Sept. 17, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - There's a lot of flash and style on the Western Kentucky University defensive unit, a group that has finished among the national leaders in numerous categories over the last couple of years. Players have earned all-conference and All-America status while two departed Hilltoppers have even gone on to the National Football League this season.
But groups that perform that well under the spotlight also need a foundation for their success, some substance. That's where senior defensive lineman Patrick Reynolds comes in.
A local resident who enrolled at Western in the fall of 1998, he has emerged as one of the top players at his position in the Gateway Football Conference - as evidenced by his first-team all-league selection last year and making the preseason all-conference squad this summer - and a candidate for national honors, though one might have to look hard to find him on Saturday.
"I'm not the type of person who gets excited," said Reynolds. "I'm always ready to go back and make the next play. My coaches and teammates would like to see more excitement out of me, but I'd rather conserve energy and get back to business."
"Patrick doesn't talk a lot, he's a quiet and reserved guy," head coach Jack Harbaugh stated. "But he is very productive on the field, and we appreciate that. The greatest quality in a player is to know what level he will perform at each week - with Patrick, we are aware that we will get a consistent, high-level effort."
Hilltopper assistant Mike Fanoga, Reynolds' position coach, adds. "He's a silent leader, but I know as a group the defensive line looks to him. When Patrick speaks, everyone in the locker room listens.
"Patrick is a great kid and he's real coachable. He understands the game and what he needs to do to get ready."
Reynolds showed up on the Hill not sure of what position he would eventually play, having spent time as a linebacker and strong safety at Bowling Green High School. He earned all-state and all-district honors after leading the Purples in tackles his final year, but was not sure what to expect upon arriving for fall camp prior to the '98 season. "I never had anyone who was older than me try and help out in that type of situation," he said. "The main thing I knew was that I had a couple of years to make progress in the weight room. I was always one of the strongest players in high school and wanted to fall into that category here too."
Reynolds bulked up as a redshirt his first year -the first time he had participated in practices without the ability to enter a contest - then lost a season when he hurt his ankle in 1999 before the season even began.
"It was frustrating to go through that experience, especially because I was a local guy," he recalled. "So many people in the community would approach me and ask, 'Why aren't you playing?' All I could tell them was to look for me next year.
"Then, the injury was the first that had ever kept me from playing or practicing. All I could do was take advantage of the time to get in the weight room and prepare for the next spring."
When Reynolds finally hit the field in 2000, he posted 53 tackles, 11 stops behind the line of scrimmage and four sacks. But, his efforts were not recognized by the seven other coaches in the Ohio Valley Conference even though Western finished undefeated in league play and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA I-AA playoffs.
The 6-foot-3, 250-pound senior followed up that year with 58 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and four sacks to be named first-team all-Gateway Football Conference, joining four Western teammates on the squad. "The honors are meaningful because they let you know that your hard work is paying off," he commented. "But I would rather have a winning season with no recognition than a losing year and a bunch of awards."
Recognition can be hard to come by even at home for Reynolds, whose younger brother Robert is a sophomore linebacker at Ohio State. Though he claims the two are competitive, the relationship is more about support than a statistical battle. Instead of trying to outshine Robert, the elder Reynolds attempted to help his transition to the college game.
"Everything I knew I passed on to Robert," said Reynolds. "We've always been competitive, but we also both want to play at the highest level we can. When we talk before or after games, we never compare numbers because we know how things are going on the field."
Harbaugh figured that Reynolds' having to sit out while Robert was being recruited could have made things difficult at the time, but that Patrick used it as a springboard to his own success. "A great thing in life is to watch people grow," he said. "I'm not sure Patrick was comfortable with himself when he got here, and it hasn't been an easy process. He wasn't able to compete early on while his brother was being recruited by virtually every Division I-A school in the country, but he worked through it.
"Patrick is one of the brightest students and most competitive players out there, so I'm glad he was recognized by the league, because his teammates and coaches already saw that.
"He should take great satisfaction in the way he put things together at Western to turn his college experience into a tremendous positive."
Though Fanoga would like to see Reynolds advance to the professional level - "He ranks up there with the best players I've coached, and he has the ability and work ethic to have a chance," he says - Reynolds is happy to look at a future in the family business, which involves working on highways throughout the state. One might find that appropriate for the Hilltopper defender who takes pride in his blue-collar dedication to work on the field.
Reynolds' success on the Hill is something that no one associated with the football program could have foreseen almost five years ago. "When you recruit a youngster, envisioning someone as a star player hasn't been true for me," Harbaugh said. "We look for kids who can come in and compete academically and athletically.
"Who would have guessed Patrick would be a 250-pound defensive lineman? I'm not sure how many people would've said this is how the scenario was going to play out four or five years ago. I thought it was going to be possible for him to play linebacker or tight end.
"If you think a kid can be a positive contributor to the program, you let that take care of itself when he gets here."
Reynolds' contributions to Western football have not gone unnoticed by those in the program, though his efforts on the field may have been overshadowed by more excitable teammates.
- WKU -
