REED JOINS SYRACUSE TO COACH DEFENSIVE BACKS

A veteran coach with experience at the collegiate and professional levels Fred Reed joins the Syracuse University staff to mentor the Orange defensive backs for head coach Scott Shafer. Reed’s 17-year coaching career includes 15 seasons in the college ranks and two years in the National Football League. He has coached defensive backs for 12 seasons and spent five years mentoring linebackers. Reed’s resume includes four bowl games and three conference championships, and he has coached four All-Americans and 13 first-team all-conference selections and developed 10 NFL prospects. He joins Syracuse after spending three years at Ohio University.

“I am appreciative of the opportunity Coach Shafer has given me to be a part of this staff during this exciting time for Syracuse Football,” Reed said. “I look forward to the challenge of competing in the ACC and helping the young men in the defensive secondary to reach their potential as an athlete and a student.”

Reed had two coaching stints at Ohio University. He spent three years as the cornerbacks and punt return coach before coming to Syracuse, during which the Bobcats won one Mid-American Conference East Division championship and played in three bowl games, including the 2010 New Orleans Bowl, 2011 Idaho Potato Bowl and 2012 Independence Bowl, and he developed all-conference selection Travis Carrie. Ohio won both the Idaho Potato Bowl and the Independence Bowl. In 2005, Reed also mentored the cornerbacks and punt return team. He coached All-American defensive back Dion Byrum, who led the MAC and ranked second in the nation with six interceptions.

“Fred has had great success at each of his coaching stops, including winning championships at Buffalo and Ohio,” Shafer said. “He brings a great resume to our program as a coach and as a recruiter in the areas we need to win. He has a great command in the secondary room and great ties in the hotbeds of recruiting. We are excited to welcome Fred, his wife, LaShannon and their children, Amare’ and Khamara, to the Syracuse family.”

Reed was secondary coach at the University at Buffalo in 2008 when the Bulls won the MAC championship and the International Bowl. His 2008 defense led the nation in forced fumbles and his 2009 unit ranked 43rd in total defense, which was the highest finish for a Bulls defense in 10 years. In 2009, Reed was promoted to defensive coordinator and he also coached the secondary. Reed mentored two-time All-MAC safeties Davonte Shannon and Mike Newton.

In 2006 and 2007, Reed was a defensive assistant for the Detroit Lions working with the safeties, including Kenoy Kennedy, Terrence Holt, Daniel Bullocks and Gerald Alexander.

Prior to his first stint at Ohio, Reed spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He helped lead the Mavericks to a Top 25 ranking in both the 2003 and 2004 season and a North Central Conference Championship in 2004. His defense led the conference in takeaways in both 2003 and 2004 and ranked second in the conference in overall defense in 2004. Prior to being elevated to defensive coordinator, Reed spent three seasons as special teams coordinator and defensive secondary coach at UNO. In 2000, the Mavericks led the NCC in pass efficiency defense en route to winning the conference championship.

Reed spent three seasons as recruiting coordinator and linebackers coach at Michigan Tech. In 1999, he helped lead the Huskies to a 6-5 mark - their first winning season in five years. He started his career as secondary coach at South Dakota in 1994. He also coached the secondary for a season at Minnesota Morris (1996).

Reed is a 1994 graduate of Mesa State College with a bachelor's degree in recreation management. He played free safety for the Mavericks from 1991-92. He earned his master's in sports management from the United States Sports Academy in 2002.