East Lansing, Mich. - Payton Thorne isn’t the only Michigan State player who will encounter familial feelings for people on the other sideline, Friday night when Michigan State plays Western Michigan.
Jayden Reed is in a similar situation.
Reed transferred to Michigan State from Western Michigan in 2019 and holds Broncos head coach Tim Lester in high regard.
Above and beyond that, Reed has a strong relationship with Thorne’s father, Western Michigan’s new offensive coordinator, Jeff Thorne.
After Reed’s father, Sabian Reed, passed away due to kidney and heart failure when Reed was 15-years-old, Jeff Thorne entered Jayden’s life as a blossoming father figure.
“He filled in areas that I didn’t have growing up,” Jayden Reed said of Jeff Thorne. “My dad passed away and he filled in for him a lot.”
Reed counts Coach Thorne as a key person who helped him achieve success. Reed had 59 catches for Michigan State last year. He is one of the top returning wide outs in college football for 2022.
Reed was first-team All-America as a punt returner last year and third-team All-Big Ten as a wide receiver.
Reed and Thorne were teammates at Metea Valley High School in suburban Chicago when Reed lost his father.
They transferred to Naperville (Ill.) Central High School in 2017, when Thorne was a junior and Reed was a senior.
Jeff Thorne was head coach at North Central College in Naperville, Ill., from 2015 to 2021, prior to taking the offensive coordinator job at Western Michigan this year.
Now all three of them, plus Lester, are intertwined in storylines heading into Friday's season opener. The Reed / Coach Thorne angle is deer to Reed's heart.
“Coach Thorne, I know him very well,” Reed said. “He’s a great guy, a great father. I love him for everything. I love their family.”
THE BACKSTORY
Prior to transferring to Michigan State, Reed was a freshman All-American at Western Michigan University. He had 56 catches for 797 yards as a rookie in 2018.
Payton Thorne played his senior year at Naperville High in 2018 as a Western Michigan commitment, planning to be teammates with Jayden the following year in Kalamazoo. But when Michigan State offered a scholarship in December of 2018, Thorne made the tough decision to back out of his commitment to the Broncos in order to accept the scholarship offer from Mark Dantonio and then-offensive coordinator Brad Salem.
Western Michigan head coach Tim Lester coached with Jeff Thorne as young assistants at Wheaton Warrenville South High School in 2000, and again at North Central College in 2007. Their relationship is strong. Lester felt he was sneaking a prime talent out of Chicagoland when his friend's son, Payton, committed to him in May of 2018.
That made it harder for Payton to cancel his plans to attend Western Michigan. Coach Lester understood, and coach Thorne knew he would. They were each quarterbacks at the mid-major level and knew Payton couldn’t turn down an opportunity to play in the Big Ten.
Not long after Payton’s commitment to Michigan State, Reed started showing interest in transferring to Michigan State. With Payton vouching for him and probably recruiting him a little bit to Michigan State, and Reed’s standout freshman season film on display, the Spartans were happy to take Reed, too.
Now, Coach Thorne and Coach Lester will be competing against Reed and Payton on Friday night.
As offensive coordinator for the Broncos, Jeff Thorne won’t be tasked with trying to stop Payton and Jayden. But he is responsible not only for his son’s development, but Jayden’s as well.
From simple things to deep things, Reed felt Coach Thorne was there for him.
“Just inviting me over for dinners, letting me swim in their pool, things like that,” Reed said. “I had my graduation party at their place. Just a lot of stuff, he filled in for what I didn’t have, for what happened in my life.
“They are family to me. If I wanted to stay over there whenever I wanted to, I can be there. That’s family to me.”
Reed spent a lot of time with the Thornes during the COVID lockdown of 2020. Coach Thorne’s teaching and mentoring of Reed continued.
“He has taught me a lot about football, about coverages, little stuff like that,” Reed said. “Man, he’s a fun guy. He likes to bring everybody together. He is really strict as well. He makes sure Payton is on his game about knowing the game of football.”
When it’s time to compete, it’s not all hugs and smiles at the Thorne household.
Said Payton of Coach Thorne: “He was one of those dads. When I was younger, he didn’t let me win. I had to beat him.”
Reed has witnessed that type of heat.
“We could just be playing a simple game of corn hole and they would be talking trash to each other, and we’re all talking trash to each other,” Reed said. “There is definitely competitiveness when it comes to their relationship.”
That will carry over to Friday night when Thorne makes his FBS level coaching debut as offensive coordinator for Western Michigan.
What will happen if and when Reed and Coach Thorne make eye contact during pregame warm-ups at Spartan Stadium?
“He might get a dap out of me or something but I ain’t going to say too much,” Reed said with a smile.
Coach Thorne taught him well. He won't get soft on game night.