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Why his coaches say Clemson football, baseball commit Tait Reynolds can be two-sport success
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- Why his coaches say Clemson football, baseball commit Tait Reynolds can be two-sport success
CLEMSON — Four-star quarterback Tait Reynolds was Clemson football 's first commit in the 2026 class .
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound junior caught the eye of Tigers offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, who visited Queen Creek High School in Arizona to watch the quarterback during one of the school's spring practices this year.
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Reynolds, who is the No. 1 player in Arizona in the 2026 cycle per the 247Sports Composite, recorded 1,808 passing yards and 11 touchdowns with 11 interceptions and rushed for 631 yards and 17 scores in his sophomore season. He participated in the Dabo Swinney Football Camp in early June, received an offer from Clemson on June 8 and committed to the Tigers on July 7 after decommitting from Arizona State baseball on June 25.
"Tait will fit into the culture of Clemson," Queen Creek football coach Travis Schureman said. "He wants to go to a place where he feels like he's given the best chance to compete at the highest level on a night-by-night basis."
Reynolds plans to play baseball for the Tigers ,too. Last season, he earned all-region honors after hitting .408 with 27 RBIs, 10 doubles, two triples and two home runs.
Here are observations from Reynolds' high school coaches as the two-sport athlete enters his junior season:
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Tait Reynolds' strengths, weaknesses before joining Clemson football
Reynolds is a dynamic athlete who possesses a strong arm. He has shown solid pocket instincts in his sophomore season and can take a hit while running and delivering passes. Schureman said the next steps in his evolution will be reading defenses better, understanding more of the team's concepts and handling checks and protections.
"We're starting to see Tait become a true quarterback, not just an athlete playing quarterback," Schureman said. "He's starting to understand the game more."
The junior will have to clean up his turnovers though, throwing 11 interceptions last season and two in six games as a freshman. His accuracy can improve, too, after completing 54.2% of his throws in 2023. Still, Reynolds has immense upside and fits Clemson's mold at quarterback.
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Tait Reynolds' strengths, weaknesses before joining Clemson baseball
Reynolds lifted Queen Creek baseball to a state championship victory after he hit an extra-innings walk-off RBI single. Bulldogs baseball coach Mikel Moreno said the center fielder possesses prototypical size, has improved as a base runner and has strong defensive instincts and impactful bat and running speed.
"He looks like a Division I quarterback, (and) a Major League Baseball player right now," Moreno said. "... There's not a lot of baseball players, just at this age, built like Tait."
As Reynolds enters his junior year, Moreno wants him to become more consistent all around. He has hit only five home runs in his high school career, so adding power to his swing will be a bonus.
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Can Tait Reynolds really play football and baseball at Clemson?
Will Taylor played wide receiver in football and outfielder in baseball with the Tigers from 2021-22 through 2022-23 before focusing on baseball exclusively in 2023-24. Moreno is confident Reynolds can avoid that situation, citing how well he performs at both and how much joy it brings him.
Still, both sports are demanding, especially playing quarterback for a team with national championship expectations. Moreno believes the moment Reynolds loses joy over either sport is when he needs to focus on one.
"I tell him all the time, the moment you feel like, 'I don't want to go hit, I don't want to study, (or) I don't want to watch game film,' that's the moment you need to have a conversation with your parents and decide, 'OK, what am I going to do?'" Moreno said.
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Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Why Clemson football, baseball commit Tait Reynolds can handle 2 sports
