Former Pitt linebacker Elias Reynolds, who left the team abruptly last season, has found a home to complete his college football career, and it turns out his landing spot is not far from where he grew up.
Reynolds (6-foot-2, 235 pounds) will join Stony Brook as a graduate transfer for the 2020 season. The team announced Reynolds' decision Friday. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
Stony Brook is a Football Championship Subdivision member and competes in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Seawolves finished 5-7 in 2019.
"I am extremely excited about Elias joining our football program," Stony Brook head coach Chuck Priore said on the team's website. "I believe we have added a quality person as well as an outstanding football player. We look forward to helping him reach both his academic and athletic goals."
The Brooklyn, N.Y., native appeared in 25 games over two-plus seasons at Pitt and played in the Panthers' opening three games of the 2019 season, including starts at middle linebacker against Virginia and Penn State. He had eight tackles and a sack before he and the team "mutually parted ways" in late October.
Reynolds, who earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Pitt, started seven games in 2018, making a career-high 12 tackles against Duke and seven stops in the ACC championship game against Clemson.
On June 1, Reynolds accused Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi of referring to players on opposing teams and his team as "thugs."
https://t.co/ZSuOMARGaL pic.twitter.com/RLlY95CYMu
— Elias Reynolds (@xliv_era) June 1, 2020
A week later, Narduzzi issued a statement addressing the matter. Part of the statement read: "I want to address the word 'thug' and its use in our program. Simply put, it's not allowed. Last season, I learned how that word, and what it suggests, has changed. Through our regular discussions in our weekly players' leadership council, our players shared their feelings on that word. Our program understands it will not be part of our vocabulary."
Before arriving at Pitt in 2016, Reynolds was considered one of the top prospects in New York, where he was a Class AA all-state selection at Poly Prep Country Day.
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