Joplin High School coach Nick Reid was informed Monday he will be inducted into the Kansas Football Ring of Honor joining an elite group of Jayhawk players. Once hearing the news, Reid was of course stunned.

Nick Reid said, “Just, wow, first thing. I couldn’t really believe it. Travis Goff, the AD, and Lance Leipold called me and hit me with some stats and told me I was gonna be in the ring. I was honestly just kinda blown away. I never thought of myself as one of those guys who’s names are up on the ring right now. Thought it’d be cool to be up there some day, but I’ve never really put myself in the category with those other guys, so I’m very grateful for it and definitely honored to be up there.

Reid was a linebacker for Kansas from 2002 to 2005. His 2005 season was especially memorable when he earned the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award. He was also named First-Team All-Big 12 and Third-Team All-American. His 416 career tackles are the second most in school history. It’s no question Reid enjoyed his time as a Jayhawk.

Reid said, “Being a Jayhawk is fantastic, from the academics, to the athletics, the college experience, everything about it was just phenomenal. I hope my kids go there and their kids go there and it’s truly a great university and one that I would tell anybody to go to.”

After his playing career, Nick Reid came to the Four States here at Joplin High School to become a coach. He’s now the defensive coordinator and the head track and field coach for the Eagles. At Kansas, he knows they set him up well to be a coach.

Reid said, “I had some of the best coaches ever, coach (Mark) Mangino, coach (Bill) Young was my D-coordinator, coach (Dave) Doeren who’s at NC State now, coach (Clint) Bowen’s been all over, so I try to model what I do a little bit after each one of those guys, because I learned so much from them and I can bring so much of what they taught me to here and hopefully teach the kids at Joplin the same things that I was taught.”

On October 7, Reid will officially be inducted, along with Tony Sands, at David Booth Memorial Stadium during the Jayhawks game against UCF.