Eastern Michigan University Athletics

Entering his second year at EMU is Issac Reed, who came to Ypsilanti after spending the 2022 campaign as an offensive quality control assistant at Rutgers University. Reed will serve as EMU’s running backs coach.

Reed has seven years of progressive coaching experience at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), and Division III levels following a stint as an explosive kick returner/running back at Baldwin Wallace University. Additionally, he was named a finalist for the 2020 FootballScoop Coach of the Year Award.

Most recently, Reed was an offensive quality control assistant at Rutgers University working with the running backs.

In 2023, Reed’s running backs ran to new heights as Samson Evans produced 12 rushing touchdowns in 2023, marking his third straight season cracking the double-digit mark, becoming the first Eagle to do so. Evans ended his EMU career on the mountaintop when it comes to career touchdowns as he notched 40 in 41 career games as an Eagle. His 2023 season culminated in a rookie camp invite from the Miami Dolphins, becoming one of three Eagles to earn an NFL opportunity following the 2023 campaign. Evans also earned College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America, making him the fourth player in program history to have garnered the accolade. 
  
Along with Evans, Jaylon Jackson earned All-MAC Second Team honors, marking his second consecutive all-conference nod as he was named first team after the 2022 season. The Burleson, Texas, product was one of just five MAC players to record a kick return for a touchdown this season and one of just 36 nationwide to do so.  Jackson ranked 39th nationally with an average of 21.4 yards per kick return.

In 2021 at Southeast Missouri State University, Reed helped SEMO lead the FCS in red zone offense. The Redhawks scored 23 touchdowns and made a perfect 10-of-10 field goals, converting on all 33 of their chances inside the 20-yard line. SEMO had the Ohio Valley Conference’s second-best rushing offense (195.1 ypg) and ranked third in the league in both scoring (27 ppg) and total offense (360.6 ypg).

Running back Geno Hess collected 2021 Second Team Associated Press FCS All-America honors. He was a First-Team All-OVC pick that led the conference in rushing yards (1,116), rushing touchdowns (14), and rushing yards per game (111.6). He ranked seventh in the FCS in each of those categories. Hess ran for over 100 yards in seven of his 10 starts at tailback. Overall, he finished 24th in the voting for the Walter Payton Award.

On the special teams side of things, punter Zach Haynes was a semifinalist for the 2021 FCS Punter of the Year Award. Haynes earned First-Team All-OVC accolades after he ranked third in the league with 41.2 yards per punt. His 76-yard punt against Eastern Illinois was the longest in the league and sixth-longest in the FCS. All told, Haynes punted 66 times for 2,716 yards and dropped 24 of his kicks inside the 20-yard line.
    
Before arriving in Cape Girardeau, Reed spent one year in the same capacity at the University of Buffalo. He also worked two seasons as an offensive graduate assistant for the Bulls.

Reed made an immediate impact in the running back room as he coached two of the best backs in school history. Led by All-American running back Jaret Patterson, UB averaged a program-best 287.4 yards per game rushing and rushed for 32 touchdowns, four shy of the school record for a single season in only seven games. Patterson led the nation in rushing, averaging 178.7 yards per game. Against Kent State, Patterson tied an FBS record with eight rushing touchdowns and rushed for 409 yards, the second most ever in an FBS game. He and Kevin Marks combined to rush for 515 yards, at the time the most ever by two players in an FBS game.

Patterson earned All-America honors along with being named All-MAC First Team, MAC Offensive Player of the Year, and the league’s Vern Smith Leadership Award winner. Marks had a standout season of his own, averaging 105 yards per game and earning All-MAC Third Team honors.

As a result of UB’s successful 2020 campaign, Reed was named a finalist for the FootballScoop Coach of the Year Award.

Prior to being hired as a full-time member of the staff, Reed was UB’s assistant wide receivers coach in 2018 and 2019. He aided in the development of three All-MAC receivers, including Anthony Johnson and K.J. Osborn in 2018 and Antonio Nunn in 2019.

Before arriving at Buffalo, Reed was the running backs coach at Ohio Wesleyan University for the 2017 season. He coached running back A.J. Jones who, as a true freshman, averaged seven yards per carry to lead the Bishops in rushing and rank 10th in the North Coast Atlantic Conference.

A native of Lehigh Acres, Fla., Reed began his coaching career at his alma mater, Baldwin Wallace, serving as the assistant running backs coach for the 2016 season. He helped coach running back Austin Smith who rushed for 681 yards and 14 touchdowns en route to earning All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors.

He was a four-year letterwinner at Baldwin Wallace where he played running back and kick returner. A team captain, Reed was an All-Conference selection in 2015 and a two-time Bob Packard Most Outstanding Offensive Back Award Winner (2014 & 2015). A three-year starter and four-year contributor, Reed ran for 2,173 career yards in 378 attempts with 18 touchdowns, caught 22 passes for 141 yards and a TD and returned 10 kickoffs for 24.4-yard average.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from BW in 2016 and added a master’s in educational studies from Buffalo in 2020.

Reed and his wife, Nicole, have a daughter, Bryelle.