Newly appointed assistant coach Craig Reynolds joins men’s soccer Head Coach Craig Blazer and Assistant Coach Hobie Hare after serving as a volunteer coach last season. Reynolds comes to DePaul from the Chicago Fire Juniors’ coaching staff. Previous to that, Reynolds served as an assistant coach for the Chicago Fire from 2004-07. He also helped lead the University of Virginia to one NCAA title game and two quarterfinal games from 1996-2004.
“My past relationships with Craig, I knew he was an outstanding coach having worked with U.S. soccer and the University of Virginia,” Blazer said. “We wanted to use him as a quality resource for not only our coaches, but for our players and he did a good job as a volunteer.
“Then what we’re looking for him to do is use his experience, use his recruiting knowledge, his ability to mentor our young players and provide our program with that foundation for us to really develop into a consistent, proven team.”
Throughout his various assistant coaching positions, Reynolds continued to work as an Olympic Development Program coach, where he recruited and trained players for Olympic team selection. In 2002, Reynolds assisted the under-18 USA national team in their win of the Bordeaux Tournament in France.
With all of his experience working in youth and collegiate programs, everything seems to be off to a smooth start.
“The players were involved in the hiring process, in the interviewing process and they communicated very well that their relationship with Craig has been a positive one,” Blazer said. “It’s a pretty seamless transition. Our players are gaining confidence because they know Craig has been successful and a proven winner in college and in the pros…So it’s another positive voice that the guys are learning from.”
According to Reynolds, the players have been very receptive of him and are eager to learn.
“Obviously, they know I’ve been around the block in terms of experience and there’s a great deal of mutual respect,” Reynolds said. “And that’s one reason I’m really happy to be a part of this program because after my first week of training with them, I realized what a great bunch of guys they are.
“It’s just a captive audience for somebody that loves to teach these kids how to move on to the next level.”