Lock Haven dismisses Taynor as coach
LOCK HAVEN — Lock Haven University announced its decision Monday to part ways with football coach Dave Taynor. In his five years at LHU, Taynor went 12-43 with a 9-25 mark in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East competition.
“Every president has the right to buy out a contract if they want to buyout a contract,” Taynor said Monday. “And they exercised that right.”
There were highs and lows in the Taynor era at Lock Haven. The team finished 2-9 overall in each of the last three seasons, capped by Saturday’s 28-27 victory over Gannon. That win snapped a nine-game losing streak for the Bald Eagles, as they finished 0-7 in PSAC East play this season.
But the team did go 4-3 in PSAC East play in 2016. That was the first time the program had a winning record in divisional play since 1979, which was the last season LHU competed at the Division III level in football.
The university announced offensive coordinator Bill Nickell, who played under Taynor while the former LHU coach led the program at Urbana University, will take over as interim head coach. The school’s press release also indicated that there will be a national search for a new head coach.
“To make a decision like this was difficult, but after carefully evaluating the situation, I have concluded that this is the right direction for Lock Haven University athletics to take,” LHU Director of Athletics Dr. Tom Gioglio said in a release. “I sincerely appreciate the hard work and commitment shown by coach Taynor over the past several years and I thank him for his dedication to the Lock Haven University football program. I wish Dave and his family all the best in the future. Our search for a new head football coach will begin immediately.”
The timing of that process will be interesting to monitor, with the countdown to national signing day rapidly approaching. Lock Haven University football graduates only five seniors from the 2019 team and should return a number of key players that produced at a high level this year.
Players like running back Chantz Swartz (second-most rushing yards per game in the PSAC), reigning all-American tight end and Williamsport graduate Jalen Jackson, and dual-threat quarterback Kyle Knight are slated to return in 2020. Junior receiver Bryan Greene, who was an all-conference performer in 2018, has one more year of eligibility should he choose to use it. The Milesburg native battled through injuries this season and is in graduate school at LHU.
When Taynor spoke to his team after he was informed of the school’s decision, he encouraged the players to continue to work toward their degree at Lock Haven.
“I want them to understand that the primary reason they attended Lock Haven University was to earn a degree,” Taynor said. “And they should work to earn their degree.”
The youth was apparent on the roster overall, but it was especially the case defensively. LHU had only four returning starters on that side of the ball this year, and it showed. The team finished the season allowing 49.8 points per game, which ranked 163 out of 166 in Division II football in scoring defense.
Even so, freshman defensive back Levi Engle shined. He finished the year tied for second in the conference with five interceptions. A number of players that are scheduled to be back for 2020, such as sophomore defensive backs Austin Barber and Kahari Whitfield, made big contributions this season. The same can be said for returning linebackers Chris Bournes and Shane Scott, a junior and sophomore, respectively.
The offense, which is Taynor’s specialty as the team’s play-caller, put up numbers that look good. LHU led the PSAC in rushing with nearly 200 yards per game and had one of the better third-down rates in the conference. The team struggled mightily with turnovers in crucial situations, losing a total over 18 fumbles and throwing 10 interceptions. That could be chalked up to having a very young team, though, and Taynor had hoped to be at LHU to see the squad improve.
He was pleased with how the team continued to produce offensively and put up some lofty numbers during his tenure.
“In the entire history of Lock Haven University there’s only been seven seasons of over 4,000 yards, and four of those were in the last five years,” Taynor said.
One area that Taynor helped the program mightily is with creating a football alumni booster organization. The Gray Eagles Football Club is a 5013c non-profit that was officially started in March 2017. The organization was founded in order to help Lock Haven work toward an even level with the rest of the PSAC in terms of available scholarship money.
Taynor says the team had $126,000 of available scholarship money to work with in 2016, but that figure has since been sizably cut. He claims it was chopped down by roughly 40 to 50 percent. The members of the club, which primarily are former LHU players from the 1979 PSAC Championship team, in large part supported Taynor.
“The Gray Eagles were started by Taynor and his initiative to get an alumni booster program started,” Gray Eagles Vice President and 1979 team member John White said. “We raised scholarship money every year. We wish him and his family well.”
Taynor now plans to focus on getting another head coaching opportunity. He ran the program at Urbana, his alma mater, for seven years prior to taking over at LHU in 2015. He had previous assistant coaching stops at Tiffin University, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (where he subsequently interviewed for the head coaching job in the summer of 2018), and Culver-Stockton College. He also was a graduate assistant at the University of Louisville from 1999-2001.
Taynor says his focus is on his wife and daughter, but also notes that the family is willing to move wherever for an opportunity to be a head coach again.
“We’re a coaching family,” Taynor said. “So we’ll go where the profession and the opportunities lead.”
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