Ed Reed doesn't walk into a room, he makes an entrance. The stylish hats, the beard, the glow that goes beyond what usually surrounds a football legend.
But his title with a Miami program that kicks off its season Thursday night belies any of that. "Chief of Staff?" That's White House formal. This is ball, man.
Ed Reed blew up suckers for The U and won a national championship while intercepting 21 career passes.
Chief of Staff? A nine-time Pro Bowler enshrined in both the professional and college football halls of fame wasn't going to sit behind a desk.
The January announcement of Reed's hiring carried all those bureaucratic references that make you want to pull your hair out -- strategic planning, quality control, player evaluation, team building, mentoring.
But what was Reed going to do?
"My role is still up in the air," Reed said on "The Jim Rome Show" this week.
And you know, that's completely OK right now. When Reed was hired nine months ago, it was a celebration of sorts. One of the old guard was coming home to The U. Reed was going to work out of his Georgia home and occasionally visit the program.
Then COVID-19 hit. So did a louder, more urgent call for social justice. Whatever Reed was to the Miami program at that point, changed. Zoom was not just an pandemic-friendly invention, it was a lifeline.
"I was on … every day, every night, playing music, smoking a cigar, just trying to keep people connected, keep people sane," Reed told CBS Sports. "People lost their minds during the last couple of months."
He is eager to expand those comments about mental health and athletes, about Black Lives Matter, about how this job came about at just the right time.
"We're in a very trying time," Reed said. "Not only with COVID but with society and issues black people been dealing with for a long time. I've always been a person to speak up for the little man. In that situation, I'm still part of the little men. I could still be one of those kids or men out here who is getting shot and killed.
"That's troubling, man."
Reed may be the best intangible Miami has this season. Something that can't be touched, written or recorded.
Coach Manny Diaz starts the season on some folks' hot seat after a 6-7 debut leading the Hurricanes. He did not sit still after his first season, hiring Reed with a title no one had heard of for a job that has yet to be fully defined.
"I know things coach asked me to look for," Reed said. "… It hasn't been like, 'Man, you don't know what you're talking about.' I know what it should and shouldn't look like.
Quarterback D'Eriq King, the best free agent on the transfer market, was plugged in. Rhett Lashlee is the new, proven, offensive coordinator.
They all know there has been something missing for years at Miami. It is chasing a standard that was last seen at The U about the time Reed played (1998-2001).
"You asking me to bring that standard back to Miami," he said. "I know the standard that we had and the standard Jimmy Johnson talked about. It was about the players."
That standard was maintained for years by former Canes returning to the weight room and challenging the current players. Don't let the dynasty slip, they said. Tragically, it did.
While in the NFL, Reed and former teammate Reggie Wayne attempted to spread the message, traveling back to Miami in the offseason to work out.
"Some of them gravitated to it, but a lot of them didn't," Reed said. "The coaches changed. The system changed. These kids get spoiled. That's why shit went downhill."
Reed also wants to coach. Diaz shouldn't be threatened. That's not what this adventure is entirely about, but it's a long-term goal. In 2016, Reed was an assistant defensive backs coach with the Buffalo Bills. He was a head coach in January's Under Armour All-America Game featuring high school football stars.
"If I didn't want to coach, I never would have taken the job," he said.
Reed wants to coach, but he can't "coach" as the Chief of Staff. That means no recruiting. Reed won't be on the sidelines during games. But with COVID-19 making visits to Coral Gables impossible, Reed actually found his usefulness increase.
NCAA rules allow him to speak to prospects over the phone or on Zoom as long as he does not initiate the conversation. Reed being at The U certainly helped the Canes land four-star safety Avantae Williams, whom Reed coached in that Under Armour game.
"When we hired Ed, we didn't know that we would have to go into a shelter in place due to the pandemic. … We all became recruiters on the phone," Diaz said last month. "It is not just the name Ed Reed. It is also who he is and his personality. He can be a great resource for them. It would be hard to mention our progress in recruiting without giving Ed some credit as well."
If he had never come back to Coral Gables, Florida, Reed would still be one of the baddest mother truckers on the planet.
A player as talented as Reed is rare to stay in college four years. He was a consensus back-to-back All-American who became a Super Bowl champion. Reed still holds the NFL record for interception return yards (1,590).
As a man, well, Reed's charitable organization is now 16 years old. The Ed Reed Foundation is in the process of building a park in his hometown of Shrewsbury, Louisiana, near New Orleans. It recently fed 15,000 families during the pandemic.
As for his beloved cigars? Those are coming, too.
Reed will make this as serious as Miami wants it as father to a 12-year-son back in Georgia and mentor to dozens of Canes in Miami.
"I've only been here two weeks," Reed said of his latest trip to The U. "I'm still trying to figure it out."
Miami kicks off its 2020 season on Thursday night vs. UAB.
