NFL legend Reed brings attention, but Chamblee’s story runs deeper

Chamblee football isn’t yet a Georgia powerhouse, but under coach Bob Swank, the program has quietly rewritten its story the past six years, not yet on championships, but on resilience, culture and belief. Now, that story has a new chapter: Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed, once wrapped in the NFL’s iconic gold jacket, has stepped onto Chamblee’s field, trading prestige for purpose.

Reed’s arrival as offensive coordinator brings credibility and attention, but for Swank, the moment is about more than media buzz. With smart moves, hallway recruiting and now a legend helping lead the way, Chamblee is proving that success is about more than just wins and losses.

When Swank took over the job in 2021, the team was on its way to winning, but he and his close friend Scott Schwarzer, now the athletic director at Northview, started the process in 2019.

Schwarzer was head coach and Swank the defensive coordinator. They took over a program that went 6-44 over the previous five seasons. The most recent team was 0-10 and was outscored 452-36.

“We got here and had 24 total players in spring practice,” Swank recalled. “We could barely field a team.”

Swank affectionately called the team The Little Giants.

Swank and Schwarzer would walk the school halls, asking students if they wanted to try out for the team.

“All of a sudden,” Swank said with a smile as he leaned back in his chair, “all of these kids were here, and we had great players.”

That first team won just one game, but the Bulldogs went 5-1 the next season in the COVID-shortened year. The improved record was largely because of the decision Swank and Schwarzer made to play a weaker, non-region schedule. It was meant to build confidence. And it worked.

“We did not see a path for our players gaining confidence by continuing to get beat up in our region every week,” Swank told GHSF Daily at the time. “First of all, we had a lot more fun. Going into every Friday night knowing that you have a chance to be competitive changes everybody’s mindset. All of a sudden, we had kids coming out for football from the baseball, basketball, soccer and track teams.”

In 2021, Schwarzer took the head coach position at Northview, and Swank was promoted. Chamblee went 9-1 against the final non-region schedule, then made a breakthrough - going 8-3 in 2022 and making it to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs. Chamblee beat rival Tucker for the first time since 1974. The ’22 team had 85 players.

After that season, the team ran into some challenges that were tough to overcome. The team’s star quarterback, Fabian Walker Jr., graduated and now plays at Savannah State. Walker had thrown for more than 2,000 yards each of the previous two seasons.

“We didn’t have a bona fide quarterback,” Swank said about the 2023 team. “So, our starting middle linebacker (Ashton Bolston) played quarterback for us.”

Last year, the same issue persisted until about midway through the season when something interesting happened.

“A kid transferred in from Pace Academy, who we had already played, and he threw a game-winning touchdown against us,” Swank said.

That kid was Brayden Doss. “After week four, he transferred here, and then he became our starting quarterback for the second half of the season,” Swank said. Doss led Chamblee to its two victories.

Then in January, there was the hiring that reverberated throughout the state when Chamblee announced it had named Reed, the eight-time All-Pro and first-ballot Hall of Famer, as offensive coordinator.

“When we made the announcement that Ed was going to be our offensive coordinator, my older son (a marketing graduate from Georgia) is like ‘Dad, y’all had like two million impressions in the first hour,” Swank remembered as he laughed.

He told his son, “I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but it sounds like a lot.”

Swank was definitely surprised by media and fanfare that came with hiring Reed.

“I’m getting emails like crazy. Everybody’s calling here,” Swank said. “I get stacks of mail every day (from people trying to reach Reed).”

Reed had been around the program off and on during his son Edward Reed III's career at Chamblee.

“We’ve discussed it before,” Swank said. “Two years ago, he was around quite a bit, but in a completely unofficial capacity.”

One might ask how unofficial he was. Here’s a link to a picture of Reed from last spring. Looked pretty official. All he needed was a whistle.

But jokes aside, Reed couldn’t be around the program every day in the past. Now, with his son in his senior year as a wide receiver, Reed wanted to take this opportunity to spend some time with him before he went off to college.

“The main reason Ed’s here is because his son’s a senior on our team,” Swank said.

But he isn’t naïve to the benefit this will have on his team and the community.

“From a head coach’s perspective, my job is to make sure that the kids in our program have the best experience they can have,” Swank said. “If we can spend a year with those guys being coached by a Hall of Fame football player, then they’re going to be able to talk about that for the rest of their lives.”

Swank insisted he would love for Reed to stick around long term but understands that Reed is on the radar for other teams across the nation at the collegiate level.

Since the hire, Reed has been around the program daily, and Swank has enjoyed every minute.

“Ed is a brilliant football mind,” Swank said. “I’ve been in football a long time, and he understands the game as well as anybody I’ve ever been around.”

Even with all that knowledge, Reed has been great with communicating and translating his understanding of the game so that the players can easily pick it up.

“I think he understands that most people can’t do the things he did and really tries to teach our kids at a basic level to start,” Swank said. “He has not in any way been over their heads talking about things that they can’t do or understand.”

Chamblee’s 2025 schedule

8/16 at Pace Academy

8/23 vs. Tucker

8/30 vs. Southwest DeKalb

9/13 at Decatur

9/20 vs. Woodward Academy

10/03 at Lakeside-Atlanta

10/09 at Shiloh

10/18 vs. Tri-Cities

10/25 at Dunwoody

11/01 at Arabia Mountain (Godfrey Stadium)