Looking at BYU's Coaches: Lance Reynolds Sr.

If you want the facts about the coach, they are always in the Media Guide. Here are the details that are always left out.

I knew Lance Reynolds from day one of the college football experience. Coach Reynolds is the recruiting coordinator for San Diego and was the first coach to pay me a visit. I really enjoyed the subsequent meetings with him, but what made me really like Coach Reynolds was his honesty with me. He never let me believe anything other than the reality of my situation.

He told me one day that I just didn’t fit the type of defense BYU ran (I was about 195 in high school, and BYU's LBs were about 245), but that I would be able to be a preferred walk-on. I played my senior year and went on my recruiting trip to BYU (with my future brother-in-law, John), and LaVell told me the same story.

Well, since that day Coach Reynolds and I have developed quite a relationship. My redshirt year I became really good friends with his son, Lance Jr. and I spent most of the year in their living room hanging out and eating their food.

Through every year at BYU Coach Reynolds remained someone that I could talk to about anything. If I had to give him a nickname as a coach, it would be “Old Faithful”—not just for what he did for me, but also what he means to BYU’s football team.

Coach Reynolds has been there from the start. He knows and has experienced more BYU football history and tradition than anyone else in the program. More than anyone, he knows what it is to be a Cougar. When the coaches thought BYU was a “Passing” school, it was Coach Reynolds who reminded them that BYU ran the ball in the “Glory Days.”

I would also have to say that he is the unsung hero of BYU right now. He is not the Head Coach or the OC, but he does more behind the scenes than the fans know. He may not have installed our new offense three years ago, but he installed all the blocking for it. He is a football genius in his own right and deserves more credit than he gets.

The great thing about Coach Reynolds, though, is that he is more interested in prolonging the legacy of BYU than starting the legacy of Lance Reynolds.

Aside from his constant presence, I always enjoy Coach Reynolds' constant demeanor. Whether he is coaching or just in casual conversation, Coach Reynolds is Mr. Cool. Everything is slow and methodical, and when you are around him, it is impossible to be worked up or frustrated. He just has that feel around him that really calms players down and gives them that quiet confidence.

Among players, Coach Reynolds is also known as the one coach that will really baby his stars. By this I mean that Manase, Curtis, Harvey, Fui, etc., they all have their one day a week that they don’t have to practice so that they can be rested for the game or the next practice. He rarely lets them do the really physical drills, maybe one rep, and that’s it.

We all give the RBs a hard time about this, but inside we are all a little jealous, because while our bodies feel like garbage, they seem to always be a little more fresh.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Reynolds. He is more than just a coach at BYU. He is a mentor and a father figure to young men who often are far from home and family.