Coach Taylor
Jeff and I first knew each other from his job as Coach, and Teacher at Tullahoma High School. He had our oldest, Karen, in his PE class, and had our youngest, Will, in his Little Dribblers program. I knew Jeff to be a Christian, because of the t-shirts from Little Dribblers and his basketball camps. He always had a bible verse on the kid’s t-shirts. Jeff was a respected and well thought of coach.
Karen adored Coach Taylor and would come home with stories about how he handled a difficult student. Other days we would hear about how he gently interacted with a special needs student and that student’s imaginary friend, Ronnie. Karen after graduation went on to become a school teacher too. She is in Shelbyville teaching 4th and 5th grade. She learned a lot from Coach Taylor.
We went to all the home and away basketball games for several years, because our second child, Robin, played at THS, and because we were in charge of the home concession stand.
Jeff coached some exceptional players at Tullahoma. Marquel Hickerson, and our next door neighbor Chad Rusk were standouts there. One game that I like to remember is a home game against Coffee County, during Chad’s senior season. Tullahoma was behind and time was running out. Chad stole the ball and hit a layup to win the game at the buzzer. I was standing in the doors at the end of the gym, under the goal, watching. We had just closed down the concession stand, and I was trying to watch the end of the game. Because of where I was standing, both Chad and I got our picture on the Sport’s page of the Tullahoma News. I thanked Chad later because I was on the sports page one more time. Jeff’s teams played hard, and didn’t make a lot of mistakes. Jeff reminded me of my coach, Rusty Melvin, because of the way he managed the game with passion and coached his players up.
Jeff’s teams won a lot of games with pretty average players. When he had those few exceptional players, Jeff could to get those guys to step it up as well. Another game that I remember clearly was Columbia away, and it was Marquel Hickerson’s senior year. Columbia always had great athletes, and success in their gym. This place is memorable to me because we had some battles there when I was at Coffee County. Our Coffee County team was completely average, out manned and out played by Fred Jenkins, an all American, and his Columbia team mates. But we never stopped playing, battling, and trying to do what our coach, Rusty Melvin, asked us to do to slow them down. Fast forward to Coach Taylor’s team, we are in the same gym, it smells the same, and looks the same. Coach Taylor, and the Tullahoma boys, are warming up. I can’t help but think that Columbia is going to be hard to beat. It’s their home gym, they are talented, and the gym is full. Columbia probably wins this game. Marquel Hickerson had the ability to elevate his game to the level of his competition. Play an average team, Marquel would score twenty and the Cats would beat them by five or ten points. Play a great team, Marquel could score forty and there was a good chance for the same five or so point winning margin. This had to drive Coach Taylor a little crazy. On that day, Marquel came to play. Columbia would steal the ball or make a long pass and dunk on the other end. The crowd was loud, the Columbia players pushed us around. Marquel would answer with a long three or a drive down the lane and draw a foul. They scored a ton of two’s and we scored a lot of three’s. The Columbia fans and players taunted us each time Columbia dunked. The more they guarded Marquel, he would make no look passes to his team mates for lay ups. The lead changed with each trip down the court. You expect a fight playing Columbia at home. Coach Taylor’s team battled for four quarters. The Cats, with Marquel Hickerson not only slowed down that Columbia team, they beat them in their home gym. It’s one of those games I will always remember.
Coach Taylor left Tullahoma and returned home to Franklin County, where he enjoyed several more years of success. Coach Taylor impacted the lives of hundreds more students and young men at Franklin County.
This picture is from a
tournament game that Coach Taylor's Franklin County Rebels won against another
stubborn and talented Columbia team.
Video from that same day. February 20, 2016. Franklin County beats Columbia 53-52, at Coffee County. Thank you Tracy Taylor Barfield for the link !