Photo by UNC Athletic Communications
Garrett Reynolds of North Carolina blocks for the offensive line against McNeese State on Aug. 30.
Garrett Reynold could have stayed home to follow in the footsteps of his father, Art Reynolds, and his uncle, Jack “Hacksaw” Reynolds, by playing for Tennessee.
“I was hoping he’d go there, just for selfish reasons,” said Art Reynolds, who played linebacker for the Vols from 1971-73. “I wouldn’t have to drive as far. It would have been nice, but he went to a place he wanted to go, and I think that’s great.”
But the Vols offered only a “preferred walk-on” spot, leaving the former Carter High School standout to choose North Carolina over Virginia Tech and Nebraska.
“My dad always wanted me to play wherever made me happy,” said the 6-foot-7, 310-pound offensive lineman. “He didn’t really push it, which was great because it could have been awkward. He wanted me to go where I felt like home and I fit in.”
That place was North Carolina.
While Garrett Reynolds has loved being in Chapel Hill, it looked like he might never get the chance to enjoy the fruits of a winning season.
North Carolina was a combined 8-15 in his first two seasons under former coach John Bunting.
And last season, in their first year under Butch Davis, the Tar Heels weren’t much better at 4-8.
But Garrett Reynolds, a second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection who has started every game for North Carolina the past two seasons, never second-guessed his decision to leave the comforts of home for a program that had little legacy.
“I’ve been very blessed here,” he said. “This place means a lot to me. I don’t think I could have picked a better place. I fit in here well. I don’t know if I would have done what I did here if I went anywhere else.”
Bowled Over
Art Reynolds has attended all but two games in his son’s four-year career at North Carolina.
Despite that consistency, Art Reynolds has never seen Garrett play in a bowl game.
He will finally get that chance when he travels to Charlotte, N.C., to watch his son start at right tackle for the Tar Heels against West Virginia in the Meineke Car Care Bowl on Saturday.
It will be North Carolina’s first bowl appearance since 2004, the year before Garrett Reynolds got to Chapel Hill.
“I think it’s just great they’re going to a bowl game,” said Art Reynolds, who’s travel schedule has taken him everywhere from Notre Dame to Rutgers to Miami — and plenty of points in between. “I know he’s been working his butt off.”
As much as Art Reynolds has anticipated getting to watch Garrett play in a bowl, the younger Reynolds has been even more eager to finally get a crack at postseason play because of all of the tough times he has endured in Carolina blue.
“I’m getting pumped,” Garrett Reynolds said. “It’s kind of like all the hard work is paying off, and I can be part of one of the teams that’s going to get this program started back up. That’s just awesome for me.”
Volunteer in Chapel Hill
The Tar Heels flipped their record to 8-4 this season, thanks largely to the infusion of young talent that Davis has brought to Chapel Hill.
But Davis has repeatedly credited the contributing veterans, especially Garrett Reynolds, with providing the leadership that has allowed the younger players to make an instant impact.
“You want to talk about the poster child for just about everything you would ask out of a collegiate athlete,” Davis said. “He’s the first one to volunteer for just about every community project that the football program gets involved in. He sets the tempo in the weight room over the summertime. His practice habits, I can’t tell you a time I’ve ever seen him take a practice snap where you would have said, ‘Garrett, you need to go harder.’ I mean, he just goes a million miles an hour, and he’s been a great example for this program.”
So while Garrett Reynolds will only get to play in this one bowl game, he said he is proud to think that he has helped set the table for future North Carolina bowl appearances.
And if Garrett Reynolds is happy, Art Reynolds is happy.
“I’ll tell you, it’s great,” Art Reynolds said. “It’s your last one. You remember that.”
Tennessee's signing class for 2012
Tennessee defeats Georgia 3-2 in…
Memorable moments in Pat Summitt's…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 25
tenacjim#211887 writes:
Gotta post quick before someone uses the "f" word....
Way to go Garrett...
ncvol writes:
Well, I wish him well. But, I wish he was a Volunteer instead of a Tar Heel. Go Vols!
mtnbikrtn writes:
"Preferred walk-on", I'd have gone to UNC too. What is it about local kids and the former coach?
eduardo writes:
Garrett is a class person and so is his dad! Way to go Art for raising a good kid! He made the decision that was the right decision considering where this program was going! We just didnt hire Lane Kiffin did we? Major mistake!
MikeTheTiger writes:
ANother nice miss Fulmer. Man, I am glad you are history!!
Saltydog writes:
Please read the article again. What does the hiring of Lane Kiffin have to do with Garrett going to NC?
tsur59#443932 writes:
Happy ending to a nice story. Uhh...would have looked good 'n orange. Hey Phil, which one of Sam Andersons boys got THAT scholly?
WeLoveTennesseeVols writes:
Poor ole Phillip Fulmer , cannot win for losing, another great story of a recruit he didn't give a scholarship to, and a relation to Hacksaw Reynolds? Wow! Maybe he just didn't want to come to UT?
Couchdummy writes:
Since Coach Fulmer was a classmate of this young man's father, I feel sure that he was given a good look when offers were being made during recruiting. UT cannot take every local recruit, as offers are based upon needs and fits. Perhaps there was a greater need, or Garrett may have blossomed later than others. At any rate, the young man should be congratulated for his accomplishments!! UT is not the only good school in the southeast, and often another school is a great choice for a local prep player! I wish the posters would shake off the tendency to blame Fulmer for any and every thing that is remotely connected to local players who excel elsewhere!
yeavols#228407 writes:
Good post..Now if we can apply this to Kiffin who has been chastised for "snubbing" a few recruits and the posters who have hanged him already over recruiting methods.
WorkinLikeHeck writes:
This guy is way better than 250 pound McNeil. Thanks Foolmore.
mj54 writes:
So Fulmer's evaluation of this guy was spot on. He's now a second team All ACC pick while we've got a 250lb Center that's getting blown up 3 yards in the backfield every play.
Hey Phil,
Exactly how is it that Carson Anderson was offered a scholly and this guy wasn't?
Great talent evaluation there guys.
WorkinLikeHeck writes:
Foolmore was also afraid to partake in verbal jabs with Spurrier unlike Coach Kiffin.
LDDFC912 writes:
Can't go to Carter and give this guy a look? Man. If you look at this way, It is hard to evaluate talent when you stay locked out of the community. CLK.......Please remember UT is in Knoxville. Lets put a fence around the 865 first !
etbuc4eva#271956 writes:
You have to think that getting a few of the players that are from the state of tennessee would have helped UT of a lot this past season. Just look at this list and imagine what ut would have looked like with some of these guys.
Reynolds-UNC
Patrick Turner-USC
Randall Cobb-kentucky
kyrus lanxter-kentucky
Greg cooper-miami
carlos armour-miami
jeremy jarmon-kentucky
harrison smith-notre dame
golden tate-notre dame
michael oher-ole miss
cassius vaughn-ole miss
greg hardy-ole miss
dontae hightower-alabama
barret jones-alabama
Brandon fanney-alabama
alex hurst-lsu
terrence scott-oregon
david spurlock-fsu
aaron crawford-texas tech
joques crawford-kansas
barry turner-nebraska
cade thompson-south carolina-ut martin
Now I understand that youre not going to get every recruit out of the state of tennessee. But to have all of these names playing at other schools doesnt say much for the theory that you cant recruit in tennessee and get good players. You plug in a lot these guys into the tenneessee depth chart and i believe it changes the whole look of your team. Image reynolds,ohe and spurlock into your offensive line and it gets drastically better. You put turner,scott and tate at wr and cobb all over the place on offense and your perimeter suddenly looks pretty good. You put cooper into the tailback rotation with hardesty and look at how explosive you can be. As good as our defense was imagine turner, jarmon, hardy and fanney on the defensive line and look at the depth youve created. Imagine hightower, harrison smith and that defense. I understand you probably wont be able to fill your roster with players from tennessee but we need to make sure we get these type of players and stop listening to the media saying you have to recruit nationally just to get players to compete. Garrett Reynolds, Randall cobb, harrison smith are the type of guys you want laying it out for you every saturday.
LDDFC912 writes:
Great post! You see what I see. And let us not forget Andre Sterling. Ole Miss
WorkinLikeHeck writes:
There is no talent in Tennessee according to Foolmore. Of course, he spent most of his time in Jackson Hole anyhow.
etbuc4eva#271956 writes:
yeah i did forget sterling. theres no way in the world he should be at ole miss instead of in knoxville. hes a steal for ole miss.
invisiblekid writes:
Took some advice that the ever-pleasant Butch handed out about learning about recruiting.
Darius Myers, Malcolm Rawls, Slick Shelly, Antonio Wardlow, and LaMarcus Coker, Todd Cox, and Ricardo Kemp all should send FHCPF and Mr. Reynolds a thank you note for the scholarship in 2005.
With the exception of Coker and a punt block from Wardlow, that would be more than any of these players contributed to the program.
invisiblekid writes:
BTW, glad to see things worked out well for Mr. Reynolds.
etbuc4eva#271956 writes:
Turner is better than any wr on the ut roster except for gerald jones. And you talk about harrison smith cant play for a single sec school well from the way our season turned out theres a bunch of people who couldnt play for an sec school. somehow he has managed to start as a rs freshman at notre dame who went to a bowl game and like it or not, as bad as they are is still notre dame. Cobb, lets see FR all-sec, as a true freshman played qb, wr and pr and did well at all of them. Game winning td catch against arkansas. Finished with over 20 catches and a bunch of big runs in addition to playing qb. He was on campus one summer and got better results that crompton who had been there four years. Kept UK in the UGA game pretty much by himself. Dont think he can play, just ask mark richt who gave the kid one heck of a review after the game. Cade thompson, threw for over 300 yards vs auburn, what did ut qbs do???????? Trust me when i tell you ive been through more recruiting stuff that you would ever even know about. As for hightower, he is a football player. You put him on the field, he makes plays. Now how about you learn about football before you run that trap.
etbuc4eva#271956 writes:
Okay, you can say that about every player that is signed to every school. Thats what recruiting is, hit or miss. I know that houston nutt knows a little about running backs and if he has signed you then you must be pretty good. From cedrick cobbs, mcfadden, jones, michael smith to the guys he has at ole miss now, the guy can find some rb's.
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
I remember both Art and Jack, tough players. Jack is a freakin' legend.
HonoluluVol writes:
Did you not read the story? It stated he was offered to attend as a "preferred walk-on." That means he wasn't offered a scholarship.
tnbud62#231266 (Inactive) writes:
To all you so called "experts" who are calling Carson Anderson a free-loader,I bet most of you would not know a pancake block from a pancake platter.I do recruiting profiles for a national recruiting magazine and I got the pleasure of covering Carson Anderson on 3 occassions,once against the number 1 ranked team in America,Hoover high,Carson was targeted against a 6ft4 in 255 lb def end.the guy didnt have a tackle or assist the whole ball game,Did coach fulmer help there?This young man is a very intelligent lineman who stays square to his opponent and is never out of position.He is also a class "a" kid and student who I will go to bat for and stake my reputation as a recruiting prognosticator on.I wish we had a team full of players like him!He graded out at 95%against the number one team in America,anybody wanna try and beat that?Alot of posters on here wouldnt know chicken doo from chicken soup w/o 2 bites and 2 guesses.Iwill take Carson Andersons on my team any day,THANK YOU.GO VOLS! BEAT BAMA!
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.