Was there ever a doubt Lucas Reed would end up being a football coach? Reed, who quarterbacked El Dorado to a state championship in 2011, was never the biggest, fastest or strongest but managed to figure out ways to succeed on the gridiron.
That’s the stuff that makes a coach.
Going into his third year as a coach at Rice, Reed is the graduate assistant coach with the receivers. He worked with special teams his first year and the running backs last year.
Typical of his playing career, he’s not missing any steps as he climbs up the coaching ranks.
“I think it’s important to learn as much as you can about all the positions, which is why I’ve wanted to help coach a different position each season,” Reed said. “I think in doing this, you know the intricacies of each position better, which will help me be a better offensive coordinator one day. I also have to admit, I was not fired up about learning special teams my first year, but it was honestly the best thing that happened to me. I remember Coach (Mike) Bloomgren talking to me at my interview and saying, ‘The best thing that happened to me when I started coaching was learning a completely new position from what I knew.’ I took that and ran with it. I learned so much about special teams just in one year, and I have no doubt it was the best thing for me in my first year of coaching.”
Reed, son of Cabot coach Scott Reed and grandson of the late Bill Reed, legendary coach at Jacksonville, graduated from El Dorado in 2013. He actually won two rings with the Wildcats, the first as a backup to brother Taylor.
He went on to Ouachita Baptist, where he had to compete for playing time. He started the second half of his junior year and split time at quarterback as a senior.
“I remember being in a battle for the starting QB at OBU my sophomore year. I ended up losing the job and was the backup QB that whole season,” he said. “Instead of pouting and making excuses, I did what I did in high school. I put my head down and got to work. I think it’s important that whenever something doesn’t go the way you want, you have to shrug it off. Especially as a QB, you have to be a leader and show teammates that you’re not going to make any excuses but continue to go to practice and prepare for games like you are the starter. I think getting to start the rest of my junior year and playing a lot as a senior gave me confidence in knowing that I can overcome hurdles.
“It’s really the same thing with being a GA (Graduate Assistant). If you mess up and don’t have something done the way the coach wants … the best thing to do is to not make any excuses. But to say, ‘Yes sir, I’ll get it fixed,’ and make sure to learn from any mistakes.”
Reed graduated from OBU in 2017 with a double major in Accounting & Finance. While looking for a graduate assistant coaching job, he returned to El Dorado and worked at Emrich & Scroggins Accounting Firm for three months during tax season.
“My offensive coordinator at Ouachita Baptist University, Coach Derby, knew Mike Bloomgren. Coach Bloomgren had just taken the head job at Rice. He had been the offensive coordinator at Stanford the past seven years. Coach Derby put in a recommendation for me to Coach Bloomgren and helped me get my foot in the door at Rice. Rice did not have any offensive GA positions available at the time, but Coach Bloomgren said they needed help with special teams. I had never known much at all about special teams, but I was ready to start coaching, so I told him I was ready to start whenever.”
Reed said his responsibilities include making sure film cut ups are made for meetings; drawing all the pass routes in the online playbook; helping in the pass protection meeting when game planning against teams, and also helping figure out what pass concepts to take each week against opponents.
“I have the whole state of Arkansas as my recruiting area, which has been awesome for me,” he added. “A lot of DI programs only let their full-time coaches recruit in certain areas, so getting to have my own state has helped me form relationships with many coaches here in Arkansas.
“The main job of a GA is to make the position coaches life and job a lot easier. I think it’s natural to want to impress who you’re working for, but for a GA, I think it’s more important to make sure everything you do is done on time and in a professional manner. I think that it’s also critical to think of things you can do to help make the full-time coach’s job easier, even if they don’t ask. This is what sets you apart. I have had the opportunity to GA under some very good and smart coaches at Rice, who are great people as well. Being in a meeting room and watching film and game planning for upcoming opponents with them has been great for my growth as a football coach.”
As a player and now as a coach, Reed’s climb has been arduous. So far, in his case, slow and steady really does win the race. It helps when the goal is clear.
Ever any doubts?
“Not really,” he answered. “I always wanted to be a football coach. I do remember El Dorado winning the State Championship two years in a row with Taylor in 2009, 2010, and I always wanted to win one as a starting QB as well. I remember feeling so relieved to win it again when I played QB my junior year, because I knew about all the hard work we had put in as a team. There were plenty of doubters, but our team knew we could win it again if we continued to work hard everyday.”