College coaches from across the country are already drooling over 6-foot-3-inch, 200-pound Dutchtown safety Eric Reid. Already holding offers from LSU, Stanford, Tulane, Tennessee and NC State, the 2010 prospect said he is enjoying the recruiting process.”It’s fun,” Reid said. “It’s always exciting when a college coach calls wanting to talk to me. I take it as a compliment.”Reid attended LSU’s junior day last weekend, visiting the campus that is already familiar to him because of family ties.Reid’s father, Eric Reid Sr., was a former track champion and All-American at LSU and is now an assistant director at the LSU Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation. As a former athlete, the elder Reid has plenty of advice to give his son.”I tell Eric you have to look at it like a business, because that’s what it is,” Eric Reid Sr. said. “You need to weigh your options, see what’s best for you for what you want to do. That’s one of the reasons he hasn’t committed to anybody yet. Even though LSU is on top of his list, we’ve still got to look at all the options he has and see what’s best for him. If he commits, that’s a commitment that he makes that he has to follow through on. So we’re not going to go there as of yet.”Though the elder Reid is letting his son make his own decision, he admitted Eric Jr. probably feels pressure from his surroundings.”Down here in Louisiana, it’s Tiger country,” Eric Reid Sr. said. “Of course everyone wants to see him come here. He knows LSU real well — that’s one thing LSU has up on everybody else. He’s getting to know the coaches very well, so he’s getting a good feel for what LSU has to offer more than he did any other school at this time.”Reid said he enjoyed the time he spent at junior day talking with other players while finding out how much the LSU coaches want him.”It was cool,” the safety said. “I got to spend a lot more one-on-one time with coach [Les] Miles and coach [Ron] Cooper than I did the first time. They just told me I was one of the guys they want on the team for this class.”With several other prospects committing at junior day, including  Tharold Simon of Eunice and Nick Jacobs of Many, Reid said he almost got caught up in the moment.”I hung out with Tharold Simon the most, and I hung out with Craig Loston for a while,” he said. “[With other prospects committing] you kind of want to hop on board just to be a part of it, but I didn’t.”Reid doesn’t plan on committing to anywhere anytime soon. He plans to commit during a high school All-American game by selecting a hat like many other recruits.He said his favorites so far are LSU, Alabama and Florida State.While coaches continue to make their play for the safety, the rising prospect will continue to rehabilitate his shoulder after a recent surgery.”The doctor said I was born with some loose tendons [in my shoulder],” Reid said. “It was mainly a preventative thing to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I’ll [be ready] for [next] season though.”In addition to playing safety, Reid said he may also play wide receiver for Dutchtown next season to help his team, giving him plenty of work in the offseason. He wants to improve his footwork and work with a jug machine, which fires balls at receivers to hone their ball-catching skills.    Reid’s coach at Dutchtown, Benny Saia, said Reid is just as good off the field as he is on it.”He’s one of those kids who’s really conscious about everything he does,” Saia said. “He balances athletics, school and a job. That’s pretty impressive in this day and time to be able to do all three. I don’t know how you describe a kid who’s mature beyond his years. He tries to be the best at everything.”Saia said Reid was one of the most talented defensive backs in the state as a junior. “Well I haven’t seen everybody in the state, but I haven’t seen anybody better,” Saia said. “I thought that he was very comparable to [Janzen Jackson] at Barbe, but he’s bigger. Eric has the ideal size to be a free safety. He reminds me of [LSU safety] Chad Jones a little bit. He’s very physical and very smart. He’s like a coach on the field.”–Contact Tyler Harvey at [email protected]