The Surge

One of an athlete’s biggest dreams is success—cheers and chants, an arena filled with thousands of people. Dr. Orville Reynolds, one of the Bays’ highly respected Assistant Principals (AP) shared this dream like so many other athletes. Dr. Reynolds attended Wake Forest University as a Division 1 (D1) football player and track athlete. Dr. Reynolds said he has always had a passion for football and athletics as a whole and it took hard work and dedication to make his dream a reality. Now, ten years later, he has extended his dream to supporting a new generation of scholar-athletes at the Bay.

“In high school, I attended Cardinal Gibbons from ninth to 10th grade. I was the only one to play as a freshman and I scored eight touchdowns in my sophomore year,” Dr. Reynolds said. “I was thriving and had received offers from some small schools. As a 10th grader, it is more small schools; you get bigger offers in your junior year, but I knew I was one breakout season from bigger options. My sophomore year felt amazing to be seen by schools and set the standard for the type of athlete I wanted to be.”

Halfway through his sophomore year, Dr. Reynolds transferred to Marjory Stoneman Douglas to join their running offense and saw immediate improvement. His carries doubled, his rushing yards increased—Dr. Reynolds said moving there benefitted him a great deal as a player. 

“I had 1,500 yards rushing and close to 20 touchdowns and was clocking a 4.2 second 40-yard dash. What felt surreal was that after all of my hard work, by the time I was 16, I had over 15 D1 offers,” Dr. Reynolds said. “My biggest dream was to be a known athlete and go to a school in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC or SEC), in other words, a heavily football-oriented and respected school.”

Dr. Reynolds valued academics just as much as he did his athletic career and aimed to attend a school that would benefit him both ways. Graduating high school with a 4.3 Grade Point Average (GPA), Dr. Reynolds was also an All American Track star, ranking sixth at States achieving straight A’s his whole life. Dr. Reynolds said he knew that he had to continue prioritizing his education. He was tasked with choosing a school: Duke University or Wake Forest University.  

“Wake Forest had piqued my interest and gained my respect because they offered me offense, whereas Duke offered me on defense,” Dr. Reynolds said. “I dreamt of playing at a D1 school as a running back, so I knew offense would benefit my athletic ability the most;  I was the only freshman to play right away. Being able to play against schools such as Florida State, Miami, Notre Dame, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech intrigued me even more.”

Dr. Reynolds started his educational career not long after graduating and became an Exceptional Student Education (ESE) teacher for the next five years. After five years at Marjorie Stoneman Douglass (MSD) and two years as a guidance counselor for Margate Middle School, Dr. Reynolds began serving one of our APs at the Bay. He said he continues to implement characteristics and lifelong skills he has learned from his athletic career into his current career. Dr. Reynolds has carried out his passion and hunger for football in his current career by working with his peers and the rest of the student body to create a lively environment for all students and staff. Dr. Reynolds continues to offer his guidance to students at the Bay, making an impact on the students by motivating and inspiring them.

“I implement my drive and determination, for example, whenever I get anxious or nervous about something, it almost awakens me rather than scares me,” Dr. Reynolds said. “I believe I continue to implement commitment and passion into my career, as I have always been the kind of person who wants more. There is truly no stopping point; I see never-ending opportunities to advance in every aspect of life. The only way to coast is downhill.”

Bottom Line: Today, the Bay offers a plethora of resources to athletes to prepare them for recruitment, college signing and the journey from high school into college athletics. The National Collegiate Athletic Association and Broward County Athletic Association both send representatives to inform and assist athletes. Dr. Reynolds puts his best effort forward to attend as many athletic events as he can, being the best role model for our athletics department.