THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 22, 1995 TAG: 9509200187
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: The Sports Editor
SOURCE: Bill Leffler
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Joe Taylor, Hampton University's highly successful football coach, doesn't mind saying that he learns many of the tricks of his trade from other coaches.
And it doesn't concern X's and O's.
On a Monday visit to the Portsmouth Sports Club, Taylor explained his coaching philosophy - which has produced 94 victories and four ties in his 132-game head coaching career.
``X's and O's are fine,'' he said. ``But they don't win ball games. Plays don't make players. Players make plays.
``I tell my coaches and my players that we must understand what we are doing. We need to communicate.
``(Grambling coach) Eddie Robinson may be the greatest coach in America. And he says the most critical area for a football play g1bl22col Taylor er is the area between his two ears.''
Taylor said he was quite ready to accept the credit for his players' achievements but he felt they were guided more by other forces.
``I learned from Johnny Majors when he was at Tennessee that the first thing you do is recruit locally.
``We have 90 players and 49 are from the state of Virginia.
``It's amazing what some players can do when mama is in the stands.''
Taylor believes it's important for youngsters to play before those who care the most about them.
``There is nothing worse than seeing a kid come out of Phoebus High School and play at the University of Georgia,'' he said.
The players learn Taylor's philosophy early. And he conveys his thoughts to them with one-liners that leave no doubts in their minds:
``Bleed slow,'' he tells the defense. He says they cannot surrender yardage in chunks. It must be tough yardage. Wear the opponent down. Often many people will turn around.
``Be the reason we won, not the reason we lost,'' he tells his special teams.
``Don't be indecisive,'' he says to his assistants and field leaders. ``Our program will not move forward with fence riders.''
Hampton moved into Division I-AA this year and Saturday's 16-7 victory over 12th-ranked Grambling gave the Pirates a 2-1 record.
``We're in the midst of our frequent flier period,'' quipped Taylor. ``We have gone from Atlanta to Washington to New York. Now we go to Baton Rouge in Louisiana and then back down to Florida.''
He's hopeful of building up a major schedule involving top schools nearer to home. Next year Hampton will play William and Mary.
Taylor doesn't want to make an overnight leap into games Hampton U. might be overmatched at this point in its growth. ``We have people who would have us playing the Redskins,'' he said with a laugh.
``We need to look back and see just where we are. There is no magic in this. It takes hard work with commitment and resources.'' by CNB