Middle Tennessee-made: How the improbable Eagles safety duo of Kevin Byard and Reed Blankenship was built

Kevin Byard insists he knows a thing or two about loyalty.

Byard, the new Eagles safety who was acquired Monday from the Tennessee Titans, was born and raised in West Philadelphia, but he relocated with his late mother and siblings to Atlanta when his parents divorced at age 14. Down south, Byard picked up football in the eighth grade and he soon had aspirations of playing at the next level.

But entering his senior year at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Lithonia, Ga., Byard didn’t have much traction with his recruitment. Kentucky initially showed interest and offered — but when Byard was ready to commit, the Wildcats had rescinded their offer, leaving with him with few options. His only other FBS offer was from Middle Tennessee State coach Rick Stockstill.

With Byard still uncertain about his future, Stockstill surprised him with an in-person visit.

“Coach Stock was paramount, he was pivotal,” Byard said. “He was the only head coach that came to my high school. He actually walked into my gym, introduced himself. He kept it real with me. He told me, ‘if Kentucky comes through again with this offer, I’m not going to tell you to not go to Kentucky. You should go play in the SEC. But if the SEC doesn’t come through, come play for me.’

“That meant a lot to me.”

Byard became swayed. Before he decided to commit to MTSU, Stockstill shared one final piece of persuasion.

“I recruited Brian Dawkins at Clemson — I talk to all of our players about Brian Dawkins,” Stockstill said by phone. Stockstill previously served as Clemson’s top recruiting coordinator before taking over as coach at MTSU in 2006. “Both of these guys [Byard and Reed Blankenship]...they had all the intangibles from work ethic to dependability to accountably to leadership. You knew they had a chance to be really good football players.”

It’s a bit poetic that Byard, who since high school had so admired Dawkins that he viewed his Weapon X hype video on YouTube, now occupies the exact same locker at the NovaCare Complex that was previously housed decades ago by the Pro Football Hall of Fame safety.

When Byard makes his expected Eagles debut on Sunday afternoon, with the team visiting the Washington Commanders for a Week 8 matchup at FedEx Field, he’ll represent half of an improbable safety pairing, alongside a fellow Middle Tennessee State alum in Blankenship.

The arrival of the two-time All-Pro Byard represents a serious reinforcement in the secondary for the reigning NFC champions.

“This is going to be really special to see those guys out there together,” Stockstill said. “Philadelphia is getting a really good player, but they’re going to see what a phenomenal teammate, competitor, and leader they’re getting in KB. It’ll be really cool if those guys can go all the way again.”

Byard and Blankenship are two of the most decorated players in Middle Tennessee State history. Byard is the program’s all-time interception leader with 19, while Blankenship was a five-year starter and finished as the school’s all-time leading tackler with 419.

Although they never played together in college, with Byard graduating in 2015 and Blankenship arriving to campus in Murfreesboro, Tenn., two seasons later in 2017, Stockstill commended both players for their commitment to the program. Early in their respective careers, Stockstill described how Blankenship and Byard followed the makeup of Dawkins, who notably prioritized his punctuality and recovery.

“To this day, I still talk about Dawk every year,” Stockstill said. “It just so happened with Reed and KB, in talking about Dawk and his work ethic and everything he did, because they play the same position, it resonated a little bit more. I’m proud of them because their journey is different.

“I’m proud of them because I know how hard they’ve worked, what they’ve sacrificed to play at the highest level. I’m kind of like a proud papa that they’ve made it. These guys weren’t highly recruited.They didn’t come in here with five stars and all that kind of stuff. This is what I tell NFL scouts when they come here, you’re going to get a tough guy that knows how to work, compete, hold themselves accountable, and be a professional.”

Said Byard: “Coach Stock would always tell me stories about how B-Dawk was a guy everyday, at practice or whatever, he would always take care of his body. He had a routine. He was the last guy out of the weight room, last guy out of the building. That was something I picked up early in college.”

Byard still applies the same routine that he picked up from Dawkins through Stockstill. About 30 minutes before every practice, he always heads to the weight room, where he’ll activate his body with various movements and also with foam rolling.

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Over the past week, he has spent extra hours at the facility, meeting with defensive coordinator Sean Desai and various position coaches in attempt to learn the playbook as quickly as possible. Byard’s dedication to prioritize his body and mind has paid off. Since he was drafted in 2016, Byard hasn’t missed a single career game.

“Doing the little things,” Byard said. “It was already built in my mind. But it was about looking up to [Dawkins] as a role model, thinking I should do the same thing.”

By the end of his college career, Byard left behind a legacy that Blankenship would soon follow.

“When you go to MT, you hear about Kevin,” Blankenship said. “You see his number on the stadium. You want to be like him. That’s a great role model. [I’m] listening to what he has to say because he’s so experienced.”

Byard first met Blankenship at the conclusion of his rookie season with the Titans, when he returned to campus for a spring workout.

“They were hosting Reed on a spring recruiting trip,” Byard said. “So I was coming out of the weight room one day and I ran into him. [Stockstill] introduced me to him, he let me know after, ‘we really want to get this kid, he’s a good player.’ And so after that point I kept up with him. I followed his career and we stayed connected.”

Leading up to the 2022 draft, the Titans hosted Blankenship for a local pro day. Nineteen safeties would go on to be drafted, but Blankenship wasn’t among the group. The Eagles pounced on him immediately in undrafted free agency.

“When he didn’t get drafted,” said Reed’s father, Troy Blankenship, “that was a very long day for us. The Eagles called 15 minutes after the draft was over. But we told Reed, we’d support him not matter how long or short his pro career would be.”

» READ MORE: Eagles rookie Reed Blankenship raises cows in rural Alabama and went from undrafted to the Super Bowl

Reed popped during his rookie training camp and he made the team’s 53-man roster. Upon receiving his first meaningful defensive snaps, Blankenship picked off future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and he warranted more playing time from the coaching staff.

Now in Year 2, Blankenship has evolved into a key starter.

“After that draft, I teased my [Titans] safeties coach Scott Booker, ‘We missed out on a gem in Reed!” Byard recalled. “He said, ‘Yeah man, we sure did. A lot of teams did. He’s a stud.’”

Rumors sputtered this offseason that the Titans could, at one point, be considered sellers under new general manager Ran Carthon. Byard said he’s good at blocking outside noise, but admits he thought about the different possibilities, especially if the Titans didn’t get off to a hot start.

The topic actually came up during one of Byard’s offseason workouts with Blankenship in Nashville, Tenn.

“I never would’ve thought I’d get to share the field with somebody like him,” Blankenship said. “We’ve talked about other stuff going on, what he’s thinking about doing. But it’s so surreal.”

» READ MORE: Thumbs up or down? Eagles beat writers weigh in on the Kevin Byard trade.

With the Titans sitting at 2-4 and in last place in the AFC South, Byard was sent to Philadelphia this week in exchange for safety Terrell Edmunds and 2024 fifth-round and sixth-round picks.

There still a couple of days until the NFL’s trade deadline on Oct. 31, but with the addition of Byard, general manager Howie Roseman has signaled to the rest of the league and also the Eagles locker room that he’s expecting to contend for another Super Bowl.

“I’m excited to be in Philly. I enjoyed growing up in this city, it feels like home,” Byard said. “I’m here to prove that I can be a productive player. I, honestly, have aspirations of winning it all. Being here with my guy Reed, it’s time to stack plays together and ball out.”

The Eagles visit the Washington Commanders on Sunday. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from FedEx Field.