VMI football coach hired by Dolphins
RICHMOND (AP) -- Jim Reid, who took over as football coach at Virginia Military Institute two years ago and set out rebuilding the program, resigned unexpectedly Wednesday to become an assistant with the NFL's Miami Dolphins, the school said.
Reid will coach linebackers under new Dolphins coach Tony Sparano, VMI athletic director Donny White said in a news release. The defensive coordinator will be Paul Pasqualoni, who had Reid as an assistant in his final year at Syracuse in 2004. Attempts to reach Reid were not immediately successful.
The message folder on his cell phone was full, and he did not return a message left in his office at VMI. Reid, 57, compiled a 3-19 record with the Keydets, but was credited with rebuilding the roster after several years of attrition. Of the 44 players he brought into VMI, 37 remain, the school said, including all 23 he signed in his 2007 class.
Reid was hired three days before Christmas in 2005, leaving limited time for recruiting that season. "Jim Reid has done a splendid job at VMI in just two years," White said.
He said Reid had "energized the program" and that it would "prosper from his good and hard work." In both seasons with Reid as coach, VMI used the option offense he installed to lead the Big South Conference in rushing, this year averaging 283.2 yards. The school plans to move forward quickly to name a successor, White said.
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