Homecoming Honoree: James Reid

A coach’s son from Southeast Texas, Reid came to ASU for a chance to walk on for the Rams football team. An illness during his freshman year ended his football dreams, but also had that silver lining.

“Coach David Noble, who had run track in college with my dad, invited me to come out and help him,” Reid said. “He knew I wanted to teach and coach, and he needed help because track and field didn’t have any assistant coaches at the time. He told me to pick an event I wanted to help with, prescribed the workouts for a couple months, and then turned them over to me. So that’s when I started coaching, as a sophomore at ASU.”

Since then, Reid has earned two degrees, been a full-time assistant coach, won conference titles and a national championship as a head coach, and now notched a national championship as the athletic director to cap off one of the most successful years in the history of ASU athletics.

“I’m very competitive,” Reid said. “I looked at all the previous athletic directors to see who had won a national championship, and I aspired to follow in their footsteps. So for Coach Brooks and the baseball team to win one, and to be a part of it as athletic director, it’s pretty sweet.”

“The people and student-athletes at ASU are the selling point, what it’s all about.”

But as sweet as they are, national titles pale in comparison to Reid’s personal ASU highlights: meeting his wife, Nina (Class of 1996), in grad school – and positively influencing the lives of student-athletes for over 30 years.

“Our message to student-athletes has always been that we expect them to commit to excellence in three areas – academics, athletics and the community,” Reid said. “I tell them that the greatest day in their career as a Ram or Rambelle has to be when they walk across the stage, shake the president’s hand and get their degree.”

“We also want our student-athletes to understand the importance of giving back,” he added. “We hope that after they leave us, they get plugged into their new community so they can have a positive impact on others’ lives.”

For his stellar guidance of thousands of ASU student-athletes, the Alumni Association has named Reid its 2023 Outstanding Staff.

“I’m very honored,” Reid said. “I work with some great people here on campus. The people are what make ASU great, so I’m flattered and honored to be selected.”

Reid and his wife, Nina, have three grown kids, Jacob, Kyla and J.D. Jacob earned his bachelor’s degree and Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from ASU, and J.D. is a freshman this fall.

“I just have an affinity for Angelo State,” Reid said. “Plus, I love San Angelo. I met my wife here and we’ve raised our kids here. The people and student-athletes at ASU are the selling point, what it’s all about. I felt like this is where the good Lord wanted me to be, and I’m going to ride that until he wants me to be somewhere else.”