THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Thursday, January 14, 2016
Darren Taylor grew up a baseball guy in Coeur d’Alene, but he has worn a lot of different coaching hats over the past few decades in North Idaho.
Prairie American Legion baseball coach for seven years. Lake City High boys golf for four years, followed by six years as Timberwolf softball coach. He coached Lake City’s girls basketball team for nine years.
More recently, he was an assistant boys basketball coach at Coeur d’Alene, his alma mater — and wound up being the interim head coach for the final six games. Last spring, he was an assistant baseball coach at Coeur d’Alene.
One year while he was at Lake City, he was asked to take a volleyball team — it might have been the junior varsity — up to a tournament (in Bonners Ferry, he thinks) — because the regular coach couldn’t make it.
The T-Wolves won the tournament.
“I didn’t even know the rules,” Taylor admitted.
THIS YEAR, Taylor is wearing the hat of head softball coach at Coeur d’Alene High, replacing his friend Larry Bieber, who ran the Viking program the past 22 seasons.
“I think those good coaches — Bieber is a prime example — when you’re able to connect with the players,” Taylor said. “He was good at basketball, he was good at softball. He was slowpitch, he was fastpitch. I just like competing; it doesn’t really matter what sport it was, you’ve got to figure out a way to win at whatever you’re doing.”
Taylor, 54, is in his fourth year teaching at Coeur d’Alene High — he teaches advanced algebra and geometry.
He said the original plan was for Jenna (DeLong) Fore, a former Coeur d’Alene High softball standout and a Viking assistant last year, to succeed Bieber. But she was unable to commit full time to the position because of her job as a real estate agent so, with the start of practice only a few months away, one of the Coeur d’Alene High administrators asked Taylor if he was interested.
Why not?, Taylor figured. He’s taking over a program that has been one of the best in the state for some two decades. Four starters, including the No. 1 pitcher, return from last year’s state runners-up.
And, he said, Bieber is going to help him as an assistant coach. Plus, Fore plans to work with the pitchers, coming to practice 2-3 days a week.
“To me, it looks like the perfect world,” Taylor said. “We’ve got the old master; we’ve got Yoda back there, we’ve got that (pitching coach). And I can run a bunt play every now and then and see if it works.”
TAYLOR WILL likely end up doing more than that, of course. He coached Lake City to a state softball title in 2001, and a record of 130-43 during that span. He was 152-68 as Lake City girls basketball coach, including a state championship in 2007.
Taylor said when he took over Lake City’s softball program in 1999, “softball players hit differently than baseball players. And I said no, we’re going to hit (like baseball players).”
He encountered some resistance originally, but eventually players — and coaches started to buy in.
“I think that kind of changed the game around here. Now, everybody hits (that way),” he said.
One trivia note — Taylor apparently coached the first fastpitch team in the city. In 1994 at Coeur d’Alene, the last year of slowpitch at the varsity level, he coached the Viking JV team in fastpitch, preparing for the transition the following year.
Now, two decades later, he’s back coaching a Viking softball team.
“I’m excited — kind of rejuvenated,” he said.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.
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