Jim Reid was busy serving his ninth season as the head football coach at Division I-AA Richmond this winter when Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni called.

Pasqualoni phoned to inquire about a member of Reid’s staff whom they both thought would be a good fit for the defensive line job opening at Syracuse.

Suddenly, before they both even knew it, the conversation switched to Reid, and he was packing his bags for Syracuse as Pasqualoni’s newest defensive line coach.

‘I went ‘Nah’ and then, ‘Why not?” Reid said. ‘I have such respect and admiration for Coach P, you have no idea.’

Reid first encountered Pasqualoni back in the 1970s, when he was an assistant coach at Massachusetts. Pasqualoni was an assistant at Southern Connecticut State, and he would often travel to UMass and discuss football with Reid and the rest of his staff.

In the late 1980s, both Pasqualoni and Reid were offered jobs at SU. Pasqualoni accepted. But Reid remained at UMass because of his family.

For a while, Pasqualoni and Reid remained close. While serving as the head coach at Richmond, Reid still traveled to Syracuse to observe spring practices. But then they lost touch for about five years.

When Pasqualoni called, all that changed.

‘He’s a high-energy, great-background and a very intelligent guy,’ Pasqualoni said of Reid. ‘He really loves his players. You can’t ask for any more.’

Pasqualoni also liked Reid’s recruiting background. He’s an experienced and well-known recruiter throughout New England. At Syracuse, he’s responsible for all of New England with the exception of Connecticut. He also recruits in a lot of Eastern Pennsylvania.

During spring practices, it’s hard to find anyone more passionate for what his players accomplish than Reid.

When the defensive line matches up against the offensive line in individualized drills, Reid barks out encouragement or specific technique instruction to his players. He’s not afraid to get in their faces and tell them what they’re doing wrong, or more frequently, congratulate them for doing something well.

Not only is Reid adamant about helping his players on the field, he’s also willing to help them off it.

‘He’s a real open-door kind of coach,’ junior defensive tackle Eugene Brown said. ‘He’s always available and always willing to work with the guys. He has all the time in the world it seems like.’

Reid also inherited a difficult challenge upon coming to Syracuse: replace three-fourths of the defensive line. It certainly hasn’t been easy, but he’s been pleased with how hard the linemen have worked.

He said the performance so far this spring has been up and down, and there could be a hodge-podge of players on the line. Reid thinks the defensive line will only get better as the year progresses.

‘Let me tell you something: I love football,’ Reid said. ‘When somebody does something really good, I just feel great about that. I feel great for them because they worked so hard.

‘All the work, all the intense training, and when you do something like that, you should get excited. I really love these guys. They are really, really playing hard.’

Reid feels his coaching philosophy comes right down from Pasqualoni and the rest of the staff. He feels Pasqualoni sets a great example of always communicating with his players.

Reid also liked the emphasis Pasqualoni stresses on education. At Richmond, Reid boasted the highest graduation rate (88 percent) of any college football team – whether Division I or I-AA – in the country.

Syracuse isn’t too far behind with an 83 percent rate – good enough for top 10 in the country.

‘The support systems in Division I-AA many times fall upon the head coach,’ Reid said. ‘I was in charge of study hall, and I even had to proctor it. And it was starting to wear on me.’

When Reid and his wife flew to Syracuse this winter, Pasqualoni wasn’t available to pick them up at the airport. But when they arrived at Manley Field House, Pasqualoni was the first one there, apologizing.

Pasqualoni’s excuse: He had to proctor study hall.

Reid laughed and told him, ‘I understand that,’ and right then, he knew he had made the right choice.

Published on April 21, 2004 at 12:00 pm