Bowl Game Reunites Coaching Friends

By Tim Gayle

When South Alabama and Western Michigan play each other for the first time on Saturday night in the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl, fans may be thinking they’re seeing a mirror image of their team.

It all dates back to the spring of 2007 as first-year University of Alabama coach Nick Saban was assembling his coaching staff. Saban had hired Major Applewhite, who recently had served for a year as Rice’s offensive coordinator, in the same role at Alabama. As Saban scoured the football facility for former players to serve as graduate assistants and to aid in the transition to a new coaching staff, he settled on a former player who was in the weight room preparing for an upcoming Arena Football season.

Lance Taylor, who really had never thought much of the coaching profession, accepted the offer and was assigned to Applewhite’s offensive staff.

Seventeen years later, Taylor remembers Applewhite like it was yesterday.

“Major is borderline brilliant, the way he sees the game, play calling and game planning,” Taylor said. “And for me, I was transitioning from a player to coaching and it was an amazing first year to learn under him. He was great for me because it wasn’t, hey, I need these things done because you’re the GA. He really helped me grow and learn the hows and whys, what it takes to be a really good coach. We’ve kept in touch ever since then. It was amazing just being on the ground floor, that first year, watching Coach Saban build it from the ground up. And Major being a huge part of that.”

Taylor made a good first impression on Applewhite as well.

“He carried himself with class, worked hard, was honest — all the great virtues you want,” the South Alabama coach said. “He did what he said he was going to do, worked hard. He was a good football coach too, knows football, all those things. But just more of personal traits than football traits, was just how he carried himself — just a classy individual who worked hard, was honest. I think those are some of the best things people can say about you.”

Applewhite left after that first season, but his time under Saban – he later returned in 2019 and the national championship 2020 season as an analyst for Saban and offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian – shaped his thoughts on how to build a championship contender. When asked about the loss of running back Fluff Bothwell a few days ago to the transfer portal, he spoke of the “next man up” mentality, a favorite phrase of Saban, and how a team needed to approach the bowl season with energy and enthusiasm.

“I remember when I was a coordinator at Alabama, and we’re playing Tennessee, and we get three offensive starters suspended for selling textbooks, and we go out there and still win the game by 24 points,” Applewhite recalled. “It just doesn’t matter. It matters what’s in that kid’s heart, what’s in that kid’s helmet, how he wants to go play and prove that he belongs out there and the next man will step up and go play.

“A lot of other coaches that have been around, they feel like the excitement, just the genuine excitement to be there and playing the game matters. And I think it matters in relation to the effort you give at practice and the discipline that you have out there at practice. If you’re excited to be there, that focus is there, that intensity is there and then you play well. If you’re not excited and it’s one of those situations where you wish you’d have been in a better bowl or had a better record, or you’re thinking about the portal and your focus isn’t right, odds aren’t in your favor to play the way you want to play.”

That speech should resonate with Western Michigan players. They’ve heard it from their coach as well.

“I just want to see what they’ve shown all year, which are the core traits that we talk about – effort, attitude, effort and discipline,” Taylor said. “Those are the things we can control. Coach Saban talks about the process a bunch, not being worried about the outcome. And that’s what I want to see. In bowl games, the ones I’ve been a part of, the team that shows up with the most energy, excitement to be there and enthusiasm to play, normally wins those games.”

When the Jaguars and the Broncos arrived in Montgomery on Tuesday, the two head coaches shared a few moments together, rekindling a friendship that has existed from the day they first met in 2007.

“Same guy,” Taylor said. “And that’s the other thing that you love about Major, he’s the same person every single day, doesn’t get too high or too low. I think that’s what makes him a really great coach, I think that’s part of what made him a great quarterback. He was able to weather the emotions. But, yes, you see his thumbprint all over what they’re doing offensively. And there’s some differences. The one thing I always loved about Major is he’s not stuck with a system or a scheme, he really matches his personnel and determines that with the guys that we have, what are their strengths? And really tailors the offense to that.”

It sounds a lot like the Western Michigan Broncos, almost like the two teams are mirror images.

“That’s a great way to put it,” Taylor said. “There’s a lot of what we do in our program now that goes back to those original first days there at Alabama in 2007-08. One, how we’ve modeled the program from watching Coach Saban, but also what we do offensively from being around Major.”