Jim Reid to VMI

[keydet71]

Announced this evening....

http://www.vmikeydets.com/article.asp?articleid=75036

[MR. CHICKEN]

BETTERAH CHECK HIM OUT...REMEMBER DAT COACH FROM GA. TECH....APPLYIN' AT N.D.?...............JIM REID'S CLAIM TA FAME..........COUGHED UP #300..FO' TUBBY RAYMOND!....YEAH JIMMY......YA REALLY KNEW HOW TA STOP...DUH..."T"!.....:bow:....BRAWK!

JES' JIVIN'..........DIS IS UH GREAT GUY..WHO ADMIRED TUBBY.....AN' MADE UH LIVIN'...IN DUH OFF-SEASON...SELLIN' TOMES..ON HOW TA STYMIE.....DAT MIS-DIRECTION!.........xsmoochx......GOTTA LUV SOMEONE.....WHO DISSED...UMA$$.....RICHMOND.....SYRACUSE.....&....BUCKNELL....FO'....VMI?????.....:bawling:..... AH-TEN-HUT!................SQWAK!

[DFW HOYA]

Good move for the Keydets. He'll do fine there.

[nlwwln]

i dont know how good of a hire this was, i thought they would be going for a guy a little younger who could build this program up because thats what they really need. I mean look at what happens to richmond after he leaves... they get significantly better. I just feel like reid is kind of at the end of the road but you never know he could have a renewed outlook and take this team in a direction its never been before, he probably knows how to recruit virginia which is a plus but i just feel the circumstances at VMI are to much for him to be able to turn it around, I would have opted for a young assistant at an up and coming program, doesnt seem like the kinda guy that young bluechippers would wanna play for ????

[89Hen]

Better hire than Welsh IMHO. I've been a fan of UVA for a while and have seen Richmond enough times under Reid to guess that he'd be better for VMI.

[JMU2004]

i dont know how good of a hire this was, i thought they would be going for a guy a little younger who could build this program up because thats what they really need. I mean look at what happens to richmond after he leaves... they get significantly better. I just feel like reid is kind of at the end of the road but you never know he could have a renewed outlook and take this team in a direction its never been before, he probably knows how to recruit virginia which is a plus but i just feel the circumstances at VMI are to much for him to be able to turn it around, I would have opted for a young assistant at an up and coming program, doesnt seem like the kinda guy that young bluechippers would wanna play for ????


VMI suffers from having so many quality I-AA in state. JMU, W&M, UR, Hampton...... I love the military lifestyle, but most teenage I-AA recruits find a great education at JMU, UR, and W&M but do not have to endure the rat line.


Its funny, I love JMU with all my heart...... but if I had it to do over again, VMI would have been a very likely selection due to my career choice. Mucho respect and admiration for that institution and the young people that go there.

[ngineer]

With the building he has to do, I hope he's a 'quick Reid'... ;) :D

[blukeys]

First and foremost Jim Reid is an excellent coach and a totally class individual.
Reid is also one of the best defensive minds in all of college football.

All of that being said Jim Reid has had the tremendously bad fortune of having schools looking at deemphsazing football while he was coaching.

For the Record.

1. Reid was the first UMASS Coach to beat Delaware. HE GAVE THE GAME BALL TO TUBBY RAYMOND, whose wife was dying at the time. CLASS ACT.

2. He took an undermanned Richmond team to the playoffs in the late 90's (98??? I forget)

Reid left Richmond when they began the "Let's deemphasize football" approach of the current college president.


VMI has made a solid choice. Will they back a quality coach or take a powder?????????? :p

[Keydet90]

I am satisfied with the hire. :hurray: I am also a UVA fan and like George Welsh. I also liked Bill Stewart who was the other finalist but I realize he has some baggage with the school. I think Welsh would have brought in some great assistants and could have turned over the program to good hands. But...I think Reid will be just as good in the short term. Many folks on the VMI site had good things to say about him and I saw his teams play a couple of times and was impressed that he did so well at a school where 2,000 people show up for a game day and the Prez all but publicly announces that he wants to emphasize hoops and Olympic sports plus jerks 12 scholarships from UR. That' s no smack either, just the facts. At VMI Reid'll get all his scholarships, 8,000 fans per game at home, drag 5,000 to most in-state road games, watch an $8 million stadium renovation and expansion go up plus work for a Superintendent whom I believe wants to win at our level. If we can expand our recruiting nationally, hire a director of football operations and get a few concessions made from the post on military duties I think we can get back to at least being competitive in I-AA.

BEST OF LUCK TO JR & GO KEYDETS! :beerchug:

DP '90

[ngineer]

First and foremost Jim Reid is an excellent coach and a totally class individual.
Reid is also one of the best defensive minds in all of college football.

All of that being said Jim Reid has had the tremendously bad fortune of having schools looking at deemphsazing football while he was coaching.

For the Record.

1. Reid was the first UMASS Coach to beat Delaware. HE GAVE THE GAME BALL TO TUBBY RAYMOND, whose wife was dying at the time. CLASS ACT.

2. He took an undermanned Richmond team to the playoffs in the late 90's (98??? I forget)
Reid left Richmond when they began the "Let's deemphasize football" approach of the current college president.


VMI has made a solid choice. Will they back a quality coach or take a powder?????????? :p

1998. Richmond ranked and seeded #4 hosted Lehigh. First playoff appearance for the Mountain Hawks since 1980. Lehigh pulled the upset on field goal on last play of the game, 24-23. It was the springboard to Higgins amazing 3 year streak. I remember the announcers speaking highly of Reid back then...

[Umass74]

I know Jim Reid and have spoken with him many times. He is a great coach. He left UMass after UMass went through one of its reduce scholarships cycles. And he got hit again at Richmond.

Give him the tools to win and he will do a great job for VMI.

He is a great motivator. He's been known to chew out OPPOSING players if he thinks they are not playing up to their capabilities.

True story about Jim Reid: In the old Yankee conference, UMass and UNH went through a period were the UMass-UNH game was always the last game of the season.

One year both teams played a listless final game because both were out of contention for the championship. Reid chewed out the UMass squad and then grabbed the "Bean Pot" (you can see a photo of it on a recent post on my blog. Scroll down.), and then went charging into the UNH dressing room and proceeded to chew out the UNH players for playing poorly. He told them that he expected better of UNH and told the UNH players that the next time UMass and UNH hooked up it should be for the Bean Pot! The UNH players cheered.

[DTSpider]

I had the privlege to meet Coach Reid on several occasions while a student at UR. He is a great person. He did amazing things with the Richmond program. His downfall at Richmond wasn't so much the scholarship cuts (which hurt) but more the loss of funding for assistants. He got some talent at Richmond (just look at who played for Clawson this year). His only knock is that he cares too much. Seriously, he does things an assistant should do. He comes to study hall. He does class check. He works with every student group on campus. The football players at Richmond were all class acts. Coach Reid was very involved in their lives and helped many of them take full advantage of the opportunity they had. At VMI he'll do well. It's a good fit on and off the field.

It'll be great to see Coach Reid on the sideline next September. It may take a few years, but VMI will definitely be a trap team in the future. With that great defensive mind he'll keep games close.

[GannonFan]

Reid is a class guy, a good coach, and a guy that really gets his teams ready and prepared. It could be a great fit for him at VMI and, frankly, they probably need someone like him to grab this moribound program and breathe some life in it. No reason that VMI should be as bas as they've been for as long as they've been. Playing the Big South now, winning seasons every so often should be expected, not hoped for.

[Tribe4SF]

VMI is fortunate to have Jim Reid. I think he will continue the trend of getting players to stay at VMI (a historical problem), and will get the maximum out of the talent that is there. VMI's recruiting obstacles will not disappear, however, and expectations should be realistic.

Best of luck to as classy a guy as you'll find in college football.

[DTSpider]

Another reason this is a great hire is that so many VMI alumni live in the Richmond area. They are very familiar with Coach Reid and will support him from the start. He has a very tough road ahead, but he'll get the support he needs. VMI will surprise some teams in the next couple of years.

[blukeys]

One thing is for sure. VMI once established will be a very solid defensive team. Reid's defenses were consistently excellent.