Shortly after KJ Winston suffered a season-ending injury in September, Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen met with Jaylen Reed, another veteran safety on the team.
Allen told Reed, who was already one of the Nittany Lions’ leaders, that he was going to have to take his leadership “to another level. You have to bring guys with you. Your role is now going to be magnified.”
Reed has sparkled in the spotlight, leading Penn State in tackles and making several game-changing plays.
He’s a chief reason why the fourth-ranked Lions (12-2) are in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals playing ninth-ranked Boise State (12-1) in the Fiesta Bowl Tuesday night at 7:30 (TV-ESPN).
“He’s made the key interceptions and the key tackles at the critical times,” Allen said Friday. “He’s one of those guys who texts me, ‘Hey, Coach, put this on me.’
“He wants to be the guy. He wants me to know that I can count on him and trust him. He’s going to have my back and get the job done.”
Reed stood out from the beginning of his second season as a starter. He made nine tackles, broke up two passes and recovered a fumble in the opener at West Virginia.
In October, he delivered big plays in road games at USC and Wisconsin. He intercepted a pass in the final minute of regulation to stop the Trojans’ potential game-winning drive in a game the Lions won in overtime. Against the Badgers, he returned an interception 19 yards for a third-quarter touchdown for the go-ahead score in a comeback win.
“He makes our defense better by the way he controls the secondary,” linebacker Kobe King said, “how smart he is, how he communicates, how he facilitates once he’s out there on the field.
“It’s just the way he brings other guys up to his level. A lot of guys have certain traits in their game. There are certain things they do good or bad. He wants guys to be like him.”
Allen initially played Reed at the Lion position, a hybrid between a safety and a linebacker, in his 4-2-5 sets. But when Winston, who had played in the back of the defense, was injured against Bowling Green, Reed moved back to replace him and has played superbly.
“I feel like Jaylen Reed is one of the smartest guys on our team,” linebacker Dominic DeLuca said. “Just the way he understands the game is crazy. He knows the play before it’s even run.
“We communicate a lot about what we see from different perspectives. We’re communicating and making each other better. We’re making each other play faster. It’s huge.”
Reed was disappointed that he didn’t make better than the All-Big Ten second team and then with the performance of the defense in Penn State’s 45-37 loss to Oregon in the conference championship game.
“With that type of game and that type of environment, I definitely took that personally,” Reed said. “It was the Big Ten championship (game). That’s something I was waiting on. We ended up coming up short.
“We had to regroup and refocus to play SMU (in the first round of the CFP). We took it upon ourselves to let out our anger against them. No one likes to lose. We have to keep it going.”
With his eligibility exhausted, Reed hopes to play in the NFL next year. He’s projected to be a third-day draft pick. He’s already enhanced the legacy of Penn State safeties after learning from older teammates Jaquan Brisker and Ji’Ayir Brown, who are in the NFL.
“Those guys text me all the time,” Reed said. “They’re telling me what I did right and what I did wrong. It’s just the tradition we have here at Penn State. I feel like I’m upholding the standard well. I’m just doing it in my own fashion and going about it in my own way.”