It feels like a former Mel Tucker assistant gets hired every day now. The former Michigan State football coach saw his tenure in East Lansing fizzle out because of an off-the-field incident involving a university vendor but he still had a relatively solid staff around him.
While I'd say that the offensive and defensive coordinators left a lot to be desired, they still garner a lot of respect in the college football coaching world.
In fact, Jay Johnson spent the 2024 season as Wyoming's offensive coordinator even though he fell short of expectations. He was still able to find a job right after the Tucker staff dissolved. The Spartans' defensive coordinator from 2020-23, Scottie Hazelton, also had a job as Texas' assistant to the head coach and he was just hired as Wake Forest's defensive coordinator under Jake Dickert.
Well, he now has another former Michigan State assistant joining him in Winston-Salem.
Wake Forest is finalizing a deal to hire South Alabama’s Effrem Reed as running backs coach, sources tell @CBSSports/@247Sports.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 29, 2024
Under Reed, freshman Fluff Bothwell and junior Kentrel Bullock combined for 1,663 yards and 20 touchdowns this season at South Alabama.… pic.twitter.com/sfgMlYqUz7
According to reports, Reed is finalizing a deal to become Wake Forest's next running backs coach just two years after he was in East Lansing with the same position. He spent the 2024 season as South Alabama's running backs coach. This is a well-earned promotion given the fact that Reed led the Jaguars to the No. 23 rushing offense in the country.
Reed coached two running backs who rushed for over 800 yards this season and the Jaguars averaged 5.8 yards per carry.
It looks like we're going to see a reunion with Reed and Hazelton at Wake Forest. While they are no longer Spartan coaches, you can bet fans will be keeping an eye on them.