Gene Taylor Drive
- Updated: April 26, 2023
Touching tributes to late hall-of-fame Weaver wrestling coach go down like Diet Mountain Dew and peanut butter crackers at unveiling of road sign in his honor
By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today
WEAVER — With every story of Gene Taylor hugging necks and mastering the fine art of pairing stern words and loving manner, one thing became clear at Wednesday’s ceremony to honor to late hall-of-fame Weaver wrestling coach.
The Gene Taylor way is the reason there’s now a Gene Taylor Drive.
His former wrestlers, many now coaches, Weaver city and Calhoun County officials, Calhoun County Board of Education members and current Weaver wrestlers gathered in the school’s lunch room to unveil the blue sign bearing the new name of the street running in front of the school.
The list included current Weaver head coach Andy Fulmer, two months removed from adding the second of his two state wrestling titles to Taylor’s legacy of nine.
Former Weaver wrestler and current Alexandria head coach Frank Hartzog spoke. So did former Piedmont and current Hoover coach Harley Lamey.
They carried on Taylor’s legacy by establishing new high school wrestling programs in Calhoun County. Hartzog’s Valley Cubs have won the past two county titles and produced five-time state champion Jaden New and four-timer Christian Knop. Lamey’s Piedmont program won a state title in 2009.
Speakers included Weaver mayor Jeff Clendenning had his turn at the podium, Calhoun County commissioner Terry Howell and former Weaver wrestler-turned-Alabama state trooper and Ohatchee assistant coach Joe Lathers.
Phyllis Kelley, wife of Alabama state senator Keith Kelley, had her turn at the podium, as did Weaver graduate and Gadsden-Macedonia Baptist Church pastor Robby Joplin.
Joplin’s social media post asking if it was possible to name a street after Taylor got the six-month process toward achieving that end started.
Wednesday’s event culminated in Taylor’s son Jake, also a former Weaver wrestler, joining Fulmer at the front to remove a white table cloth covering the road sign.
“He always said this around the holidays,” Fulmer said. “Frank and Harley and Joe and Coach (Justin) Brown, they can all vouch for this.
“I remember him saying, ‘If you guys guys get in a situation where you make a decision that is not the best, you call me. I will come get you. I won’t say anything to your parents then. I won’t judge you. There will be no questions asked, but if you need anything, you always call me, and I’ll come get you.’ We do that with our kids today, but when you think about rough and rugged, and then he says things like that, he had a heart for kids. That’s why he did it for so long.”
Taylor’s 30-year teaching and coaching career landed him in the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame and Calhoun County Sports Hall of Fame. He served as a defensive coordinator in football and went 201-130 as a head baseball coach, but he’s most known for wresting.
Weaver won state Class 1A-4A wrestling titles in 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. The Bearcats had three runner-up finishes on his watch. They won 10 consecutive county championships.
His teams had dual-match winning streaks of 221 and 111 matches. He was named 1A-4A coach of the year nine times and USA Wrestling coach of the year in Alabama in 1996 and 2004. He was USA Wrestling’s coach of the year for the southeastern United States in 1996.
Taylor coached 55 wrestlers who won individual state championships, and eight were named high school All-Americans.
Including his time at Wellborn, he posted a career record of 500-34. At Weaver, Taylor’s teams went 385-11 in dual meets.
Taylor operated on Diet Mountain Dew and peanut butter crackers, which Fulmer called that his coach’s “go-to” snack. Taylor offered soul fuel for his wrestlers.
“You wanted to give him your best,” Lathers said. “If you weren’t giving him your best effort, you were sure to hear about it, when you come off the mat.
“Probably a few choice words, Diet Mountain Dew spilling all over the place, and you knew next time to pick it up.”
Fulmer got to know Taylor’s loving sternness after spiking his head gear down, following a loss.
“I remember him grabbing me, and not like physically jerking a knot in me,” Fulmer said. “I remember him grabbing me and lovingly putting me in a headlock and saying, ‘Don’t ever do that again.'”
Along those same lines, Lamey recalled one of Taylor’s pet sayings.
“Show your class and not your … rear end,” Lamey said. “I knew what he meant. … You always showed your class when you represented Coach Taylor.”
Lamey got a reminder while in college. He came back to work the Bearcat classic and used salty language to fire up one of Weaver’s wrestlers.
Taylor “just looked at me and said, ‘Harley,'” Lamey said. “I could see that it hurt him that one of his guys did that. …
“The rest of the day, he’d just look at me and shake his head.”
Lamey choked back emotion remembering a high school friend who committed suicide. Taylor saw Lamey crying on the side during practice.
“I’m sitting on the mat and just crying, and he walked up to me and said, ‘He ain’t coming back. You need to move on,'” Lamey said. “You think, oh my God, that’s heartless, but it’s completely the way life is.
“You can experience some kind of trauma and let it control you and let it dictate your actions, or you can move on, and that’s what you’ve got to do. Life hits you hard. You’ve just got to keep moving.”
Hartzog noted how Taylor made his wrestlers feel “invincible” then comforted them after a loss. It took Hartog back to a loss against Fultondale.
“After he dual, Coach Taylor came up with one of his famous arm hugs and just helped me realize no matter what, he was there for me, win or lose,” Hartzog said. “I’ll never forget that.”
Cover photo: From left, Jake Taylor, Andy Fulmer, Terry Howell and Jeff Clendenning participate Wednesday in the unveiling of the sign marking the new name of the road that runs in front of Weaver High School. The street is named after the late hall-of-game Weaver wrestling coach, Gene Taylor, who won nine state titles while leading the Bearcat program. (Photo by Joe Medley)
You must be logged in to post a comment Login