Sometimes being the head coach gets in the way of coaching.
South Hadley football coach Scott Taylor missed the act of coaching, really the act of teaching, and wanted to return to that. He stepped down as the Tigers’ head coach over the weekend after eight years in charge.
“I don’t know that there ever is a right time. It just got to the point where I’d been 15 years, I’ve truly enjoyed my time there. Something just said this was the right time,” Taylor said. “I needed to step away for myself, maybe for the betterment of the program. It was maybe just time for a new voice. I’ve been thinking about it for a while. If I can’t give it 110 percent then I’m doing a disservice to the kids.”
Taylor joined South Hadley as an assistant in 2007 under Ray Ferro planning to coordinate defense for “20 years and ride into the sunset,” he said. Instead, he eventually took over as head coach in 2014 from Eric Scammons, who had become the head coach in 2011.
“As with football, things change. In 2014, I needed – for the continuity of the program – to assume that role,” Taylor said.
He’s led the Tigers to a 50-27 record as a head coach, winning the 2019 Division 7 Western Massachusetts title. South Hadley also played for a championship in 2018, falling against Wahconah. He also spent time at Amherst, Dean Tech and Western New England in a 23-year career.
Taylor’s South Hadley teams were never the biggest, but they were filled to the brim with high-level athletes that knew the schemes and how to execute them. He recalled the Tigers’ 2010 team under Scammons that went 12-1 as “ridiculous.”
South Hadley fell 24-21 against Wahconah at Gillette Stadium in the 2012 Western Mass. Super Bowl, a game Taylor still remembers fondly even though the Tigers were on the losing end.
“An amazing experience. You lose 24-21 in Gillette, you take a lot away from it,” he said.
The 2019 championship squad was, “a lot of fun to coach. There were a lot of personalities on that team,” he said. Taylor also highlighted a 2008 game against Holyoke that ended with a 106-yard interception return in overtime to secure a South Hadley win, and a 6-5 victory over Putnam at AIC that he deemed the “most physical game” he’d ever been a part of.
“It’s the players that made those games, not the coaches,” said Taylor, 53.
Largely, Taylor is stepping away to be able to spend more time with the players. He’d like to continue coaching but not as the head man.
“I miss coordinating, I miss coaching. I want to get back to that. I don’t want to be in charge, I don’t want to make all of the daily decisions. I want to coach, build relationships with the kids and let somebody else do that heavy lifting,” Taylor said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to make a lot of good friendships throughout western Mass. I would like to continue coaching, I don’t know where right now.”
If that means a year away for the elementary school teacher in Granby, so be it. He has three kids aged 15 to 21 and would be away from his family less.
“I don’t think there’ll be as much time away from home between meetings and state associations. My kids are getting older, too. They’ve sacrificed a lot though the years,” Taylor said.
Wherever he ends up, Taylor will still pull for the Tigers as long as they’re not on the other sideline.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.