PHOTO | TROY HULL

Johnson C. Smith receiver Reggie Bryant (left) is a preseason pick for All-CIAA after catching 49 passes for 693 yards and seven touchdowns in 2021.

Reggie Bryant was at a crossroads.

Coming off a career season in 2021, the Johnson C. Smith receiver was challenged by new coach Maurice Flowers to toss everything he’d done to earn second team All-CIAA accolades. Instead of resisting, Bryant is reinventing himself as the Golden Bulls’ top pass target.

“We have great coaches, and they came in with new things, so you’ve got to adjust really quick,” said Bryant, a senior from Fayetteville who posted career bests in receptions (49), yards (693) and touchdowns (seven) last year. “This is a learning experience right now trying to get through everything … new coaches, new offense. It wasn’t really challenging; it was more like little areas I need to work on.”

Flowers likens Bryant’s potential to Baltimore Ravens rookie receiver Shemar Bridges, who Flowers coached at Fort Valley State. Bridges’ work ethic and talent got him a chance at an NFL career, and Flowers believes, Bryant can do likewise.

“I’m so proud of Reggie as a young man,” Flowers said. “His attention to detail as a young man has grown since we’ve taken over. I can see how he’s gotten better in the classroom. I can see he’s gotten better [in] all the little things. He approaches academics differently; he approaches meetings differently and he approaches football differently … because that’s what it takes.”

Bryant is more intentional in his commitment to his position. In Flowers’ pass-oriented offense, the emphasis is on getting the ball to open targets quickly instead of longer-developing plays Bryant excelled at. The new scheme means mastering every route instead of sprinting past defenders or fighting for passes in the air. It also means alternating between lining up wide, tight and the slot positions depending on formation.

“It’s hard for somebody to come in on the final hour of your career and just say everything you’ve done doesn’t matter because it’s got to be done this way,” Golden Bulls receivers coach Steve Shipp said. “So here goes a guy who becomes preseason all-conference by doing it one way and here comes coach Flowers and coach Shipp and [offensive line coach Kevin Thompson] with their detail-oriented offense and everything you’ve done to this point doesn’t work in this system. Now Reggie had to say, ‘is this worth me staying around and working’ [because] he’s basically starting all the way over.”

Not only did Bryant stick around as one of 38 players returning from last year’s 1-7 squad, he embraced the opportunity to improve.

“In last year’s offense, we weren’t really spread so it was like every pass we had to get it was a 50-50 ball, so I had to compete,” he said. “In this offense, it’s more of a spread so we’re not looking more for the 50-50 ball, so we’re sharing the team joy and getting everybody the ball aside from No. 9.”

Said Shipp: “This offense can’t work with just one guy. It’s just not predicated to function with one guy because it’s an opportunistic type of offense that spreads teams out and if they give us areas we tried to take it, and when they try to adjust to that and they expose another area we try to take that.”

Bryant, who earned a spot on the preseason All-CIAA team, is also adjusting as a leader on and off the field. As the Golden Bulls’ best returning player, he’s taking it upon himself to set an example on campus.

“There’s very high expenses with everything I do from the weight room, the classroom, everything I do on campus,” he said.  “It’s how to balance and how do I lead young guys compared to last year when I wasn’t getting those accolades and everything. With all the new accolades coming in, it’s definitely very high expectations.”

Those expectations including putting up big numbers. Bryant isn’t shy about sharing his goals for a successful season.

“I’d say 1,000 yards, 10 touchdowns,” he said,” which would set new school marks in both categories. “I’ve got to give special teams (a try), so I’d say a couple of kick returns, a couple of tackles. And All-CIAA again – first team this time for sure – All-American and so I’m just letting them play out.”

Flowers is embracing the possibilities as well, citing a more experienced offensive line and quarterback upgrades that include transfer Tyrell Jackson, who played for him at Fort Valley State.

“Our quarterbacks had better be better than decent,” Flowers said. “We have good quarterbacks, we have a great offensive line, and a good (receiver) corps. Reggie Bryant will probably have a career (season) bigger than some of the guys that I played with that have records at Johnson C. Smith like Joe Weinberg, who was drafted by the San Diego Chargers and Ron Meadows, who had a good career in Canada. He has a chance to rewrite the record book.”

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