Ed Reed to join Rex Ryan on Buffalo Bills coaching staff

Rex Ryan coached Ed Reed when both were with the Baltimore Ravens, and now the pupil joins the master once again.

Reed is joining Ryan’s coaching staff with the Buffalo Bills.

Reed will help teach up Buffalo’s secondary as an assistant defensive backs coach, which sports a few young studs. During his playing days, the safety and soon-to-be Hall of Famer was considered one of the smartest players in the league.

“Ed Reed is going to be such a great asset to our team,” said head coach Rex Ryan, via the team’s website. “Obviously he’s played in this system and been an MVP caliber guy in this system. He’s going to be such a great asset for players. He’s a real student of the game as well and he’s going to be a phenomenal coach.”

Ryan’s defense needs all the help it can get. The Bills were not a dominant defensive team last year, despite Ryan’s history as a defensive guru.

Part of the problem was that the team’s personnel is better suited to running a 4-3 scheme, rather than Ryan’s preferred 3-4. Another part of the problem is simply that the system itself is highly complex — something Mario Williams can attest is true.

While Reed can’t help on the personnel side, he can certainly be of great assistance when it comes to helping players adapt to Ryan’s complex scheme. He should be a boon to the organization.