QUEEN CREEK - The best teams are the ones that feel like a family. For the Queen Creek football team, familial feelings are frequent. 

Quarterback Tait Reynolds, the number two Arizona prospect, and tight end Bear Fisher, a 2026 Utah Utes commit, are the centerpieces of the Queen Creek family. The two are cousins, while Tait’s dad, Paul, is the strength coach for the football team. 

Tait is a highly touted quarterback and committed to the Clemson Tigers for the 2026 season. He faced injuries his senior season for the Bulldogs and was only able to get into limited action across two games.

Tait Reynolds officially signing with Clemson on QCHS Signing Day. (Colgin Hirschel/AZPreps365.com)

“The lord has a plan for me,” Reynolds said. “I trust what’s in store, take it day-by-day and try to be the best I can be.” 

In 2024, Tait was a superstar for Queen Creek, recording career highs with 2,238 passing yards and 22 passing touchdowns. Tait led the Bulldogs to the Arizona 6A Semifinals as the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. 

Tait and Paul went out to South Carolina to tour Clemson. Immediately, Tait fell in love. Paul made sure his mom knew they’d be staying at the school for longer, despite having other visits lined up. 

"I made a lot of prayers about it, and I asked for that feeling,” Tait said. “I got it when I went there.” 

Tait’s decision to go to Clemson was not an easy one, as his two older brothers, Trey and Porter, are both Utes and will soon be joined by Bear.

“I’d love to spend time with my brothers, but I’ve spent my whole life with them,” Tait said.

Porter, the eldest Reynolds son, played his freshman season at Northern Arizona University in 2023. He will resume his college football career at Utah in 2026, after serving a mission trip in Arkansas.

Trey is currently a junior at Utah and is following in the footsteps of his older brother and father by playing the linebacker position. His real name is actually Paul Reynolds III, but he goes by Trey because of the Spanish word “tres.”

Through 12 games with the Utes, Trey set career highs in almost every statistical category and recorded the first two interceptions of his collegiate career.

“We go [to Utah] all the time,” Paul said. “Go Utes.” 

Tait made sure to respond accordingly.

“And Tigers,” Tait said.

All three of the Reynolds brothers trained under their dad, who has been the guiding light and propelled his sons to where they are today.

In the late 1990s, Paul began his collegiate career with the Arizona State Sun Devils and played on the 1996 Rose Bowl team. He described it as the most fun team he had ever played on.

Throughout his time at ASU, Paul was the travelling roommate of Pat Tillman, a decorated war veteran, former NFL player and one of the most remembered Sun Devils in the school's history. The two were great friends, and Tillman was even invited to Paul and his wife Cheryl’s wedding. 

 

Paul Reynolds with Arizona State football. (Paul Reynolds)

“There were a lot of memories of Pat, but he was a good man and did a lot of great things,” Paul said.

One of the memories that stuck out to Paul was their time together in the hotel, when Paul would be trying to get some rest and Tillman would be up late and laughing while watching Conan O’Brien. It’s just one of many moments that stick out in their time together.

Paul’s time with Tillman was nothing short of great, and he only had one word to describe his former teammate.

“The word ‘loyal’ stands out more than anything,” Paul said. “He was loyal to me as a friend, loyal to his girlfriend, Marie, and to my wife as well.”

This experience at such a high level of football is what made Paul so successful when he transitioned to athletic director of Queen Creek in 2008, a position he would hold for 12 years. In 2020, Paul felt a career change was needed.

Paul stepped away from the AD role and became the Bulldogs' strength coach. He made the career move so he could spend more time with his children, but the change was not foreign to Paul. 

“Being in the weight room… It’s in my wheelhouse,” Paul said.

Paul creates a healthy and fun environment to train under, to the point where Tait finds it enjoyable to be conditioned by his dad.

“We don’t take conditioning lightly,” Tait said. “It’s kind of fun, the running, conditioning and pushing yourself.”

This talent from Paul allowed Bear to blossom into a star. When Bear came to Queen Creek as a sophomore, he was a 6-foot-3, 160-pound basketball player. With the help from Paul, Bear was transformed into a 6-foot-6, 245-pound football prodigy.

 

Bear Fisher officially signing with Utah on QCHS Signing Day. (Colgin Hirschel/AZPreps365.com)“He sees a career in me,” Bear said. “I just believed him and stuck with it.”

Bear’s mom, Becky, benefits the most from this familial lineage. She is siblings with Paul.

Becky always mentioned how she is forever grateful for the life Paul gave her, getting to grow up around the football field. Now she gets to do the same thing in a mother role.

“I tell [Bear] all the time, ‘Thank you for working hard so I can have a good time,” Becky said. “I can’t wait for us to go up there and experience what I did with my own brother.”

This coaching doesn’t stop at the Bulldogs; it extends into the Fisher family and even past Bear. Scott, Bear’s father, was trained under Paul during his collegiate career in the early 2000s.

Scott originally committed to Utah out of high school, but due to coaching staff changes, he and his twin brother, also named Paul, switched their commitment to the other side of the Holy War and became Brigham Young University Cougars. 

“I’ve been trained by other Division I strength coaches, but the fastest and strongest I’ve ever been in my life was working with Paul,” Scott said.

Scott began his collegiate career at BYU in 2002 after a mission in Chile. He then stayed in Utah and went to Utah Tech, formerly Dixie State. Scott and his brother finished their careers at Iowa State from 2005 to 2006.

 

Scott Fisher with Iowa State football. (Scott Fisher)Scott always had a place in his heart for the Utes, despite growing up in a Cougar household. His father won BYU an NIT championship in 1966 for basketball.

“I’ve always been a Ute,” Scott said. “I probably have more Utah gear than any other.” 

This love for the school pushed Scott in the direction of Utah. When he was in the recruitment process, Ron McBride was the head coach at Utah, along with Steve Kafusi as the defensive ends coach and even Kyle Whittingham, who was the defensive coordinator at the time. 

The only coach that is still in Salt Lake City from Scott’s recruitment days is current head coach Kyle Whittingham, and it was special for Scott to go back up there when Bear was being recruited.

When the two visited the school, Whittingham remembered Scott and gave him a huge hug.

“Those guys are professionals,” Scott said. “They’re good at what they do.”

Now that Bear is going to be a Ute come the 2026 season, the Fisher and Reynolds families will have plenty of time to catch up.

“It’s going to be a family reunion every game,” Scott said.

With all the history these two families have at Utah, Bear was destined to end up at Utah.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Paul said.

Yet, Scott doesn’t think the familial ties they have at Utah were as big of a factor to Bear’s choice as it seems.

“If [the Reynolds] weren’t at Utah, I think Bear would have picked Utah anyways,” Scott said.

Becky mentioned how when Bear went up there, they seemed to know everything about him as a player. It showed they really cared.

These two families have grown a real pipeline to Utah, but with Tait Reynolds going to Clemson, the Fishers have tried to make their case for him to come back out west.

“He’s had every angle of person trying,” Scott said. “When Grandpa can’t succeed on something like that, you just have to back up.”

With all these stories and moments, they all have a common crossroad in Queen Creek. 

So expect to see the names Tait Reynolds and Bear Fisher among some of the brightest stars in football. Just remember the backbone to their careers is a rooted family that spans far beyond the football field.