This year’s College Football Playoff Championship Game is a special one for Ed Reed. Not only is Reed’s alma mater, the University of Miami, playing for the national championship for the first time in 23 years, but the Hurricanes are doing it at home at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
Reed is back in South Florida for all the fanfare. The Pro Football Hall of Famer and Miami legend participated Saturday in an AT&T Meet and Great at Playoff Fan Central, where he had the chance to interact with hordes of Miami fans.
“Being in Miami, having something like this for the fans and the community, how could I not want to be a part of it?” Reed said. “It was awesome. The energy, everything, it was awesome. That’s what it’s about.”
Home is where ‘The U’ is
It has been a long road back to college football’s highest level for Miami. From 2004-23, the Hurricanes won double-digit games in a season only one time, and never seriously threatened for a national championship.
Now, they are one win away from capturing the ultimate crown, and they can do it on their home turf.
“It’s everything. This is what we shoot for year in and year out. To be back in this one and it’s at home, it’s special man,” Reed said.
Reed saw Miami’s resurgence firsthand
The chief of staff of Miami football in 2020-21 and a senior football advisor for the program in 2022, Reed says he is “always connected” to his school and still carries his employee badge in his wallet.
In his final season on staff, Reed worked under fellow Miami alum Mario Cristobal, who has already led the ‘Canes to their most single-season wins ever (13) going into Monday night’s game.
“I think everybody has seen the growth,” Reed said of Cristobal and his team. “Coach came in, obviously they had other players there, other coaches there, and now that’s different. I’ve been around a lot of coaches and a couple of organizations to know that there’s a lot of things that have to transpire.
“We went 5-6 my first year [at Miami in 1997], we struggled a little bit our first year with Coach Cristobal. Those things happen. Everybody don’t agree with the system at times, everybody don’t always agree mentality-wise. But all those things happen to get the team and the organization where it is right now. I think Coach did a great job.”
A chance to add to a championship legacy
In December, Reed spoke to the Baltimore Ravens, his former NFL team, before a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Ravens then went out and pitched a shutout victory.
Asked what he would say to this year’s Miami team if he could address them before Monday night, Reed hesitates.
“That’s kind of hard for me to give you that speech because I’m not in front of them,” Reed said. “I can’t talk to you in an authentic way when I would talk to them in an authentic way, when I know they’ve experienced what I experienced before. They’ve been through what I’ve been through before. It’s kind of hard for me to give you that speech where it’s authentic enough for you to feel.”
One thing is for certain though. Reed has no problem sharing his mentality before the last Miami national title game appearance, a 37-14 thrashing of Nebraska in the 2002 BCS National Championship Game at the Rose Bowl.
“Oh that game was already won. We don’t lose bowl games, man,” Reed says, laughing. “I don’t lose bowl games. Cereal bowls, no type of bowls. We don’t lose bowl games. We didn’t lose a bowl game when I was in the program. We prided ourselves, you give us some time off to prepare for a team, that’s what we’re going to do.”
