Rick McReynolds is leaving his second home…at least officially.     

After 30 years worrying about athletic equipment being where it's supposed to be when it's supposed to be there, McReynolds is retiring from his post as Assistant Athletic Director, Facilities and Operations on Nov. 30.

"We're really going to miss Rick. He's been here so long that he has an institutional history, an institutional memory from the time he was a student. He has a deep knowledge of how the facilities side of how the university works. The stuff he knows isn't teachable," said Portland State Athletic Director Valerie Cleary.

The person at PSU who probably has known McReynolds the longest at PSU is Mike Lund.

"Rick has really been PSU. This wasn't just a job to him," said Lund, Associate Athletic Director, Media and Communications, and McReynolds' colleague through his career at Portland State.      

McReynolds has "bled green and white" since he was recruited as a wrestler at 142 pounds out of Estacada High School. He was pretty good, too, going to nationals all four years.       

"PSU has always been my second home. When I was a student, I loved it here. I'd come in at 7 a.m. and not leave until 11 p.m. A lot of that time, I was working out with my gym-rat friends," he recalled.     

Along the way he earned a Physical Education degree and planned to teach and coach. He did that for a while, as an assistant and head coach at Franklin High School and as head coach for Estacada.  

At Estacada, he was named Coach of the Year in the Tri-Valley League. "I'd probably still be at Estacada if a job hadn't opened up at PSU," he said.      

It was only for a year as equipment manager, but McReynolds jumped at the opportunity.      

"I really wanted to get back to working with Division I athletes. I was still wrestling and wanted to be involved with wrestling on the college level. I was still in pretty good shape and still pretty much of a gym rat," he said.      

A couple years later, the job opened up for good due to a retirement…and the rest, as they say, is history.     

"Taking the job as equipment manager in 1990 was like coming home," he said.     

McReynolds worked with legendary Viking football coaches Pokey Allen and Tim Walsh as equipment manager and with Jerry Glanville and Bruce Barnum as assistant athletic director.     

"The thing I've always loved about being an equipment guy is working with the kids. For a couple of years when I got appointed assistant athletic director, it was more administration. But, the last few years I've been helping out with equipment, so I was able to re-establish that contact," said McReynolds.       

There are a lot of PSU memories for McReynolds. He'll take away just how much the school has grown, how things have changed.     

"I remember every single football practice was somewhere else (before Stott Community Field was built)… Duniway or Sellwood parks, the Columbia Annex, even the old Civic Stadium.  We never had a practice on campus and I'd have to go out there to get everything ready," he said.       

McReynolds also served a couple of seasons when football and basketball had all away games… football at Hillsboro Stadium (where four of its games are being played this season) and basketball at Memorial Coliseum and, last season, at Lewis and Clark.        

"That meant that equipment had to be transferred there for every game… even with football at Providence Park, it's not like having the football stadium on campus. There's nowhere to store anything, so we have to take everything over for each game," he said.       

He's been particularly fond of the staff and players with whom he's worked, "especially Tim Walsh, one of my favorite people. He always treated me like family," he said. "I've also really enjoyed working with Bruce."      

A milepost on the way to retirement was construction of the Viking Pavilion. "I didn't want to retire until that was completed. I helped pick the construction company and was on the steering committee from day one."      

Things he'll take away include "the people I've met, particularly the athletes. They come back and say hi… alumni and others… a lot of people from the Walsh era. I've seen a lot of good coaches come through here."       

In retirement, McReynolds plans to spend more time with his family. "It's been crazy here. From August to March, it's crazy hours and can be seven days a week. With his daughters (Meghan and Lacey) grown, McReynolds wants to spend some time traveling with his wife Shauna, a civil engineer (degree from the University of Portland) who was his high school sweetheart.  He also plans more visits to see grandchildren in the Tri-Cities.     

"I used to hunt in August, and I'm looking forward to being able to hunt and fish again. I love the outdoors." But, his real passion is yard work. He and Shauna have eight acres in Carver "so I'll have plenty to do there."        

Lund will miss McReynolds. "We've had a great working relationship. He's always been very helpful to me and he's really easy to get along with." And he believes "it's been important to Rick for PSU to be viewed in a positive way. Not being a big budget program, we've all had to get our hands dirty. And, he's a guy who's always there when something is going on."       

McReynolds said he's just leaving his job, not going away.       

"I'll still be around coming to things. I have nothing bad to say about PSU. It's always been good to me. This is a great department. People do a lot even though we're always shorthanded because of budgets. But, the morale is good. PSU keeps its people happy."

And Cleary said he has promised to return. "This year, he rented a big smoker grill for the tailgates. He and his buddies are talking about buying that big grill and bringing it to tailgates so we'll be seeing him at least at a few tailgates each fall."

McReynolds, said Cleary, "is really a good soul. He always did his best for PSU."