One of Syracuse's newest verbals is also the son of one of the assistant coaches. Are they allowed to talk to one another between now and Summer 2017?
As pat of last week's deluge of Class of 2017 recruits that the Syracuse Orange football team picked up, three-star ATH Eric Coley committed to SU.
At first glance it was a great pick-up because Coley is a New York recruit and he chose the Orange over the likes of Rutgers, Buffalo and others.
But then you realize this other thing about Coley. He's never actually played a down in New York State because he just moved here from Michigan, following in the footsteps of his father, new Syracuse defensive line coach Vinson "Vince" Reynolds.
I am excited as a coach but over joyed as a parent to have the opportunity to coach my Son Eric Coley! pic.twitter.com/TbaOh3fVaQ
— Vince Reynolds (@CoachReynolds81) June 25, 2016
And I don't know about you but I suddenly had a lot of questions. Since Reynolds is a coach on the staff where Coley verballed...can they interact with one another? Can Coach Reynolds attend Coley's games and special football events? Are they allowed to talk during dead periods? Or do they have to eat dinner in silence for the next year?
And I wasn't the only one wondering.
.@NunesMagician, So now Vinson Reynolds can't talk about his son until February? Gonna be a weird 7-8 months at that house #Cuse
— Tommy James - 4K UHD (@MeTommyJames) June 25, 2016
Knowing the NCAA as we do, it'd be just the kind of thing for them to focus in on. To throw down a violation because father and son crossed some kind of arbitrary line. So I asked SU Athletics if they could clarify the situation and here's what they said:
The parent/child relationship overrides the NCAA rules regarding personal contact and participation in the child’s athletics. Coach Reynolds is permitted to attend his football activities.
Coach Reynolds is permitted to talk about his son’s football skills and development prior to college, but is not permitted to speak about his predictions/evaluation of what type of college player Eric will become. Coach Reynolds is not permitted to talk about Eric’s verbal commitment or future college career.
So there you have it. That tweet up there kinda-sorta straddles the line between what's permitted and what's not but I'd imagine Coach Reynolds will go radio silent on the matter moving forward. At least until this time next year...
