If your meat is turning gray, you're either using cheap meat or old meat. It should be a rich mahogany brown.
I was simply trying to explain what i meant by bullseye in this sense. The seared part should be brown, but searing alone it will yield a very cooked meat immediately underneath that. The reverse sear is nice because it heats the entire steak up evenly and means you aren't searing to 'cook' the steak.
One other benefit it forgot to mention is that the reverse sear drives off some of the surface moisture, making searing easier and more affective.