By T. Scott Boatright
When it comes to quarterbacking on any level, and especially high school, there’s not too much more valuable than experience.
So what do you do when you have a talented yet fairly inexperienced prep quarterback? In the case of Lincoln Preparatory School, you bring in a ton of experience on the playing and coaching level.
And that’s what Panthers head coach Glen Hall has done with the addition of Matthew “Rip” Reed as a part-time quarterbacks coach for Lincoln Prep.
Senior Braylin Mayfield is behind center this season as Lincoln Prep’s starting quarterback after serving primarily as a receiver for the Panthers last season.
Reed, 71, was once a prep standout at Richwood High School in Monroe, where he threw for 600 yards and 12 touchdowns in a game against what was then called McCall High School (Tallulah) before moving on to play for legendary coach Eddie G. Robinson’s Grambling State Tigers, taking over as starting quarterback as a freshman in 1969.
In 1971, Reed was selected as Grambling’s Most Valuable Player and in 1972 was named to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) first team, an All-American and MVP of the Pelican Bowl game in which the G-Men defeated North Carolina Central 56-6 to capture a Black College national championship.
Reed was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 1973 in the 10th round of the 1973 NFL draft and later also played a bit for the Denver Broncos as a tight end before returning to the quarterback position with the Birmingham Americans of the World Football League (WFL).
In 1974, he backed up Amiercans QB George Mira, completing 77 of 188 passes (41%) for 1345 yards and 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions to help lead Birmingham to the AFL championship.
Reed became starter of the newly-renamed Birmingham Vulcans, and in that league’s short history became the WFL’s 10th leading passer in yards.
Then Reed moved on to a back-up career in the Canadian Football League, playing in 18 games for the Toronto Argonauts in 1976 and 1977 before playing for the Calgary Stampeders in 1977 and 1978
As an Argonaut, Reed backed up CFL standout Chuck Ealy, helping for the first tandem of black quarterbacks leading a professional football team.
“I coached with Coach Reed under Coach Robinson at Grambling and have no doubt his experience can really help Braylin become a good quarterback here at Lincoln Prep,” Hall said. “He’s done a tremendous job coaching quarterbacks at Grambling and at Wossman and we feel fortunate that we are able to bring that kind of coaching talent and ability to Lincoln Prep.”
Robinson was once quoted as saying that Reed — threw the ball like “Pikes Peak,” high as a mountain and as hard as the surface and noted Reed’s dual-threat ability that could burn defenses with his arm and legs.
“Coach Reed is just the kind of coach Braylin needs right now,” Hall said. “Braylin has a strong arm and can throw it a mile, just like Coach Reed did. Braylin also has the kind of size, strength and speed that can make him dangerous when he has to scramble out of the pocket, just like Coach Reed did.
“We’re working on conditioning with our team and especially the offensive line so that they can hold up better a whole game taking care of their blocking duties. But we’re hoping that having a mentor like Coach Reed around can really help Braylin in learning to be the quarterback he has the skill set to be. We think this is a good move that can help the whole team.”
Hall has missed practice so far this week after coming down with COVID but hopes to return to the practice field with his team on Thursday.
“The symptoms are already gone — I’m feeling good,” Hall said. “My five-day isolation period ends (today), so hopefully I can get back out there Thursday and be with the team in the season opener on Friday.
Lincoln Prep opens the season on Friday in Tallulah against Madison Parish High School.
