TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

Rattlers Look To Improve Under Taylor

ADVERTISEMENT

By BRENT KALLESTAD Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 12, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - Another Florida A&M football season, another coach.

The Rattlers begin the 2008 campaign with their third coach in five seasons at the school, which has fallen far from when it was a historically black college powerhouse under legendary coach Jake Gaither.

Now it's Joe Taylor's turn. The longtime Hampton coach took the job on the last day of 2007, promising to do his best to restore a winning tradition.

"I don't think you're worth your salt unless you're willing to take on a challenge," Taylor said. "There is no magic wand, no magic dust to be sprinkled, but there is a blueprint. Somewhere along the line somebody's got to be willing to perspire."

And that recipe has worked well for Taylor, who is 197-78-4 as a head coach, including 136-49-1 at Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rival Hampton the last 16 years.

"He has a very impressive history," said Eddie Jackson, a former vice president at FAMU who began his career as a sports publicist for Gaither. "I think the university was fortunate to get a coach with his record and experience."

Hopes Are High

And despite last year's 3-8 record, hopes are high across Rattler Nation, where many still remember Gaither's remarkable 203-36-4 record at the school from the end of World War II through the turbulent '60's.

"I thought that this would be a very, very exciting opportunity," Taylor said.

But no one has been good enough since the legendary Gaither.

Not even Billy Joe. The one-time NFL player coached the Rattlers for 11 years and led them to four Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles before being fired by an interim president during troubled times at the school.

Joe, who is in College Football's Hall of Fame, was victimized by an ill-advised decision by the school's trustees earlier this decade to move from Division I-AA to Division I-A. That fizzled quickly, but only after creating a budget deficit in the athletic department.

Rudy Hubbard was 83-48-3, won a national black championship and an NCAA Division I-AA title in the late 1970s and that wasn't good enough. Hubbard, who spent years in business here, returned to coaching this year at a local high school.

A favorite alum, longtime Cincinnati Bengals' star Ken Riley, followed Hubbard and had a 48-38-2 mark before departing in favor of Joe.

Taylor replaces Rubin Carter, who was fired after just three seasons despite inheriting a myriad of problems within the university when he took the program over in 2005. After last season's 3-8 mark, Carter stood at 16-17 and was showed the door.

Carter, who starred as a defensive lineman at the University of Miami and was part of the Denver Broncos' "Orange Crush" defense, was a tough disciplinarian and some players rebelled. Starting quarterback Arthur Chester II quit four games into last season without talking with Carter.

Now it's up to Taylor, who has won everywhere else he's coached.

"The only thing a coach wants is to see his young men give a hundred percent effort," Taylor said. "We've got to be physical."

He inherits a half dozen starters on defense and eight on offense, including last year's MEAC Rookie of the Year, tailback Philip Sylvester. The speedy 185-pounder led the league with an average of 164 all-purpose yards a game and rushed for 858 yards and seven touchdowns.

A 355-pound guard, Anthony Collins, anchors an experienced offensive line that returns four starters and will be counted on to protect quarterback Eddie Battle, a redshirt sophomore who passed for 537 yards and four touchdowns in limited action last season.

Middle linebacker Vernon Wilder, who has led the Rattlers in tackles the last two seasons, leads the defense.

With Wesley Taylor graduated, the punting and place-kicking duties are wide open.

And the schedule includes seven road games, starting at home Aug. 30 with Alabama State and concluding Nov. 22 in Orlando against intrastate rival Bethune-Cookman.

"With 12 games you don't get a lot of down time," Taylor said. "We'll have to remain healthy to get through it."

And Rattler fans may have to be patient with their new coach - at least for a while.

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT