Tulsa transfer shines for Georgia
Georgia never has played Oklahoma in football. But Georgia’s safety has. J.R. Reed not only has played against the Sooners, he played against Baker Mayfield.
Reed was on the University of Tulsa team that lost 52-38 in Norman in September 2015. Reed recorded no tackles. For the season, Reed had five tackles and one pass breakup. Then Reed transferred to Georgia, sat out the 2016 season and became not just a starting strong safety, but a second-team All-SEC selection. Now Reed again will play against Mayfield and the Sooners, in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
How did Reed go from barely getting on the field for Tulsa to being a Georgia mainstay?
“You never know until the players hit the field, actually, and you put the pads on and how they are going to adjust,” said Georgia defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. “He adjusted. He adjusted well. And so you're just never quite sure how it's going to turn out, but it's turned out well for us.”
The quick story on Reed. He’s the son of former Minnesota Vikings receiver Jake Reed, who had 450 NFL catches. J.R. Reed went to high school at Prestonwood Christian in the Dallas suburb of Plano and suffered a torn ACL knee injury his senior year of 2013. Reed signed with SMU as a grayshirt — a player who doesn’t enroll until after what would have been his freshman season.
During that time, SMU changed coaches, from June Jones to Chad Morris, and Reed wound up at Tulsa, which had just hired Philip Montgomery as coach.
“I loved it,” Reed said. “Loved the coaching staff. But as time went on, I just felt it wasn't a fit for me.
“The biggest thing for me transferring, I felt like I wanted to play against better competition, a higher caliber of football and always knew I could play at this level and be a starter.”
So Reed looked south — his dad was born and raised in Covington, Georgia — and another new coach, the Bulldogs’ Kirby Smart, gave Reed a chance.
“First of all, J.R. is a very good athlete,” Tucker said. “He's one of our fastest players. He's got a good pedigree. We knew that he would be a strong contributor for us just because of his height, weight, speed and his love for the game.
He's got a high football IQ and he really studies a lot. He takes good notes. He's very, very coachable.”
Reed says he still has friends at Tulsa — even called a few of them just before getting on the plane to the Rose Bowl — and says his Golden Hurricane pals believed in him.
“They knew I had the talent,” Reed said. “A lot of those guys were shocked that I was going to leave, because just transferring is a big deal anywhere you're at, but I don't think anyone thought I was crazy. But they all wish me the best of luck and they are all proud of me.”