Sam B. Taylor

Sam B. Taylor
Sport(s) Football, basketball, track
Biographical details
Born Doswell, Virginia
Died April 1, 1966
Frankfort, Kentucky
Playing career
Football
1921–1923 Northwestern
Position(s) End
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1924 Virginia State
1925–1930 Clark (GA)
1931–1943 Prairie View A&M
1945–1948 Virginia Union
1950–1957 Bluefield State
1959–1962 Kentucky State
Basketball
1924–1925 Virginia State

Samuel Brown Taylor (? – April 1, 1966) was an American educator and college football coach.

Educator

In 1943, Taylor was named the "Supervisor of Negro Education" for the state of Kentucky.[1] He was one of the primary educators in the state of Kentucky responsible for de-segregation of public schools after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954.[2]

Coaching career

Virginia State

Taylor began his coaching career at the Virginia Normal School and Industrial Institute (now known as Virginia State University) as its first men's basketball coach in 1924–25.

Clark College of Atlanta

In September 1925, Taylor and his new bride, Lullene Perrin, moved to Clark College–now known as Clark Atlanta University–in Atlanta, where Taylor coached football until 1931.

Prairie View A&M

Coach Taylor established an athletics program that included Track and Football. His track team was second to none between 1931 and 1942. He coach such athletes as "Blue" Stanley, Lewis "Jack Rabbit" Smith, Johnny Marion, and Veda "Skeets" Metlock Johnson. Johnny Marion and Lewis Smith ran against Jesse Owens in the Olympic Trials of 1936.

Taylor was the fourth head football coach at Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas and he held that position for 13 seasons, from 1931 until 1943. His record at Prairie View was 69–32–15. Taylor was inducted into the Prairie View Athletic Hall of Fame in June 1987.[3][4]

Virginia Union

Taylor took over the reins as head football coach and track coach in 1945 after the war. Once again, Lewis "Jack Rabbit" Smith teamed up with Taylor and ran under the maroon and steele colors of Virginia Union University.

In 1948, the Virginia Union University Panther Football Team of 38 players defeated Jake Gaither and the Rattlers of Florida A & M University in the Orange Blossom Classic. While FAMU boosted an 8-1 record, little VUU with its 5-5 record beat FAMU 39-18.

Bluefield State

In the summer of 1950, Taylor emerged as the next head football coach of Bluefield State College after much speculation that the next coach would be Willie Jeffries. Taylor coached at Bluefield until late spring 1958.

Kentucky State

Taylor later went on to be named the 13th head coach at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky and he held that position for four seasons, from 1959 until 1962. His coaching record at Kentucky State was 15 wins, 20 losses, and 1 ties. Hip replacement surgery sidelined Taylor as the football coach, but he continued to coach track. In 1965, Taylor had the fastest quarter of a mile runner in the country. After a lengthy illness Coach Taylor died April 1, 1966.[5] He was inducted into the K-Club Athletic Hall of Fame October 2009.[6]

References

  1. ↑ University of Kentucky Libraries, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database
  2. ↑ Reactions to Brown v The Board of Education, Leigh S. Andrews, 2005
  3. ↑ Prairie View A&M University coaching records Archived 2009-01-07 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ "Prairie View Agricultural & Mechanical University Directory". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on 2011-05-25.
  5. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PGc8AAAAIBAJ&sjid=DCoMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1981,35104321&dq=sam+taylor+kentucky+state&hl=en
  6. ↑ Kentucky State University coaching records Archived 2012-10-09 at the Wayback Machine.
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