In a little over 48 hours, FAMU will usher in the Joe Taylor era. A proven winner in his previous stops, he'll try to put his winning stamp on a Rattlers team that hasn’t tasted much success lately in the past few years.Taylor, who will also get a chance to go after his 200th career victory and try to steer the Rattlers back into the postseason for the first time since 2001.
Expectations of winning at FAMU are always high, and Taylor and his staff are embracing the challenge.
“If you take the reins of a stallion, you have an opportunity to ride a stallion, you want to ride it well,” said associate head coach George Small. “You want to showcase it well.”
It won’t be an easy task.
The Rattlers are coming off a 2007 campaign in which they went 3-8 and finished eighth in the MEAC standings under former head coach Rubin Carter.
Offensively, the Rattlers will be an experienced group. Eight starters are returning, including 2007 MEAC rookie of the year Philip Sylvester. The sophomore running back totaled 858 yards and seven touchdowns in his debut last season.
Four of the eight returning offensive starters are linemen, which Small said are the most experienced players on the team aside from the secondary.
Eddie Battle will go into the new season as a more experienced quarterback. He played in six games last season and will try to get the Rattlers into the end zone more often. The Rattlers averaged barely more than 17 points per game in 2007.
Linebacker Vernon Wilder, who led FAMU in tackles in 2007, returns to help anchor a young defensive unit. The Rattlers lost five key defensive starters from last season.
Despite having a new coaching staff and a younger core, the Rattlers are still focused on success.
“We have a very, very young football team, but the enthusiasm and talent is definitely there in order to have a successful program, we feel like this season,” Small said.
yada, yada, yada....i know the 'taylor era' better start off with a win with the amount of money Taylor is being paid. To go from an 85-90K job at Hampton to receiving over 200K in one year that is a huge pay increase. We want our return on investment(ROI) immediately.
ReplyDeleteMy *rse will be in the stands, with a paid ticket (Hayes), to support the program, but if we lose this game Hayes and Taylor may need protection from those same officers who are scheduled to run away the street vendors selling unlicensed FAMU paraphanelia. oh, btw if famu runs away the sausage and candy apple vendors then we gonna have to fight...lol
Why do you N-Words always worry about somebody's salary? If you support FAMU on a regular basis, then it will be a win-win situation for everybody. It's past time for us to step up our game in financial support. Leave the ghetto rhetoric in the ghetto and act normal for a change.
ReplyDelete2:17, who's more ghetto than you. The first poster is correct, and you, I'm afraid (but not really afraid), are very ghetto. No one came to the board calling folks the n-word, nobody but you. So that means that you need to step to the language police and clean up that ol' raggedy mouth of yours. And Taylor DOES need to win, and Taylor DID get a humongous jump in salary, and Taylor MUST win, or he'll be banished to the pits of hell -- the same place where you and that ol' tired mouth of yours belong. Holla.
ReplyDeleteDon't blame coach taylor for the salary he's making . Blame Ammons, Ammons should have consulted with someone about picking a coach. Coach Taylor just took advantage of a good situation and a naive president.
ReplyDeleteI guess all of you all are quiet now, huh?
ReplyDeleteIt's a long season 7:46am. Let's be realistic. They won the game on opportunities, they were out played the whole game.I still say 3-8.
ReplyDeleteJC, give the man a break, he's not a magician. All this negativity from the alumni is not going to help. You people want an undefeated season from a coach who just took over very unstable program a few months ago. Get real. Give the team the support they need to know that the alumni supports them. If you're so passionate become a booster instead of bitching!
ReplyDelete