Former Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed coaching: A debate on why/why not

Former Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed has officially become a member of the coaching carousel by joining the Buffalo Bills as their assistant secondary coach. Joining his former defensive coordinator and head coach while in New York, Ed Reed is doing what many figured he would do once his career was officially over. Never the most eloquent of players, a career in being a talking head for the football networks seemed like a slim chance. But with a Hall of Fame career behind him, there was bound to be a head coach out there that would give him a shot at returning to football as a coach of some sort.

With Ravens fans crying out for the Baltimore Ravens to have signed Ed Reed for the same duties, writers Matthew Stevens and Wola Odeniran take a look at why that was the best/worst move the Ravens could have made. Feel free to add your thoughts to the comments section.

Matthew Stevens:

I know I'll get blasted to the ends of the earth and back for this, but I don't think Ed Reed was a good football player. Let me explain that a little more before you immediately start tweeting at me and sending me death threats. He was a phenomenal athlete and clearly one of the best safeties to ever play the game when it came to interceptions. However, at the end of the day, he wasn't very disciplined and he wasn't that great of a team player. He used his athleticism to bait quarterbacks into throwing the ball to what looked like an open receiver, only to have Reed race up and make a play. When his speed started to leave him, so did his playmaking ability. By the end of his career, you could bait Ed Reed into choosing the wrong side of the field and leaving things wide open for your receiver to make a play.

Don't believe me? Just look at Joe Flacco connect with Jacoby Jones right where Ed Reed should be as a center field safety.

Again, Ed Reed was a great safety and will almost assuredly go into the Hall of Fame someday soon. But let's not kid ourselves as to what type of player Reed really was. He made foolish decisions regularly and in his later years, made every offseason a living nightmare for the Baltimore Ravens. Maybe that has changed with time and maturity, but given how he was essentially pushed into a retirement he clearly didn't think he deserved, I'm leaning with it's the same ole Reed.

On top of that, even if you want to debate the merits of the former Ravens safety's play, there comes the point that we just don't know what type of coach Ed Reed will be. The NFL is not the type of job where a great player can make even a decent coach. With no prior experience in teaching players how to improve their skill set or match up against their new opponent, the Ravens would have been left with a former player trying to be a coach that may or may not achieve something in that new field. For a Ravens team that was a Super Bowl contender in training camp, making such a grand adjustment as adding another personality on the team could be a disaster to the continuity they spoke so highly of recently.

As if that wasn't enough to sway your die hard approach to Reed's coaching career, let's remember that he wasn't exactly a team-first type of guy. He was loud, brash and frequently had problems with authority. After practicing in pads in 2012, Ed Reed along with several other players, openly challenged head coach John Harbaugh. The near mutiny was held off, but it wasn't much of a shock when the players at the head of that meeting were shipped off the following season. Players like Bernard Pollard, Ed Reed, and Anquan Boldin were no longer a part of the team that had just given them a Super Bowl ring because good coaches don't keep decenters that can ruin younger players. With his "will he, or won't he retire" way of handling contract negotiations, Ed Reed was the epitome of a "me first" player that tends to do well in the NFL, but also tends to alienate everyone around them and rarely gets the ultimate accolades of a Super Bowl ring.

For the Ravens, there were enough bad memories with Ed Reed to last a lifetime. While a great player at times, the future Hall of Famer had more downsides to his quest to become a coach than definite upsides. For that reason alone, the Ravens did the right thing in letting him take his talents to a Buffalo Bills team that could collapse under the ego and personality of Rex Ryan.

Wola Odeniran:

For me, I think the Baltimore Ravens missed an opportunity to get a former player who's knowledge when it comes to defense is arguably second to none in the history of this game. Reed is a guy who studied film constantly, made sure he was fine physically to get through every season. Reed in his playing days was a leader and a better person. The Ravens know who Reed is more than any other organization in the NFL could which is why it is bit disappointing that he landed a coaching job somewhere else.

With the kind of secondary the Ravens had last season as the Ravens pass defense allowed 30 touchdowns, is anyone really going to say that having Reed as a secondary coach is a bad idea? Look, Reed made his decision to go to Buffalo and maybe there was talk between him and the Ravens in terms of his coaching services and things just didn't work out. But at the end of the day, having Reed in the Ravens locker room would have been a positive in my opinion.

My problem with the Ravens right now with everything we heard during their press conference last week, is that they look a bit too complacent for a team that went 5-11. The Ravens did have a lot of injuries last season, but there is more than one reason why the Ravens went 5-11.The Ravens are also 24-26 overall since they won the Super Bowl.The Ravens decided to keep their coaches and trainers so that is fine. At this point in time, I'm not saying that anyone should be fired. However, adding someone like Reed to what you already have on your coaching staff certainly would help matters.

I mean, it isn't like the Ravens don't need the help. The Ravens had six interceptions last season and two of them were from a linebacker. This team needs someone who knows what it takes to be a playmaker. This team needs someone who knows what it takes to close out games on defense in the fourth quarter. Reed is certainly that guy and he could have mentored a lot of the young players on this defense.

Yes, like Matthew said, Reed did gamble on some plays during his playing days. But it's Reed. More times than not, when he gambles, it turned out well. And Matthew is also right in the sense that we don't know how good of a coach Reed will be. But when I look at the Ravens secondary over the past four seasons under defensive coordinator Dean Pees, the performance is underwhelming to say the least. The only time the Ravens secondary could be relied upon under Pees in late game situations, was when the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2012 and guess who was still on the roster? You guessed it, Ed Reed.

All in all, I just really feel like the Ravens missed the boat on this one. And from here on out, I really don't want to hear anymore excuses about any issues the Ravens defense may have during the 2016 season. Enough of the excuses. The 2016 season is put up or shut up for the Ravens defense. The Ravens decided to keep their coaching staff the way it is and once again, that is fine. But it's time for good results now.