More on the Reynolds brothers
You may have seen the story I did on the many family connections within the BYU football program. There was another family tie I neglected to include, it was an oversight — assistant coach Barry Lamb’s son, Tucker, is a running back on the team.
I was able to talk to Matt and Houston Reynolds for the story, but there wasn’t enough space to include their feelings on the subject of playing where their dad, Lance, played and has coached for 25 years. I thought I would add those here…
DN: Could you talk about the process of choosing to come to BYU though you had scholarship offers from a lot of other schools?
Matt Reynolds: “While I was making my decision there was the wonder and awe of other schools. They promise more and all these things. I went on a couple of trips and every time I came home, I didn’t feel it. When I came on my trip to BYU, I felt the awe that everybody was talking about. After I realized that, I figured out that this place has everything I want and everything I need. My whole family is here, all my friends are here. Great program, great academics. That’s how I made my decision.”
Houston Reynolds: “Mine was a little different. The family being here and what my family has done here played a huge part in why I came. Being the youngest, my whole life I have tried to live up to the footsteps of my dad. When I knew I could be part of a program that my dad had given half of his life to, being a coach here and playing here, it was just a really powerful moment. During my recruiting trip here, I had a moment where I just knew this is where I should come and that this was where I could be the most successful both on and off the field. It’s a place where I could be close to my family and have that support and live up to the tradition and the standard my brothers and father had set.”
DN: Your dad said you didn’t talk a lot about football at home. Is that what you remember?
Matt Reynolds: “Basically, the only time we’d talk about football at home was the day after the game. We’d go over things to see what we could improve on. But he let us make our own decisions. We only talked football when we had questions about it. It was a really healthy situation.”
What was it like to have coaches from other schools in your home, recruiting you, with your dad sitting right there?
Matt Reynolds: “It was probably more awkward for the other coaches than it was for us or for our dad. He really took the stance that, ‘I’m your dad first and I’m a coach second.’ When I’d ask him questions, he’d answer as a dad. Luckily for us, he had a lot of insight as a coach. We were able to get a lot of fatherly advice that was extremely applicable.”
Houston: “I had to actually ask him several times what he thought I should do. He was afraid that, as a coach, he would influence my decision. But he didn’t want to recruit me. He told me that and he told the (BYU) coaches that. I had to say, ‘As my dad, where do you think I should go to school?’ He said, ‘You should think about it and make your own decision and pray about it.’ I said, ‘Dad, I’m asking you as your son. Where should I go?’ He said, ‘I think BYU is the best place.’ I kind of had to fight for it. He was our father first, for sure.”