Mike Reynolds- Program Builder

Mike Reynolds has won at every stop in his coaching career. When he came to Galesburg, the Streaks had struggled in the 2000’s. There were coaches who said Galesburg was a bad job, things have changed, you can’t win there anymore. By the time Mike left Galesburg, he had turned things around. Galesburg won every year and they competed for Regional titles.

Mike was hired early in the spring, I had never met him. I was home for 6 weeks, recovering from hip replacement surgery. Ralph Henning (AD) and Tom Chiles (Principal) told Mike to call me with questions. I think Chiles words were, “All he does is sit around, he needs something to do.” So my introduction to Mike was Mike calling me afternoons with questions. I immediately could tell he was going to get after things.

When Reynolds arrived, Galesburg hosted no tourneys. One year the Streaks played only 7 home games. People had told him they wanted a Thanksgiving Tourney, but they thought the girls tourney would “get in the way.” I assured him that we could have both a girls and boys tourney, and said we have a girls King Tourney too, maybe he could put together one too. It quickly became apparent that Reynolds could put together both a Thanksgiving and King Tourney. And by the time he left Galesburg, he had added a Galesburg Shootout too. People don’t realize how much work it takes to organize a tourney, but Reynolds was able to organize two from scratch in a matter of months.

Mike built good coaching staffs. Originally I was going to say he put together good coaching staffs, but Reynolds built them. He selected good basketball people for his staff but he is really good taking the people and building them as a team. He identified the strengths of each member of his staff, and then put them in roles that took advantage of their strengths.

On the floor, Reynold’s teams flat out compete on every possession, and they play tough defense. The Streaks had a toughness, kind of like Michigan St in the Big Ten. Galesburg was not easy to play against. Other teams began to not like playing Galesburg and not like Galesburg- that was great!

While Reynolds had some great teams at Galesburg, the most impressive thing is the program he left behind in Galesburg. When the existing youth program began to cut things back, Mike stepped in and organized the Future Streaks. Today the Future Streaks has about 200 girls and boys from 3^rd thru 8^th grade playing competitive games and having organized practices. What he did with the Future Streaks will have an impact for years to come.

My son had an opportunity to be on Reynold’s team for two years. Allen had a positive experience, and learned a lot. Allen has been involved with two college programs and five college head coaches but he will still bring up things Coach Reynolds said or how he had the team execute things.

Mike Reynolds knows how to build a schedule, build a program, and build a team. But in listening to my son talk, Coach Reynolds knows how to build relationships with his players.

You played for Scott Olson, and then started out as an assistant for Olson. What role has he played in your career? What are the biggest things you learned from him?

Coach Olson has had great influence on my life and my coaching career. I have learned so many things that it is hard to list them all. At a young age as a player, he really instilled in me that if you put the work in that in the end good things would happen and it would be worth it. I look back at my times as an Orion Charger as some of the best memories of my life. To be able to play in a program and a town that supported athletics is something that I will never forget and will always cherish.

I think as a coach, more than X's and O's he taught me to coach every player as you would want your son to be coached. I think I have taken that from him and tried to put that in my daily coaching. He had a unique way of pushing you to your limits but also making you feel loved at the same time.

Would Olson have been more successful at Orion if he had gotten the ball to you inside more?

I think we probably would have been more successful at Orion if he let me shoot 3's. In all fairness, I think if he would have subbed me out more we might have done even better.

You were an assistant coach and coached on lower levels at both East Moline and Danville. How did that shape what you are looking for in an assistant, and what things you want an assistant to be doing?

I actually started in Cambridge for Coach Denison and then went to UT and coached freshman with now UT Superintendent Jay Morrow. As an assistant, I tried to keep my ears open and my mouth shut especially early in my career. I really wanted to prove that I belonged. I remember being amazed at how much basketball those guys knew compared to me. I tried to think like a head coach but act like an assistant. I had big dreams like most young assistants on how I would run my own program but I enjoyed every moment of being an assistant. I loved working 2 practices a day and then scouting at every chance I got. I really learned how to work and grind through a season from Coach Denison and Olson. Those two guys were heroes of mine growing up and it was a thrill to be able to coach with them.

When I am looking for an assistant, I really am looking for guys that are not afraid to speak their mind and that I feel will be loyal to me and the entire program.

Early in your career you went back and forth between small schools and big schools. Your first head coaching job was at Bismark-Henning, where you were very successful.  Then you went to Galesburg. Some people think a coach can have success at a small school but it is a lot different at a bigger school. Do you think it is true? 

I think it is true on some respects but really kids are kids no matter if you grow up in Bismarck or Galesburg. Kids was to follow someone that they feel have their best interests at heart. I have always tried to to that in my career both on and off the court. I feel like if a coach is willing to invest time in building relationships with his players then he will be successful almost anywhere that he coaches.

When you got your first head coaching job at Bismarck, you had a lot of experience as an assistant coach. But being a head coach is different. What advice would you give to someone starting out as a head coach?

The main advice that I would give is Be yourself. That is pretty much all that I told Coach Hart after I left and he took over. Being ahead coach is a major undertaking that is difficult if you are not true to yourself and your own set of values.

When the Galesburg coaching position opened up, I remember talking to some boys coaches about the job. Their comment was that Galesburg at that time was a bad job. What was it about Galesburg that got you interested? 

At the time, it probably wasn't the best job. I remember listening to Lou Henson speak one time and he said that the best coaches never take a bad job. Still I was so intrigued about Galesburg and their traditions. I knew it it had a lot of perceived negatives at that time but I really thought that the end game had so many positives. I was probably lucky in being able to hire the right staff and had an administration that allowed me to kind of reshape the entire program. My staff and I were trying to build a program that would stand the test of time. I think we certainly we successful in doing that. We were able to win a lot of games but more importantly we brought back the swagger of Silver Streak Basketball. It is something that I will never forget.

You have now gone into 3 different programs. It has to be a challenge to build your program. When you start out in a program, what are the first things you try to do?

The 1st thing that I try to do is put my immediate stamp on the program. People that know me would tell you that I love aggressive minded players. I think that is something that can be taught and I try to do that starting on day 1 in the summer. At DeKalb, since I was hired at the end of the summer it came during conditioning and the 1st two weeks of practice. I also try to set the tone by doing everything 1st class including every little detail involved in the entire program from the youth program on up to the varsity. I think so many coaches make the mistake of focusing on their TEAM instead of focusing on the entire PROGRAM from day 1.

 If someone watched your practice, what are three things you would hope they would see as the emphasis in your program?

I think work ethic, aggressive play and a total emphasis on defense. Even with the game changing to more of an offensive approach, I still believe that defense is something that can never take a possession off. I think if you came to our practices, you would see that type of focus and energy.

Your boys are getting older and are into athletics. As a dad, how do you try to balance challenging them without pushing too hard?

It is tough but I think it is important to allow your kids time to be a kid. Sean has always loved to play sports especially basketball (yes he gets most of his talent from his mom) but I never pushed him to work out or do things on his own. He has always just done it. He puts alot of time in on his own. If he asks, I will never turn him down but I really never ask him. As we have been locked up in this crazy situation, I have been prodding him a little more to do workouts by sending him stuff about Luka Garza working out three times a day. Tonight, he told me he was going to be better that Luka and work out 4 times a days. Really for Sean, I want him to continue to love competition because I know that it will benefit him later in life. 

Ethan is still young and trying to keep up with Sean and doing a great job at a young age. He like Sean loves all sports and tries to keep up with the older neighbors. I am taking the same approach with Ethan that I did with Sean and kind of let them watch the way my players work and he will figure it out. My players have always been the best role models for my boys in terms of work ethic and how to play the game the right way. Our #4 Meeker jersey is too small for Sean so Ethan is wearing it. One of my favorite things about coaching with young boys is watching who they gravitate to during the season. Ethan was so fond of Jaylin when we were at Galesburg and asked about him all the time this year. When we got the DeKalb, he latched right on the numerous guys. I am so appreciative of how well all my players have treated my boys.

Last question- if you could pick three people (living or dead) to invite for supper, who would you invite?

Hard to pick just three. I would always pick my dad (not only because he would pay but because he is the one that I have always admired and looked up to), Bill Laimbeer (loved the way he competed on every possession) and Pat Riley (got the best out of every team he ever coached ultimate winner). I think the conversation would certainly be entertaining.