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Taylor stands the test of time

Centennial celebrates coach's 300th career win (and 301st for that matter)

Posted 10/8/19

Richard Taylor did not stay around at Centennial for three decades to reach milestones like 300 wins or seven state championships.

So the celebration of his 300th high school win, a 35-7 victory Sept. 27 at Goodyear Millennium, was fairly short and low-key.

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Taylor stands the test of time

Centennial celebrates coach's 300th career win (and 301st for that matter)

Posted

Richard Taylor did not stay around at Centennial for three decades to reach milestones like 300 wins or seven state championships.

His motivations have changed through the years in Arizona. In recent seasons Taylor has said he stayed in coaching to be a father figure to the fatherless.

So the celebration of his 300th high school win, a 35-7 victory Sept. 27 at Goodyear Millennium, was fairly short and low-key. Taylor said the achievement was not something he thought about much in the 1980s in Ohio or the 1990s in the West Valley — except on the rare occasions where someone in that state earned the mark.

“I’d think wow, they really stayed in the game a long time,” Taylor said. “I’ve never been enamored with that because I know what it takes to even win a few games.”

Though his 301-119-6 record (Centennial beat Apollo Oct. 4) may not show it Taylor is not being overly humble. Starting a new program in 1990 smack dab in the middle of the territory of 4A powerhouses Cactus and Peoria was not easy.

Taylor began the program in 1990 after moving to Arizona from Ohio and serving as defensive coordinator on the 1986 and 1987 state title teams at Peoria High. The Coyotes played two playoff games in their first decade.

Two current assistant coaches, defensive line coach Hal Borhauer and offensive line coach Joe McDonald, were there from almost the beginning. Borhauer arrived in 1991 after coaching against Taylor in youth football and McDonald came aboard for the first true varsity season in 1992.

“It was very difficult at the start. Kids were going to Cactus and Peoria, some that were neighbors of Coach Taylor,” Borhauer said. “That was our belief — that if we keep working hard, this will be a good program.”

Maybe not quite this good. Centennial then started a string of postseason appearances in 2002 that continues to this day and looks like a safe bet for a long time.

In the last 16 seasons, the program has reached at least the state semifinals every year except 2013.

As Taylor himself would be quick to note, that playoff streak, seven state titles and four-runner up finishes began after his son, Andrew, finished college football at the University of Tulsa and became the Coyotes’ defensive coordinator.

Borhauer said Andrew Taylor’s defensive mind has been a catalyst, as has his father’s steady commitment to all aspects of the program — and the culture of players embracing the weight room.

“In 2000 or 2001 the players started showing up to lift regularly in the summer, and as our team bought into the weight room, things changed,” Borhauer said. “The first few years, our quarterack weighed more than most of our linemen.”

Since it was an away game, there was not an official ceremony or a Coyote sideline overflowing with former players, coaches and parents. Some made the trek to Goodyear.

And the following week was filled with congratulatory calls, emails and texts.

“I had forgotten all about that. It was nice to hear from them,” Taylor said.

That approach and personality is what drew Borhauer — a former Peoria Unified School District board president — to turn in his youth football playbook and join Taylor’s early staff.

“He’s an honest, hard-working Christian man. He honestly wants to help kids succeed,” Borhauer said. “He’s out there watering the grass on the weekends. I was drawn to him by how hard he works.”

Taylor said he was far from alone in building the Coyotes. The bulk of his victories (251) came after he left Western Reserve High School in northern Ohio for the Arizona sun.

He reached out to Ron Horn with the Peoria Unified School District, who told him Doug Clapp had just been hired as the Peoria High head coach but that the area was growing rapidly and another new school was sure to open soon after then brand-new Ironwood.

Four years later, Centennial was that new school.

“It wasn’t about the wins or championships. I was thinking about Dave Moore - the man that hired me. It was ADs and principals and coaches and players that worked so hard,” Taylor said. “I thought about my wife. She’s been to more than 300 games. That’s what I thought about.”