Ex-central Arkansas high school football coach who won 3 state championships dies at 79

Bill Reed, who led Jacksonville to three Class AAAA state championships in 1976, 1978 and 1981, died Tuesday in Texarkana, Texas. He was 79.

A cause of death was not known Tuesday.

Reed’s son, Scott, is entering his 11th season as El Dorado’s head coach. Bill and Scott Reed are among three father-son combinations who have won state championships in Arkansas, along with C.W. and Bill Keopple, and Jim and Bo Hembree.

Gaylon Boshears, who was a wide receiver on Jacksonville’s 1981 championship team, called Bill Reed a great man.

“He was well thought of,” Boshears said. “A disciplinarian. Quite the leader.”

Bill Reed, who coached for more than 40 years, coached at Jacksonville from 1972-1981 and Texarkana from 1982-1988. He was future Arkansas Razorbacks and Chicago Bears defensive tackle Dan Hampton’s coach from 1972-1974 at Jacksonville. Hampton, a Super Bowl champion in 1985 with the Bears, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002. Reed also coached Rod Smith at Texarkana from 1986-1988. Smith went on to play for the Denver Broncos and was a Super Bowl champion in 1997 and 1998. Reed, a Lonoke native, was a past president of the Arkansas Football Coaches Association. He was an inductee into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, Arkansas High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Jacksonville High School Hall of Fame.

— Jeremy Muck

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