Deion Sanders For The Position

Ed Reed is frustrated following his terminated partnership with Bethune-Cookman University.

In a recent virtual interview with Roland Martin, Bethune-Cookman’s former head football coach Ed Reed, alongside his representative, revealed the opportunities the Pro Football Hall of Famer passed on in order to take the short-lived position at the Florida-based institution. 

 Ed Reed’s representative said:

“We’ve been in contact with other head coaches from HBCU’s –”

Ed Reed then interrupted and revealed:

“I turned down the Jackson State job to come here…!”

Reed continued:

“Deion Sanders called me himself, man!”

Ed Reed

As you may recall, in 2020 Deion “Primetime” Sanders became the head football coach at Jackson State University. During his time there, Sanders led the program to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) title. Despite a successful time as the HBCU’s football team head coach, in December, Deion Sanders announced he was leaving the University to coach in Colorado this upcoming season.

During his interview, Ed Reed seemingly became frustrated by the conversation, which led his representative to chime in:

“Listen, everything that Ed is saying is accurate. There have been other offers before Bethune-Cookman in previous years from other -”

Reed interjected again, adding:

“Grambling!”

His representative continued:

“From other HBCU’s there’s been opportunities for Ed to be a head coach at multiple colleges. This was an opportunity, the location, the campus, [and ] everything about Bethune Cookman was extremely appealing, which lead him to ultimately choosing this over the opportunity at other institutions.”

The representative added:

“I came here, I was impressed. We hadn’t seen everything, but just the lay of the land, the campus, the location and proximity to the beach, we thought this would be a great opportunity, especially being in Florida too.” 

VIDEO: Ed Reed says that he turned Jackson State Head Coaching job to be the Head Coach at Bethune-Cookman. Also mentions the Grambling opening last year. (?:@rolandsmartin) pic.twitter.com/acxZfcoe34

— Jeff Lightsy Jr. (@jlightsy7) January 24, 2023

As previously reported, after Reed went on a social media rant blasting the university for trash being in his then-office and throughout the football facilities, the HBCU ended contract negotiations with him. He broke the news to his athletes over the weekend, claiming he didn’t quit but was being forced to leave. He stated:

“We’ve been around here trying to change things…My vision for change, probably moving too fast for a lot of people. I’m not withdrawing my name, as they said. They don’t want me here. They do not want me here because I tell the truth.”

The Super Bowl champion, 44, added:

“No I don’t want to leave…But there are some corrupt people in this world, some evil people that don’t care about kids like I do…I ain’t withdrawing my name…they got all kinds of stuff going on round here. Hoarding these buildings, putting nothing but trash in them,”

Ed Reed was notified by Bethune-Cookman that he will no longer be the Head Coach.

His response was one of the most impassioned speeches I’ve ever heard & he states @DeionSanders was right. Reed clearly loves these kids.

*Warning* — Language pic.twitter.com/M4scgM8ZR9

— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) January 21, 2023

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