Abington’s George Reid signs letter of intent to play at Temple

ABINGTON >> National Signing Day. It’s a day where student-athletes officially put ink to paper on their letters of intent and commit to where they’ll be competing, and learning, for the next four years.

Wednesday, Abington senior George Reid made his decision and committed to Temple University to play football under first-year head coach Geoff Collins and continue his education close to home.

Reid will major in business management when he begins classes on Broad Street and looks forward to getting on campus and getting his career underway.

As a player, Reid is a rare talent. He dominated both sides of the ball for the GallopingGhosts and was considered by many to be a wide receiver prospect going into the recruiting process. However, the Owls will have Reid playing safety when he enrolls, something he is excited to take on.

“I was more thinking I would be playing receiver (when the recruiting process started),’’ said Reid. “But they want me at the safety position and that is definitely fine with me.”

Reid was a first-team Suburban One League National Conference selection as both a wide receiver and defensive back, the only player to be selected at first-team on both sides of the ball. And while he is a special talent on the field, he’s also a leader off of it.

“George is a great player, like I said, but a lot of kids can throw, a lot of kids can catch, and a lot of kids can run,’ said Abington head coach Kevin Conlin. “What makes George (Reid) special is his leadership and what he is going to provide for the team and program. Coach Collins is getting the type of player that can do it all off and on the field.”

There was a moment of uncertainty for Reid in the recent months, regarding his commitment. When former Temple head coach Matt Rhule took the head coaching job at Baylor, Reid didn’t know what to expect and how he would fit in with the new staff. However, once he got to meet coach Collins he was reassured that Temple would be the right spot for him.

“For a couple minutes after Matt (Rhule) took the Baylor job he (Reid) and I talked about what would or could happen,’ said Conlin. “But as soon as he got to meet coach Collins, and they kept coach (Chris) Wiesehan who recruited him, but as soon as he heard from coach Collins that he was committed to George he wasn’t going to look any other way in terms of commitment.”

Even with all the accolades he accumulated throughout his career, Temple was the only Division I Football Bowl Subdivision offer Reid had on the table. His other offer was from Morgan State, a Football Championship Subdivision program, and while he’s grateful for the interest he received from those two schools he’s also anxious to show other programs throughout the country what they missed out on.

“It pushes you,’ said Reid when asked about Temple being his only FBS offer. ‘It’s sort of like if everyone else out there didn’t want to give you an opportunity I’m going to have to go out there and show them why they should have.”