Miami, NFL great Ed Reed ‘sadly’ indicates Bethune-Cookman now doesn’t want him as coach

Legendary University of Miami safety and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Ed Reed, who recently served as UM’s “Chief of Staff,’’ posted Saturday morning on his Instagram account that “after weeks of negotiations” he “has been informed” that Bethune-Cookman University “won’t be ratifying my contract and won’t make good on the agreement we had in principle, which had provisions and resources best needed to support the student athletes.’’

Bethune-Cookman athletics announced Dec. 27 on Twitter that Reed had “entered an agreement in principle with Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed to be its 16th head football coach’’ and that “more information will be forthcoming.’’

The Hurricanes recently added Bethune-Cookman to their 2023 football schedule for Thursday night, Sept. 14.

Reed was in Daytona Beach with his football players Saturday morning and addressed them while simultaneously posting the talk on Instagram Live. He said it wasn’t his decision.

Fellow famous former FSU and NFL defensive back Deion Sanders, a friend of Reed’s and the new head coach at Colorado, listened to Reed live on Saturday and basically told him that sometimes you just have to walk away and that if he needed anything, Sanders, known now as “Coach Prime’’ would be there for him.

Reed, who had his football players help clean up the campus on various occasions, recently posted a profanity-laced rant on social media criticizing Bethune-Cookman for how dirty the campus was and how his office wasn’t clean when he arrived and how he wasn’t even under contract.

Reed apologized after last week’s rant, saying his “language and tone were unacceptable as a father, coach and leader” and that his “passion for our culture, betterment and bringing our foundation up got the best of me and I fell victim while engaging with antagonists on social media as well.’’

He said Saturday on his Instagram post that he “was committed to coaching and cultivating a relationship with the University, Players, Community and the Fans. It’s extremely disappointing this won’t be happening.’’

Reed would have replaced former coach Terry Sims, who was fired in November. Bethune-Cookman, 2-9 in 2022, plays in the Southwest Athletic Conference of the FCS, the same conference as Jackson State, where Sanders just resigned to take the head job at Colorado.

Reed played with the Hurricanes from 1997 (redshirt season) through UM’s last national title in 2001, won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in 2013 (2012 season) and was inducted in the Hall in August 2019. He was a consensus first-team All-American his final two seasons and still holds the UM records for career interceptions with 21 and interception return yards with 389.

Reed was named to the UM staff in late January 2020 when Manny Diaz was head coach and was announced then as serving in an advisory role that would include strategic planning, quality control, player evaluation and player development.