REED EYES SUCCESS
Als’ rookie GM has big plans
Kavis Reed majored in biology and planned to attend medical school until the “stupid genes” took over, the Alouettes’ rookie general manager likes to say with a laugh.
Although he has a master’s degree in business administration — he specialized in conflict management and contract negotiation — he’ll never include his title or his degree at the end of emails. And it might help to have a thesaurus handy when speaking with Reed, who throws around terms such as “sagacious” and “self edification.”
He talks about having an impact on lives and developing men, much as Marc Trestman did when he was coaching the Als to two Grey Cups and three championship-game appearances between 2008-2012. Reed also hates the word “no” and has a very low tolerance for those who make excuses.
This all is fine and dandy, and will look good as part of Reed’s legacy should he be unable to turn around the team’s fortunes this season. If Reed was the surprise choice to succeed Jim Popp last December, the ownership group of Robert and Andrew Wetenhall is unlikely to remain patient for long following two losing seasons combined with no playoff appearances and sagging attendance.
Indeed, it wouldn’t be surprising to suggest Reed’s contract as GM might be the same one he had as assistant head coach and special teams co-ordinator that expires after the season.
“This is the only arrogance that I have. I feel strongly that I understand this game, I understand people. I feel confident I can get the job done. This was not a mistake,” said Reed, 44. “However, I’m also realistic that this process has to be expedited to make certain we’re successful right away.
“I never looked at myself as a rookie GM. You’re always going to be a rookie at some point. My whole point is what has happened in the previous 20-plus years to get me to this point and to lean on that wisdom. A lot of those situations, I’ve seen before. I’ve built rosters, done the draft and dabbled in scouting. It’s not like it’s the first time. The process itself is the first time.”
Reed has gone about it in an unconventional manner, with the surprise hiring of two assistant GMs — Joe Mack, who struggled running the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, along with the promotion of Catherine Raîche.
Sink or swim, Reed is determined to do it his way, which should surprise nobody.
He was raised by a single mother in rural Georgetown, S.C., the only boy among four children and the eldest sibling. Reed’s mother, Mary Dean, worked as a hotel housekeeper to put herself through school. He never had much contact with his father. Instead, the male influences in Reed’s life were his five uncles.
His grandfather, Henry Reed, was his biggest hero. He quit school to work on the family farm before eventually becoming a Baptist minister. He died four days after Reed turned 12.
The family, Reed said, was lower class. There wasn’t telephone service or electricity on occasion, but his mother ensured there would always be food on the table. It was his mother who served as his inspiration.
“She did everything so that we understood that work ethic. I watched her each and every day go to work and at night go to school. That encouraged, inspired and motivated me,” Reed said. “No matter what, nothing’s going to stop me.
“Don’t find an excuse. Find a reason. Adversity’s going to slap us all in the face at times. It’s whether we’re resilient enough and have that resolve to move forward and not have that stored-up bank of excuses.”
It was always Reed’s goal to make his mother proud and graduate first in his class. He wanted to become a cardiologist because both his grandparents died from heart attacks or heart disease. Indeed, as the oldest, Reed was responsible for administering medication to his grandmother, a diabetic. He had to know when and to differentiate between the pill bottles.
Reed said he lived a sheltered existence and never saw the inside of a nightclub until he arrived in Edmonton as a defensive back in 1995, his career cut short due to a neck injury five seasons later. So, with his wife’s blessing, he returned to school, getting his business degree, knowing there was something loftier in his future.
He began his coaching career as an assistant with Toronto in 2001, and has made the Canadian Football League circuit, his stops taking him to Ottawa, Hamilton, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg and Edmonton, where he was the Eskimos’ head coach between 2011-13. Following a year out of the game, he resurfaced with Montreal in 2015.
Reed’s wife and two teenage children remain in Edmonton, while he lives in a Montreal hotel.
Had Reed remained an assistant coach, he undoubtedly would have applied for the Eskimos’ GM position that recently went to Brock Sunderland following the firing of Ed Hervey.
While Reed takes over a team once the CFL’s model franchise, he inherits a franchise at its lowest ebb — one that hasn’t had a winning record since 2012. It’s also one that must change its culture.
Reed has overhauled the roster and made not-so-subtle changes to the way the team operates.
This season, the players have a weight room at Olympic Stadium and will charter to road games, giving the organization a more professional appearance.
If the bar undoubtedly has been set low, Reed knows it also won’t be easy replacing Popp, the only GM the franchise has known since 1996.
“It’s going to be extremely tough. There’s over 20 years of history, three championships. He has built a franchise that had an extremely popular and successful brand,” said Reed, not using the past tense by mistake. “It’s very difficult. Those are big shoes to walk in.
“I’m going to honour what he’s done, acknowledge what he’s done. But the path is now a little bit different. We’re trying to get to the same destination, but the path’s a little bit different.”
That path begins this weekend, when training camp opens at Bishop’s University.
This is the only arrogance that I have. I feel strongly that I understand this game, I understand people. I feel confident I can get the job done.