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Taylor said, \u201cCoach Crawford had a son, Ron, who was a year younger than me and a wide receiver, so we got a lot of practice in the backyards. Coach Crawford is a great man, very caring, and [the] kind of coach who cares about the person as much as the athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Shelbyville Central High School\u2019s starting quarterback and a member of the class of 1978, Taylor and the team grew stronger under Crawford\u2019s leadership. His senior year, the Eagles went 8-2 for the season and won their second straight Lions Bowl, defeating Riverdale 35-12. As successful as Taylor was, one little thing popped up again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m not the biggest guy in the world. It was one of the driving forces as I got into high school and then got ready to go to college. They\u2019d say, \u2018You\u2019re not big enough. You\u2019re not tall enough.\u2019 The same thing happened when I was in college and got ready for a pro career,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cSo I was fortunate in that aspect. It was one of the driving forces for me, for people to tell me that I couldn\u2019t do it because of my size or because I was too small. It just motivated me to say, \u2018I think I can.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And he thought right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taylor believed he could play for the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and Vanderbilt University (Vandy) agreed. Taylor was an All-Southeastern Conference quarterback from 1979-82 at Vandy, played in the 1982 Hall of Fame Bowl Game, and was recognized in 2003 as a SEC football legend.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Two new leagues, the United States Football League and the Arena Football League, enabled Taylor to extend his playing career professionally. Following his professional career, Taylor stayed in touch with the game, coaching at high school and university levels before moving to education administration. Recently retired, hindsight revealed every level of play shaped Taylor\u2019s life and influenced his success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Preparation and dedication run the offense, and consistency handles defense in winning games. Both then and now, It works on and off the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDedication,\u201d Taylor said, \u201cis doing everything you can to put yourself in a position to be successful. To prepare for success, study and practice hard. Do the little things it takes to be successful. Consistency is doing what you know you\u2019re capable of doing because of the dedication and practice you\u2019ve put into the game.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a game plan learned from the legacy of his great coaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taylor said, \u201cCoach Crawford helped me become a better coach. He was one of the reasons I got into coaching. It was the way he went about his business as a coach and his relationship with the players. The way Coach Crawford handled players, he was a disciplinarian, but he wasn\u2019t strong-handed. You could talk to him, almost like a second father.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Vanderbilt, the offensive coordinator coach, Watson Brown, brought change and positively influenced the team, which redirected their success. The offense had been leaning on Taylor as a runner more than a passer, but Brown had better ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I was at Vanderbilt, coach Brown came on board my junior year. To be honest, we were not very good when he came in, but he had a whole different outlook on offense. Coach Brown gave me this unbelievable positive attitude and got the team to believe we could be successful. He taught me always to try to be innovative and find new ways to do things. Coach Brown would come up with something new every week, even if it were one little minute change. He was such a great offensive innovator in the game,\u201d Taylor said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Adding to Taylor\u2019s success is his wife, Darlene. The two married in Taylor\u2019s senior year of college and recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. \u201cShe\u2019s definitely been a rock, chasing this crazy dream with me,\u201d he said. His son Matt and his wife, Jenna, have a daughter, Presley, who has her Pops wrapped around her little finger. Their younger son Michael and his wife, Ali, have a young son, Jack \u2013 a pistol, like most toddlers. To say the least, Taylor won\u2019t have to wonder what to do with the extra time retirement brings.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Shelbyville is home to the Taylor family. \u201cI\u2019m just a small town boy. I like community. I\u2019ve been blessed with family, a great church family that we absolutely love, and the friends we\u2019ve made over the years,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taylor said, \u201cFootball offered me tremendous opportunities. There has to be a passion for what you do. If it\u2019s not something you enjoy doing, it becomes a burden.\u201d GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Shelbyville’s Whit Taylor credits his high school and college coaches, plus steely determination for his professional football career. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9798,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/DSC_4845-683x1024.jpg\")