Joe Taylor might be leaving Hampton

[DOOMS]

HU's Taylor offered Western Carolina job
The Pirates' coach will inform the school of his decision today.

BY MARTY O'BRIEN
Daily Press
December 29, 2007

Hampton University football coach Joe Taylor said Saturday that he is interviewing for the head coaching position at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C. Taylor said that he has been offered the job and will inform Chancellor John Bardo today whether or not he will accept.

"I would not be interviewing for the job if I was not interested," Taylor said on Friday night. "As of now I have not made a decision."

Sources at Hampton University said that Florida A&M has also contacted Taylor asking for permission to interview him. Taylor would not comment on that.

Taylor is interviewing for a position that has been vacant for the past 1½ months, when former coach Kent Briggs was reassigned to another position within the university. The Catamounts have won only three games the past two seasons and are winless in the powerful Southern Conference since 2005.

According the Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times newspaper, the school offered the job to Newberry coach Zak Willis on Dec. 12, but then rescinded the offer. Willis told the paper that WCU did not give a reason for rescinding the offer. The school then hired one of the nation's top job search firms to help them find a coach.

Taylor has coached at Hampton University the past 16 seasons. He has compiled a 136-48-1 record and guided the Pirates to eight conference titles –- five in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and three in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Taylor guided the Pirates to three consecutive MEAC titles from 2004-06. The Pirates finished 6-5 this past season.

Y'all thought we couldn't recruit in-state now? Let Taylor take tht job.

[aggierattler]

Sources in Tallahassee say that he accepted and then rebuffed the FAMU offer to "strongly consider" the WCU job. It is his to accept.

Wouldn't this make him the first black head coach of ANY sport in the Southern Conference?

[DOOMS]

Wow! He'll be lonely, but if he does well he won't be lonely for long.

[DECKS]

WCU is about to start pumping $$'s into that program so he'd be going at the right time.

[DOOMS]

sike!

www.rattlernews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071229/FAMU03/712290336/1002/SPORTS

Source: FAMU set to hire Hampton's Taylor as football coach
By Heath A. Smith
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

Hampton head football coach Joe Taylor has accepted an offer from Florida A&M President James Ammons to become the school's next head football coach, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

The source said Taylor and his wife are expected to fly down to Tallahassee on Monday for an official announcement.

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Taylor already had an offer on the table from Western Carolina and was supposed to give the school the decision about that offer today.

Taylor was scheduled to come to Tallahassee to meet with Ammons this past Friday according to a source, but bad weather prevented that trip from happening.

Taylor has been the coach at Hampton for 16 years and has compiled a 136-48-1 record there. Taylor led the program through the transition from a NCAA Division II to the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formally Division I-AA).

While on the Division II level, Taylor led Hampton to three Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships.

Taylor has already won five MEAC Championships since joining the conference including three consecutive titles from 2004-2006.

The Pirates finished 6-5 this past season. Taylor replaces Rubin Carter, who was fired Nov. 20 after three seasons as the Rattlers' head football coach.

"I think that Joe will be a good for the players," Carter said today. "He has a good personality and he will recruit within the vicinity for high school talent."

[Aggie One]

I go there reguarly on business. WCU is a carbon copy of A&T in terms of football facilities but they do have a generous alumni. They are the poor sister of App State but haven't ever recovered from A&T and Bill Hayes kicking their azz back in '93 at their place (34-10) when they were supposed to make a deep run into the playoffs and were ranked first in 1-AA in preseason.

They fired their coach right after that as did East Tenn State. That may have been our best team (beating PWCs - App State, Liberty, WCU, and all in the same year with two of the three on the road).

On paper, it may seem to be a good move but he has one major problem in the SW mountains of NC. He's black and the head coach. That money will dry up quicker than you think if he doesn't win right out the chute and beat App State inside of two years.

[DOOMS]

Jerry Holmes to replace Joe Taylor as Hampton football coach
Holmes, a defensive coordinator the last three years at HU, takes over for the longtime Pirates coach, who reportedly is moving on to Florida A&M.

MARTY O'BRIEN
9:27 PM EST, December 29, 2007

Jerry Holmes was named Saturday as the new head football coach at Hampton University, HU athletic director Lonza Hardy said. Holmes, the Pirates' defensive coordinator the past three seasons, replaces Joe Taylor, the Pirates' head coach the past 16 seasons.

Taylor has accepted the job as head coach at Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rival Florida A&M, according to a story posted Saturday on Tallahassee.com. Taylor compiled a record of 136-49-1 at Hampton, guiding the Pirates to five MEAC and three CIAA titles. He is the winningest coach in school history.

"When I look back over my 16 seasons at Hampton University, I have nothing but fond memories," Taylor said in an HU press release.

Said HU President William Harvey: "Coach Taylor is a man of great character. He has been a postive role model for hundreds of young men. He has been a true ambassador for Hampton University.

Holmes, a Newport News native and West Virginia University graduate, played 10 years in the NFL and also was an assistant coach in the NFL: Cleveland (1999-2000), Washington (2001) and San Diego (2002-03). Holmes played high school football at Bethel High in Hampton and helped the Bruins win the 1974 Group AAA state title. The former college and professional defensive back was inducted into the West Virginia Hall of Fame this fall.

"Everywhere Coach Holmes has been he's enjoyed a high level of success," Hardy said. "He has a very good relationship with our student-athletes and staff. He is the ideal coach to bring into our program."

[aggierattler]

Confirmed. Joe Taylor left Hampton to go to FAMU.