Ed Reed passes on Kentucky Football and Mark Stoops to stick with Buffalo Bills

The Kentucky Wildcats just lost secondary coach Derrick Ansley to Alabama, but they did their best to make a home-run hire as his replacement.

Head coach Mark Stoops was once an assistant coach with the Miami Hurricanes when future NFL hall of fame Ed Reed roamed the Orange Bowl field. That connection led to Stoops making a push to hire Reed and replace Ansley.

Even though Reed has no previous coaching experience, having the great Ed Reed on your staff could do wonders in recruiting, especially in Florida where Stoops and his staff are trying to recruit harder.

The only problem here is Reed previously accepted a job with the Buffalo Bills to be part of head coach Rex Ryan's staff, and Reed isn't backing off that commitment, according to Jon Hale.

Apparently the rumors were not just idle fan speculation. A source told The Courier-Journal Monday that Stoops did reach out to Reed, but the former Super Bowl champion said he was not currently interested in leaving the Bills for the college ranks.

With Reed staying in Buffalo, UK’s search for a new defensive backs coach is in the very early stages. Stoops coached defensive backs for 18 seasons as an assistant before being hired at UK and can handle any immediate needs at the position during offseason workouts, and with signing day behind the staff the immediate recruiting need is not as pressing.

Regarded as the best safety of his generation, Reed shares the record for most career playoff interceptions (9), most career interception return yards (1,590) and the longest interception return for a touchdown (108). A nine-time Pro Bowl selection and five-tive First Team All-Pro, Reed was also the 2004 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He was also part of the Baltimore Ravens team that won Super Bowl XLVII in 2012.

Yeah, having that on UK's staff would have been huge, and even though UK missed out on it, seeing Stoops even try to make that kind of hire shows he's continuing to aim high for the heights he wants Kentucky football to reach.