An ultimate Lake City guy: Kelly Reed, longtime track and field, basketball coach and football assistant for a combined 75 seasons, calls it a career

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

Sure, he might have graduated from Coeur d’Alene High, but Kelly Reed is your ultimate Lake City guy.

In 30 years at Lake City High, Reed coached a total of 75 seasons, whether it be football, basketball, golf or track and field.

“I feel beyond lucky,” Reed said. “I’m incredibly grateful and appreciate everyone that has been a part of it. I feel beyond words lucky for what I got to experience.”

Reed, 56, retired as a health and athletic training teacher, as well as head track and field coach at Lake City High in late June.

“What’s tough about losing him — and he deserves to retire — but he’s such a unique type of coach and has built relationships with coaches around the state,” Lake City athletic director Troy Anderson said. “He’s had such a unique role here, and had a big part of success around here. He has so many success stories, even behind the scenes. I don’t know that I’ve had someone that inspired me as much as he did.”

REED STARTED his coaching career at Moscow High, assisting with the Bears' girls basketball team. Those teams went on to win state A-2 championships in 1992 and 1993. Reed was honored as part of the coaching staff when those teams were honored as Legends of the Game in 2018 during halftime of the girls state championship game at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa.

“Those were some great teams with Heather Owen and Kelly Johnson,” Reed said. “Heather went on to play at Stanford and the WNBA as well and was a tremendous player.”

Reed moved on to Troy High, some 12 miles east of Moscow, where he was an assistant basketball coach, and took over the Trojans’ track and field program in 1994.

“I coached the JV program with coach (Brad) Malm, and without a doubt he was one of the biggest influences I had,” Reed said. “I learned a lot about discipline from him. He was strict and ran a very structured setting. His practice plans were really detailed, and I learned how to put practices together. We’d run plays until we got them right, and I learned the value of that from that. A lot of those drills, and what I still do, are from him. I feel so lucky because I could have not had someone like that, but that’s just life kind of working out.”

Reed also credited his parents John and Peggy for their support throughout everything he attempted. John passed away two years ago from pancreatic cancer. Peggy taught and coached at Lakes Middle School and Coeur d'Alene High from 1977-1993.

“I was raised in a loving and supportive environment,” Reed said. “My mom was a teacher and coach, and I basically grew up in a gym. By the time I was 8 years old, I could do anything because I was exposed to so much — football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, track — as a child. And I’m grateful for that. I feel really fortunate for all the good luck.”

Reed was still attending the University of Idaho, and a student-teacher at Troy, when he was named the Trojans' head track and field coach in 1994.

“They couldn’t find anyone else at the school to do it,” Reed said. “We just had a handful of kids and I’d participated in track in high school at Coeur d’Alene and still have part of the 4x400 school record. I’d always liked track, so it was fun for me.”

Reed also coached in Priest River from 1995 to 1997 before eventually calling Jim Winger and coming to Lake City High in 1997.

“After I was done in Priest River, I’d heard that there might be an opening at Lake City,” Reed said. “I really didn’t know Jim that well at the time, but our friendship really started there. He told me they might have a JV job, and I didn’t like the small-town thing, so I was excited to get back to Coeur d’Alene.”

Reed was an assistant coach on Lake City’s state football championship teams in 2002 and 2006, led the Timberwolves girls track team to state titles in 2003 and 2004 and was an assistant to Winger during the T-Wolves’ 2023 undefeated run to a state boys basketball title.

“Before the season, Kelly came to me with a new flow offense that was much different to anything we’d been doing,” Winger said. “There was more movement and no screening. At first I was thinking, ‘are we crazy for trying this with this group?’ but we decided to do it. And it was fascinating to watch. We met all the time on Sundays, and the chemistry between us was great. Of all the time we spent together, I can’t recall a mild disagreement. Sometimes, when you work together for so long with someone, you get into a disagreement. But we always had great chemistry. And that’s pretty rare in anything.”

“One thing I’m very fortunate of is that I got to coach in a state championship in seven or eight different sports,” Reed said. “Two football titles, two basketball, state golf and then boys and girls track. I think that’s kind of fun.”

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS with his players was also a big piece of the puzzle for Reed.

“I got to be part of those state championship football teams as the passing game coordinator,” said Reed, who coached on T-Wolf teams that went 52-15 from 2002 to 2007. “Getting to coach with Van Troxel, and coach players like Matt Troxel, Alex Hamill and Byron Hout, and all those guys we had, it was amazing. To have that boys basketball team from a few years ago, my gosh, I’m still speechless about that team. We finished that season ranked 24th in the country, and I still shake my head about that.”

During his time as part of the football staff, Reed credits Henry Hamill for helping steer him in the right direction.

“Henry really took me under his wing,” Reed said. “We went to a camp at Oregon State right after they won the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame in 2001 and I got to learn from both Dennis Erickson and Eric Yarber (a longtime Erickson assistant and former Idaho Vandal receiver who won a Super Bowl as a coach with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022). Dennis was so great, and I was standing in the huddle next to those guys, watching them. That’s where I learned to script practices and make sure the protections were how the coaches wanted them to be. We’d go through Van and the other coaches for what they needed.”

“I had some excellent coaches that I worked with, but Kelly was one of the best,” said Troxel, who started the Lake City football program in 1994, and coached the Timberwolves through the 2015 season. “He was so much fun to be around. Kelly was really into the Xs and Os and wanted to figure out what worked best. He coached the receivers, and a lot of our success in the passing game came from him. He was always looking for the right play.”

And, as Troxel explains, Reed worked with the kids.

“He epitomized what a coach should be like,” Troxel said. “He was always into the kids' success and worked hard as track coach and basketball coach. One of his greatest skills was making the kids better. Besides Donna Messenger, he was the only one I’d go to be an assistant coach for. His real passion was basketball and like me, he loved track and field. He was just a real sports guy that was good with kids.”

Reed added that he’d been working on plays since he was a kid.

“I wrote my first playbook in third grade,” Reed said. “It was all wishbone offense, and very much what Barry Switzer and Tom Osborne were doing at the time. I’ve always been fascinated with the Xs and Os. Based on what you do on offense, you can dictate what the defense can do. You can manipulate things.”

After stepping away, Reed returned to coaching football at Lake City in 2018, 2019 and 2021. 

“I’m super proud of everything that I was part of accomplishing,” Reed said. “Nobody does anything in this business by themselves. We as coaches can control practice, but the players control the games. Everything I’ve done in coaching, it’s because of something I’ve learned somewhere along the way. None of this happens without (Jim) Winger bringing me here and trusting me. Having someone that you know has your back and will take care of you, that’s a huge thing to have. We’re really lucky to have had Troy following Jim as athletic director. If you don’t have administration support, it makes things so much more difficult.”

From that 2023 Lake City state basketball championship team, Blake Buchanan (Iowa State) and Kolton Mitchell (Idaho, now at Ohio University), played in the 2026 NCAA men’s basketball Tournament.

“To have both Blake and Kolton in that thing, I’m beyond proud,” Reed said. “Kolton and I go way back. Him, Deacon Kiesbuy and Zach Johnson (who were also on the 2023 title team), we started an AAU team with those guys in fifth grade. To see them in the NCAA Tournament from where we were 10 years ago, I’m so grateful and thankful. Sometimes, I just have to pinch myself.”

“I remember him being very energetic and positive during practices starting in AAU,” Mitchell said. “He was really influential and really worried about us off the court. He was so personable. He was just a happy guy and made it fun to come to practice. He really helped us all fall in love with the game back then.”

DURING THE school’s run to 26-0 and the 2023 title, Mitchell said Reed was a calming presence on the bench. That Timberwolves team became the third in Idaho's largest classification in state history to finish unbeaten in boys basketball.

“He’d always tell us that the only people that would beat us was ourselves,” Mitchell said. “He put in a new offense, and that was a big part of how successful we were. He was always watching film and he’d think of a scouting report on each player and their sets. It was big time he could do that and really showed how much he loved the game. With that team, he really kept us in the moment and his experience helped us be successful.”

In recent years, Reed made the trip to Moscow to watch Mitchell play for the Vandals.

“He came to a couple of my games,” Mitchell said. “One of them, him and coach Winger sat courtside as well. The first one, I had 32 points against Eastern, and it was amazing to play that well in front of the two most influential people I’ve known in the game. The other was when we came back from down 18 against Montana State, so it was full circle for me. All the training I’ve been through with him, and seeing it all pay off was nice. He’s really like a second father to me. It really meant a lot to me to have him there.”

In track, Johnson, now in his second year as a linebacker at Stanford University after transferring from Idaho, is in the top three in the 100, and was on the second- and third-fastest 4x100 relay teams in program history.

“He was first-team all-state, both ways in football,” Reed said. “If we needed him to be all-state in basketball, he could have been. People forget that he scored 26 points in the first half of a jamboree against Post Falls as a freshman. He just took on a different role, but could have done more if he needed to. In track, at 6-foot-3, 218 pounds, in the finals of the 100, running 11 flat. To be that good, especially in today’s world in three sports, let alone two sports, I don’t think we’ll see anyone like him in a long, long time.”

“He’s just a phenomenal coach and a great friend,” Winger said of Reed. “He’s extremely knowledgeable in all aspects. For many years, he coached three sports here, and I don’t know many people that would have coached three sports as well as him. Football and basketball don’t end in the summer with camps and summer leagues. At Lake City, he was almost coaching year-round. He’s a great all-around coach. Offensively, he’s as good as anyone I’ve been around.”

As athletic director, Winger often went into the coaches' box during football games.

“When he was coaching with Henry Hamill, I’d sneak up and listen to them call plays,” Winger said. “It was poetry. It was amazing the things they did. Kelly really put as much as anyone into coaching kids.”

“In basketball, you’re only as good as the people you’re with,” Winger said. “Both Kelly and (assistant coach) John Astorquia were great. When you’re the head coach, it’s good to have some top-notch guys around with you. Running a program, I could rely on him for anything I needed, and he never let us down. He’s a quality guy and I’m fortunate that he wanted to come here from Priest River. Hiring Kelly was one of the best moves I’ve ever made. He flourished here and it worked out well for everyone.”

“He’s been one of my best friends,” Reed said of Winger. “Our relationship goes way beyond coaching, and that’s what makes it so fun. The wins are amazing, but I’m beyond stoked to be able to travel around and watch those players we’ve coached before continuing to play.

Last weekend, Reed traveled to California to watch Johnson and the Stanford Cardinal play host to Miami, last year's national runner-up.

"For me, those are the proudest papa moments ever," Reed said. "The phone calls I’ve had with former players, it’s about real life. Those kids that are good about showing up for practice, they end up being good citizens and good people.”

“I really enjoyed working with coach Astorquia in hoops,” Reed said. “I learned a ton from him. He coached in junior college, San Diego State and was in Twin Falls forever. John and Rosie were a year behind my mom and dad, so I’ve known them my entire life. They’ve always been amazing to me and I think the world of them. I really enjoyed all the years of coaching with him all those years.”

“He’s absolutely a players' coach,” Anderson said. “He gained so much respect out of his players for whatever he coached. You knew that with him, he was going to battle for you and he was always passionate about it. You’ll watch him in the classroom, and he’s the same way. The kids are glued to each word he is saying.”

“I think we’ve seen first-hand, his style is unique,” Anderson said. “What he taught me is that they won’t care what you know until they know you care. He has that mentality where he builds relationships and has such a passion for whatever he’s doing. And his content knowledge is through the roof.”

IN 2004, Lake City set a girls state track and field meet scoring record with 119 points to win the program’s first team title. The Timberwolves won six of 18 events that year.

“A coach could do this for 30 years, and never be able to have a season like that,” Reed said. “That girls team in 2004, we won three of the four relays and six events. It was crazy.”

A shot at a repeat title fell short by 4.5 points to Borah.

Lake City’s girls won the 4x100 meter relay at state in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and also won the 4x200 in 2003.

“Meagan Garcia was the anchor for three years and Marisa Schneider ran second for three years,” Reed said. “The experience with those two, by the time they got to be seniors, it was a super business-like approach. They always made practice so much fun and the cool part about this job is seeing them turn into awesome women. Seeing how successful and what great people they are, in the end, that’s what is most important about that. To win the first relay in school history was super fun for us. To repeat with those two and win three in a row, to have that happen was really, really cool.”

Reed added that the support of many kept things on the right path as a track coach as well.

“With track, I was lucky to have had Donna Messenger there for me,” Reed said. “If you want to be someone that represents what being a Timberwolf is about, it’s her. She was an amazing person and kind, all in one. The biggest thing I learned from her was to keep the kids healthy. And it’s the same thing that Tyler Haynes in Sandpoint said, just keep them healthy. You want to keep them fresh, and Donna told me that it’s better to feel good in May, and I really tried to follow that.”

“Our program did a really good job of keeping kids healthy,” Reed said. “We had very few injuries and I’ve got to trust them. I thought we had a good thing. I trusted the kids to tell me when they needed a rest, they’d rest. But if they were good, we’d go. The biggest thing I learned from her is how awesome she treated the kids. And, undertraining is OK.”

Reed also went out of his way to make sure that the track team wasn’t lacking for athletes.

“I’ve never seen a guy work the lunch room to get kids to come out like he did,” Winger said. “He’d get kids out for track just because he paid attention to them and cared for them. He was just excellent at that.”

Troxel was a longtime track assistant for Reed.

“I was in my third or fourth year at Lake City when he was hired on,” Troxel said. “We started working together in track, and when the head coaching job came open, I really encouraged him to take the program over. And we had a lot of success with all he did and all of us that were coaching with him. He wasn’t a head coach as long as some of us were, but they never win a state title in basketball without him. That group, he started working with them in fifth grade and really did a good job of keeping them all together.”

Reed also praised the help of Darlene Shriner, Joe Partington and Kelly's wife, Heather Harmon-Reed, for their help throughout the years.

“Joe, he was my sophomore coach in 1985, and I’ve known him for 40 years,” Reed said. “He’s been the only hurdle coach at Lake City. Darlene, she’s probably the best high jump coach in the northwest, and to have her be a part of this, a lot of times, I think I don’t deserve a lot of this. It’s just been a lot of good fortune. I just can’t thank her enough for everything she’s done. And Heather, she deserves a lot of credit for what she’s done with the distance kids the last 25 years. She’s fantastic and deserves a lot of credit for Angelyca (Chapman’s) success. Angelyca, she missed out on her senior year in 2020 because of COVID, and could have four more state titles, which could have taken her to 11. Heather’s just an incredible person and amazing coach. And Damian Caires was great as well and with me for over 12 years.”

“He doesn’t tear kids down, he builds them up,” Anderson said of Reed. “It’s hard to coach as long as he has. It is a long time. It’s a grind, and to be involved in education as well, you don’t find many coaches and teachers that are in it for that long. I’m sure he’ll find something that’s great for him in the next chapter of his life.”

“I really want to thank the thousands of athletes for all their efforts on the field, court or track,” Reed said. “Their extra time, lifting, watching film, academic work and representing Lake City so incredibly well over all the years so we could be better as a team. I couldn’t be prouder and more grateful for all their time and efforts. Without them, none of this would have been possible.”

“He’s dedicated so much time to us,” Mitchell said. “He’ll never know just how grateful we are for everything he’s done for us. All those kids playing at the Division I level it’s because of him. From workouts at 6 a.m., nobody shows up as consistently as he does. When he shows up and texts us after each game, letting us know what he saw, it just elevates our game so much. That’s why we’re able to be successful is because of him.”

    Courtesy photo The Lake City High girls track and field team captured the 2023 state 5A titles in the 4x100- and 4x200-meter relay on Saturday at Eagle High. From left, are: Keturah Vogel-Greenwood, Georgia Whitehead, Lake City head track and field coach Kelly Reed, Angelyca Chapman and Hailey Parks.