College football
No letdowns
USF safety J.R. Reed does not want to disappoint those who have believed in him.
By PETE YOUNG, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 22, 2003
TAMPA - Long before the sun worshipers settle in, before Ben T. Davis Beach becomes a bustling playground for frolickers and families, it belongs to J.R. Reed.
On Sunday mornings, as the temperature soars from steamy to blistering, this is Reed's hot spot. Over and over and over, the South Florida free safety tears across the sand adjacent to the Courtney Campbell Causeway, a solitary figure consumed by a solitary purpose:
Get faster.
"I go before everybody gets out there," Reed said. "I've done it the last two summers. I've been trying to get my 40 time down to a 4.3. It finally worked."
Each year, Reed, a Tampa native, reports to fall practice a little bigger, a little stronger and a little swifter. He has to. He can't let anyone down.
Not the mom, Dottie Reed, who he said has "pushed two and three jobs" and relocated to a new school district to help him pursue his goals. Not the coaches who molded him on his youth league team, the Vikings, and at Hillsborough High.
Can't let them down or himself. No way.
"So many people put work, so much work, into you, they believed in you. There's a responsibility," said Reed, a preseason All-Conference USA selection. "A lot of people don't have what I have, the ability and the people behind me in support.
"That's what drives me, knowing that it's a blessing to be in the position I'm in."
Reed, 5 feet 11, 200 pounds, is coming off two exceptional seasons: a team-high five interceptions, three fumble recoveries and 89 tackles in 2001 and a team-high six interceptions and 95 tackles (second on the team) in 2002.
He has willed himself into one of the nation's elite safeties. He is the fastest Bull (4.38 in the 40 in the spring) and the strongest defensive back.
"The first thing you notice with him is his work ethic. He's very driven," defensive coordinator and secondary coach Rick Kravitz said. "I've never seen a guy work like he does, all-out effort. He turns a button on and keeps going and going and going. He will not stop. When you ask J.R. to go, you're going to get everything he's got."
Reed raises the bar for the entire team.
"There's a standard, but the standard for J.R. is higher," Kravitz said. "In the shuttle run drill we do, (the standard for the secondary) was 46 seconds. J.R. broke the (team) record a year ago with a 43, so his standard this year was to break the record again. He ran a 41. You tell him to do something, it's done."
Reed has thrived while being, perhaps, USF's most scrutinized player. Besides having Kravitz attuned to his every move, there is the omnipresence of coach Jim Leavitt, a former defensive coordinator who played safety in college.
"He was a safety, so there are no excuses. None," Reed said. "If my corner gets beat, he looks at me. If my linebacker gets beat, he looks at me. If the strong safety gets beat, he looks at me.
"If anybody messes up, it's my fault. And I had to learn real quick to take responsibility. He doesn't want to hear, "Oh, he was supposed to ... .' The other day in practice, the corner let his man go because of a miscommunication. He messed up, and they caught a ball. It wasn't even on my side, but it still was my responsibility. He doesn't take any excuses, and I like that. I need someone like that to push me.
"It's really interesting. I guess he has a degree in psychology. (Leavitt did some Ph.D. work in psychology.) There are certain people he yells at, but he's never gone off on me. I guess he realizes I'd be hurt more by him being disappointed in me than yelling at me. He's like my conscience, to the point where if I mess up, all I need to do is look at him and that's punishment enough."
So just add Leavitt to the list of people Reed refuses to disappoint.
"He's everything you're looking for in a player," Leavitt said. "I don't yell at him much because J.R. works so hard. He's intrinsically motivated. He always wants to be the best."
Reed played some as a freshman and has started since the beginning of his sophomore year. His success is rooted in places such as the beach and the weight room, where he has worked diligently with strength and conditioning coach Ronnie McKeefery.
It's paying off. Reed hopes to follow former teammate Kawika Mitchell's example from last year, parlaying a superb senior season into a first-day selection in the NFL draft. But there is much to accomplish before then.
He holds the school record with 11 interceptions, and 10 more is the goal. And he craves recognition for the Bulls.
"The goal is the (Conference USA) championship, of course, and to get recognized nationally," Reed said. "But we're going to take it one game at a time, beat Alabama, and go from there.
"This senior class will leave its mark. After this year, (everyone) will respect us. They'll have no choice. We're going to go straight into the conference and win it."
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