Jim Reid: A Massachusetts Legend

Every family has a walking history or storybook. That person usually holds court at every occasion and can recall vivid, vibrant details at a moment's notice. None of the stories are overbearing, and everyone wants to sit and listen. Every family member appears in one of the stories, and it's considered a badge or trophy to have their story told.

At Boston College, the football team is considered an extended form of a family, and defensive ends coach Jim Reid is that storytelling legend. He's a wealth of knowledge with five decades' worth of coaching experience, but he's also a pivotal part of the culture fostered within the coaching room. This year, Reid shifted to focusing on coaching the edge rushers after spending the last three seasons as the team's defensive coordinator.

"There couldn't be a better guy to handle that whole transition than Jim Reid," new defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan said. "The guy is the most team-oriented, egoless person I've been around. All he wants to do is help kids get better and be better men and better players."

Reid's entire career is a Massachusetts folk story. He played for Medford High School under Frank McKinnon when the Mustangs ruled both the Greater Boston League and Eastern Massachusetts as champions, then played safety under Walter Abbott at Maine, becoming a piece of a foundation to a Yankee Conference championship.

Maine won the Yankee Conference after Reid left, but his impact is undeniable. The Black Bears shared that league title with his new program at Massachusetts. He went from graduate assistant under Dick MacPherson on that Yankee Conference co-champion to defensive backs coach on a Division II national quarterfinal qualifier. Reid became defensive coordinator under Bob Pickett when MacPherson left, and the duo built a national finalist. In 1978, Massachusetts earned a trip to the first-ever Division I-AA semifinal. Less than a decade later, Pickett departed, and Reid became the head coach.

"I wouldn't say that football changed my life because that would be too dramatic," Reid said. "But all of those football coaches taught me. (Malden native and Massachusetts high school coaching legend) Hank Cutting just passed away. Frank McKinnon. David Allen. All of those guys taught me."

Reid stayed at UMass until 1991 and left after five different coaching positions over almost 20 years. He was a three-time Yankee Conference champion and two-time conference Coach of the Year with 36 career victories. It's success he replicated with Richmond. It's a history intertwining and segmenting this weekend; those years with the Spiders came after a one-year stint as Boston College's defensive coordinator in the 1994 Aloha Bowl season, and the Eagles host the former Yankee Conference team on Saturday at Alumni Stadium.

By the time he returned to BC in 2016, Jim Reid was one of the most accomplished coaches in football. He went to Miami to join the NFL as a linebackers coach, and the Dolphins won the only non-New England AFC East division championship of the Tom Brady era. He went to Virginia as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator, and the Cavaliers went to the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. He went to Iowa, and the Hawkeyes went to the Rose Bowl after an undefeated regular season in the Big Ten.

"The game teaches you honor, integrity and work ethic," Reid said. "It teaches you class. It teaches all of those things when it's done correctly. When I was at UMass, it was done correctly. When I went to Richmond, it was done correctly. It was done correctly at Virginia. It was certainly correctly at Iowa. And BC - it's always been done correctly here. I would never work at a place where it wasn't done correctly."

Reid is a rare combination because his attitude enhances his extensive experience in the coaching room. His accolades could create a well-deserved ego, but he remains totally committed to the concept of team play. He harbors an intense, yeoman, blue-collar attitude, which is why, in his 46th season coaching, he still pushes sleds around the practice fields before telling his defensive linemen to practice strip sacks by swatting his arms.

"I can't say in the 30-plus or 35-plus years I've coached that I've been around a guy more daily, devoutly dedicated to the players and to his job and to me," Sheridan said. "How we talk to each other across the table in our defensive staff meetings when we're putting stuff together, it's the same way it was a year ago. I guess I just get to write the scripts out for practice, and I get to call it on Saturday."

Reid is a legend, but his local roots still hold under the surface. He's a Massachusetts guy at heart and can hold court with the media by just sharing stories. He's still the kid from Medford who played safety for the Mustangs, and he loves being back home in Boston to continue coaching his passion. He's still never going to wear Malden blue and gold on Thanksgiving, even by accident, but he's always going to love everyone in this area. He's a unique link, one that everyone at BC appreciates and uses for advice and a sounding board.

"The most important thing is that we're both University of Maine graduates," defensive tackles coach Antoine Smith said. "We're Black Bears for life. That's the most important thing.

"(But) it's really neat to work under him and now work beside him (on the defensive line)," Smith said. "He's been a head coach, he has a ton of experience. I'm 43 years old and he's in (his late 60s), so he's been around. He's seen a lot of things, and he has a wealth of wisdom. He's a great teacher. It's neat to work with him as a person, to talk and work with and learn from."

"Football allowed me to become a better son, a better husband and a better father," Reid said. "It all happened (in Massachusetts). What I learned in Medford was to keep promises. If I couldn't keep them, someone would always have to do the right thing."

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