Former UR head coach returns to college game from NFL
Staff Report
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Virginia head football coach Mike London announced Jim Reid has joined the Cavalier football coaching staff. He becomes the sixth member of London’s staff and will serve as the defensive coordinator and associate head coach.
“I am very pleased to announce that Jim Reid will be the defensive coordinator here at Virginia,” said London. “He is a former head coach and is a well respected person throughout the state of Virginia. Coach Reid brings passion and energy to the program, and is an excellent ‘people person’ guy. I feel confident our defensive players will come to love and respect him.
“In addition to his defensive coordinator position, Jim Reid will also serve as the associate head coach. My relationship with Coach Reid goes back to my early coaching career and I am excited about what he will bring to the entire organization.”
London served as the recruiting coordinator and outside linebackers coach at Richmond during Reid’s first two seasons as the Spiders head coach (1995-96).
“The first attraction to any job is who you work for,” Reid said. “Coach London and I go back to when I first worked at Richmond. He was on my staff and did an unbelievable job of organization and of coaching the players and showing interest in their academics and did a marvelous job in recruiting with his high energy and his personality.
“I’ve been around the University of Virginia for a long time, and I have an idea of what the University is about,” said Reid. “Recruiting in-state, you see the type of special player that comes here for the great football experience and the great education Virginia offers. As a life-long football coach I believe in the principles and ideals of football. The University of Virginia stands out among the very best schools in the country at what football is meant to be. This is a challenge I wanted to accept. I am absolutely privileged to be a part of this staff.”
Reid joins London’s staff after spending the past two seasons as the outside linebackers coach for the Miami Dolphins. In Reid’s first season overseeing the Dolphins’ outside linebackers, Joey Porter produced a career-high 17.5 sacks, a figure that ranked second in the NFL during the 2008 season, as Miami hoisted the AFC East Division Championship banner for the first time in eight seasons. It also was the most-ever sacks by a Dolphins linebacker and third-most overall. For his performance, Porter was named to the AFC Pro Bowl squad, the first Dolphins outside linebacker to earn this accolade since Bryan Cox in 1992.
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