NATCHEZ — Former Natchez-Adams and South Natchez-Adams High School football players gathered at Hotel Vue Saturday night to pay tribute to their beloved and legendary coach Ed Reed.

Reed is one of Mississippi’s most successful high school coaches. Reed’s career record as a head coach was 277-86-3. Reed came to Natchez in 1969 and was a football coach for eight seasons. Reed served as South Natchez’s head principal from 1974-1979, in between coaching stints in Natchez.

Two players from each of Reed’s teams took the podium to share stories of their coach. Reed said he was surprised by the amount of people who turned out to the reunion.

“It’s not what I expected, really unbelievable,” Reed said. “I’m surprised at them and how well I’ve been treated and all they said. It makes you feel good, and you hope it’s all true.”

Members of Reed’s first team remarked on his unique offense — the Notre Dame box.

“They told me the offense didn’t require a quarterback so I thought ‘That takes care of the interceptions,’” Dana Walker said during his speech about Reed’s 1969 team.

The box offense employed three men in the offensive backfield and multiple players in motion before the snap. Reed said a lot of the credit to his team’s success was that not many high schools ran that kind of offense. That his opponents had just one week to prepare gave Reed the advantage before he had walked on to the field.

“It was hard to find the ball when you didn’t know where it was,” said Fred Foster, a former Delta State University teammate of Reed’s.

But Saturday night’s reunion was not about the offense, it was about the man behind it.

Event Coordinator Daye Dearing discussed how high school sports can “galvanize” a small town like Natchez, and Reed’s former players shared their affections for their old coach.

“You were our trophy, Coach Reed,” 1971 player Michael Anderson said. “And we were your trophy.”

For some former players it was a long awaited opportunity to say thank you to a man who inspired them.

“I never thought this day would come, but I am so glad it did,” said Ronnie Payne, also of the 1971 team.

Proof of Reed’s accomplishments seemed to look on as past players reminisced, five trophies from three Big 8 division titles, one MHSAA 2A title and the 1971 Shrimp Bowl. Reed said the key to winning all his championships was attention to detail, and testimonies from his former players illustrated his ability to motivate his teams week after week.

“I’ve always been a stickler of fundamentals,” Reed said. “Some coaches wanted to wait until they got (to the school) and adjust their offense to that. I was never like that, I never felt that I was that smart. I felt like I had to get the player to adjust to me.”

Reed was elected to the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame in 1983.