Let's Run It Back

Reggie Farmer joins the Let’s Run It Back Board of Directors after 25 years  in education, a college athletic career, and a professional baseball career. Reggie has always been about helping people and trying to make the world a better place.  

He knew at an early age he would love to help children be successful in anything they wanted to be. So, when an  opportunity such as Let’s Run It Back presented itself to him, it was a no brainer. 

 

Reggie was born May 8, 1965 in Compton, Ca. At the age of 2 his family relocated to San Diego, Ca., where he would grow up. At the age of five, Reggie was introduced to football  and from the first time he touched the ball, he was madly in love with the game. Reggie began playing pop  warner football at the age of 7 years and cap league baseball followed. Reggie was a great competitor and  excelled on the football and baseball field. Growing up in Skyline was a curse and blessing for him. In his  neighborhood there was a lot of gang violence, drugs, and alcohol use amongst his peers. At an early age he  had to learn to navigate through all that while making choices to stay on HIS chosen path of being an elite  athlete and future NFL star. 

​

Reggie attended James Madison High School where he participated in varsity football (3 year letterman), baseball (3 year letterman) and basketball (2 year letterman). Reggie once again excelled in two of those three sports during his high school careers. During his football career he was named to various All  League, All City, and All-American teams. He had more than 200 letters from colleges offering him scholarships to attend their university. At the end of his senior year of high school baseball, Reggie was drafted in the ninth round of the Major League Baseball draft by the New York Yankees. After weeks of  negotiating, Reggie decided he was not ready to give up on his dream of playing in the NFL and decided to  attend college at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV). Again, Reggie immediately displayed the athletic ability that had garnered him so much national attention as a prep athlete. Reggie started at WR as a freshman for UNLV and finished with nine receiving touchdowns which tied him for second in the nation for receiving touchdowns that year. Reggie played along side former UNLV greats such as Randall Cunningham and Ickey Woods. Following his breakout freshman football season, he followed that with an explosive start to his freshman baseball season at UNLV where he was hitting .486 in league play and .333 overall before a season-ending knee injury ended his year. Reggie played along UNLV greats such as Matt Williams and Mel and Todd Stottlemeyer. Reggie missed his next season on the football field and came back for only half of  the next baseball season. Eventually, Reggie would be drafted again in the ninth round, but this time by his hometown San Diego Padres. Reggie would join the Padre organization and play 5 years of minor league baseball before an ankle injury ended his career.

 

When his professional career ended, Reggie wasn’t sure how, but he knew he wanted to complete his degree in elementary education and become a teacher to help those kids he had always been meant to help. So, with the financial help and support of the UNLV Football Foundation, Reggie was able to complete his degree program and graduate with his Bachelor’s degree in elementary education. He went on to teach fifth grade and later transitioned to teaching pre-k-5 technology. During that time, he pursued his Master’s degree and went on to become an assistant principal in the Clark County School District. After 7 years as an assistant principal,  Reggie left CCSD to become the principal of a newly formed charter school, Somerset Academy. Reggie was a  founding principal for Somerset Academy and Academica Nevada, which started with two schools and has since grown to over 20 schools in their charter network. 

 

After 25 years in education, Reggie is now spending time with his family and gives back to his  community by being a founding member of the Las Vegas chapter of Sleep In Heavenly Peace, which is an organization that provides beds to kids who are sleeping on floors, couches, etc. He is also part owner of Route 66 Solar. Reggie is married to Bethany Farmer and they have three children. Anthony Farmer who works in the solar industry, Kera Farmer, a recent UNLV graduate in Criminal Science, and Bailey Farmer 4th grade.