April 6, 2011
Edmonton Eskimos
Rose Mary Phillip
Kavis Reed’s football career began on a dare. In grade 10, the South Carolina native, who played baseball and ran track, picked up the pigskin to prove to his friends that he had the guts to play a contact sport.
Had it not been for the dare, he would have been a doctor.
“I grew up in a family where there were a lot of medical issues,” says Reed. At just 10-years-old, he set his sights on a career in medicine – a choice largely inspired by his maternal grandparents who suffered from multiple chronic conditions. A natural caregiver, he knew what meds they had to take and when they had to take them. For his grandmother, this included a daily ritual of insulin injections to manage her diabetes.
“Growing up in the United States, where health care is not available to everyone on an equal basis, I aspired to be someone who helped others regardless of their socio-economic conditions,” says Reed.
He pursued his dream at Furman University where he also played three seasons as a cornerback for the Paladins. Reed racked up 114 tackles, five interceptions and a degree in biology. Despite a formidable field presence, the future Dr. Reed had no aspirations to play football past university. “I was either going into med school or medical research or wherever my education would take me.”
His plans were about to change.
“A distant relative who was a sports agent phoned up and asked if I was interested in playing professional football,” says Reed who delayed responding for weeks. His then roommate convinced him that at 21-years-old he had plenty of time for school and should seize the opportunity. After all, med school would still be there if things didn’t work out. So he gave it a try.
The next year, he earned a spot on the Eskimo practice roster. “I made the team, but I wasn’t playing,” says Reed. The agony of sitting on the sidelines made him reconsider med school. “What am I doing here? Enough is enough.
“Not too long after I had those thoughts, I got a chance on the field. Things went well, so I never looked back.”
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| Kavis Reed was a defensive back for the Eskimos from 1995 – 1999. |
The green and gold was the only jersey Reed wore during his five years as a player. The defensive back had 205 defensive tackles and 20 interceptions for 481 yards, five of which he returned for touchdowns. The height of his career came in 1997: He intercepted seven passes, returned two for touchdowns and was named a CFL All-Star. No one caught a touchdown pass against him that year.
The career Reed didn’t intend to have came to an end the next year when a hit from a Ti-Cat receiver collapsed part of his spine. In the cafeteria of Concordia College, Reed announced his retirement, vowing to one day return to the City of Champions as head coach; “I’m an Edmonton Eskimo and always will be.”
With his playing career behind him, Reed had a choice to make: “Do I focus on the skill set that I have developed or the dream I once had?” His life had changed since he left Furman. He now had a wife, Darlene, and their first child, Tyra, to consider in his decisions. He put medicine aside to earn a more practical MBA and try his hand at coaching.
Sure, the stability and security doesn’t compare to that of a doctor and the public scrutiny can be intense, but Reed was up for the challenge.
“What can be a deterrent to a lot of people is somewhat of an attraction for me. Every day is different with a different challenge and different stress level. But the results of your work are immediate. The adrenaline you felt as a player is almost duplicated as a coach because you still go through the ebb and flow of the game,” says Reed.
For the last 10 years, he honed his coaching skills surrounded by some of the CFL’s greatest coaches and players. Now, the time is right for Reed to return to Commonwealth Stadium as the 19th head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos.
For the past four and a half months, he has been building the foundation for a season that he says is “back to the future.
“The history of this team is winning and doing things the right way. We’re going to marry the future with the past and make certain that things are done the Eskimo way. There is not a hope of winning. There is an expectation of winning.”
And Reed knows what it takes to win. As the Bombers’ defensive coordinator, the team finished first in the league for allowing the fewest net passing yards last season and second for fewest net offence yards. The year before that he helped lead the Roughriders to the Grey Cup final.
Reed says that accepting the job as head coach in the city he loves for a team he loves is “a dream come true.
“There are things that I’m going to regret in life, but not going to med school isn’t one of them.”