North Texas Daily

On Feb. 14, 2019, North Texas hired Eastern Washington’s offensive coordinator Bodie Reeder following former North Texas offensive coordinator Graham Harrell’s decision to accept the same job with Southern California. The Mean Green were left without the offensive mind that led them to be one of the top-ranked offenses in Conference USA.

North Texas sought for a coach with not only experience but with the offensive capabilities that would fit their air raid and ground and pound offense. Reeder, 32, fit that standard in head coach Seth Littrell’s eyes, which he expressed in a press release concerning the hire.

“Coach Reeder is one of the brightest young offensive minds in the country and we are happy to have the opportunity to bring him to Denton,” Littrell said. “He has been successful at all of his career stops at several levels of college football, most recently at Eastern Washington and Oklahoma State. I can’t wait to bring him into our family and culture and give him the opportunity to leave a great mark on our program.”

Reeder graduated from Mahomet-Seymour High School, where he amassed 6,582 passing yards and 67 touchdowns as a quarterback. Reeder finished 4-5 as a freshman starter, but Mahomet-Seymour made three consecutive playoff appearances as the Bulldogs accumulated records of 6-4, 7-3 and 11-1 in Reeder’s final three seasons.

Reeder started his college career at Wyoming before transferring to Eastern Illinois where he compiled 3,741 passing yards, 23 touchdown passes and 356 career completions in 30 games. The Panthers advanced to the NCAA playoffs in 2007-09.

In 2010-11, he started his coaching journey as a graduate assistant with Eastern Illinois working with defensive backs.

Reeder went on to be an assistant at Wisconsin-Stout from 2011-14. He coached quarterbacks his first season and served as offensive coordinator for the remaining three. Reeder helped coach the team’s quarterbacks and aided in training all-conference quarterback, Hank Kujak.

In 2014, the Eastern Illinois product accepted a job under head football coach Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State. Reeder spent the 2014-16 seasons working with quarterbacks at Oklahoma State and in offensive quality control.

Oklahoma State played in three bowl games during the entirety of Reeder’s tenure with the Cowboys. His offense executed victories in the 2016 Alamo Bowl, where they defeated Colorado 38-3 and the 2014 Cactus Bowl, where they defeated Washington 30-22. Oklahoma State also played in the Sugar Bowl following the conclusion of the 2015 season and lost to Ole Miss 48-20.

During the 2016 season, the Cowboys went 10-3 and finished second in the Big 12 with a 7-2 conference record. Oklahoma State was ninth in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision in passing offense while averaging 323.9 yards per game and No. 17 in scoring, averaging 38.6 points per game.

Reeder has had experience with pass-heavy offenses, along with quarterbacks who have performed well in air raid type offenses. He most recently helped coach Cowboys quarterback Mason Rudolph, who was ranked No. 7 in the nation in passing in 2016.  Rudolph completed 63 percent of his passes for a total of 4,091 yards, 28 touchdowns and four interceptions.

“That’s where I first was introduced to playing with tempo with [Gundy],” Reeder said. “I was introduced to some of the air raid concepts but then at the same time we used a lot of RPO’s and it’s kind of molded who I am as an offensive coordinator.”

On Feb. 1, 2017, Bodie Reeder ended his three-year stint with Oklahoma State and join Eastern Washington as the quarterback’s coach and offensive coordinator. In Reeder’s first season with the Eagles, he helmed an offense that was No. 8 in FCS in passing (320.5) per game, No. 5 in total offense (476.7), No. 14 in scoring (34.5) and No. 11 in third-down conversions (46.1 percent).

In Reeder’s second season, he helped lead an offense to average 43.1 points per game, ranking fourth in the Football Championship Subdivision. Reeder’s offense averaged 528.2 yards per game, which ranked third in the nation.

“[Reeder] came in and I think he does a little bit more of not necessarily progression of 1-2-3,” senior quarterback Mason Fine said. “He wants you to maybe have a key defender that he wants you to read and then going off that. He’s got a lot of knowledge so I know if I don’t know something I’m going to ask him and I can use a lot of that and put it into my game.”

Reeder doesn’t only focus on quarterback play. In the 2018 season, Eastern Washington running back Sam McPherson carried the ball 204 times for 1,510 yards and 13 touchdowns. McPherson was ranked fourth in the country in rushing yardage and No. 20 in yards per game (100.7).

“I think that if you can run the ball for yards you can throw it for miles,” Reeder said. “If you can establish a running game, that’s going to open up the shots down the field, it’s going to make your passes more explosive and that’s who I want to be.”

North Texas will rely on Reeder’s offensive experience and success to prepare their offense for what will be Fine’s and senior wide receiver Rico Bussey Jr.’s final season at North Texas. Reeder plans on enhancing his relationship with Fine as the early stages of spring practices continue for the Mean Green.

“[Fine]’s a gym rat and I love that about him,” Reeder said. “He’s sitting in my office doing extra work and he understands what it takes to be great at that position. He is willing to take new ideas and run with them. But he is a sponge and a guy who can retain information. I’m really happy with [Fine], he’s a leader.”

Featured Image: Bodie Reeder. Courtesy Mean Green Sports.