Tyrod from Tidewater

Native son finally gets reins to himself at Virginia Tech

Tidewater. Hampton Roads. The warm, wet eastern coast of Virginia, the oldest, busiest water corridor in the United States, frankly, a breeding and bleeding ground for every significant war fought on and off American soil. History’s so thick you can squeeze it like a stress ball. Theme parks with guys in powdered wigs.

And the military just snatched up half of Chesapeake Bay for its own use during the two World Wars. Never gave it back, either. Just took more. And displaced families, almost all of them black, settled in the communities around the bases, in the shadow of the largest naval station in the world.

The city of Hampton – Allen Iverson’s hometown, Tyrod Taylor’s too – is smack dab in the middle of it. Poor. A median income below $20,000. Hampton High School, 81 percent black, the oldest high school in America still in use. The football stadium’s bleachers have a section for octogenarians. And they show up, too.

Because, damn, Hampton can play football. Seventeen state titles for the Crabbers. And not just good football at Hampton, but up and down the coast. Stud teams everywhere. Led by stud quarterbacks.

Taylor grew up amidst all that. He won one of those state titles in 2005. He Bryan Randall, Ronald Curry and the Vick Brothers. All from Tidewater. They still debate who was best, and Taylor makes his own case. He starred at Hampton High and his choice for college came down to Virginia Tech and Florida. Yeah, Urban Meyer wanted him. Taylor could have had that. But most kids from Hampton Roads want to be like Mike.  

QB at Tech is a specific, honorable, difficult thing. Especially if you’re from Vick’s old stomping grounds.  You’ve got to be good. You’d better be fast.

Vick set the tone with his scrambles, amazing throws and million-watt smile. Whatever his faults, he’s given back to the school that made him - the program that, in so many ways, he made. Right before his life went to complete hell by his own brutal hand, Vick was in the midst of raising money for those who lost family members in the Virginia Tech massacre. He’d given thousands back to the school already.  

A  Tech quarterback is a target for opponents, an ambassador for the program. Simply having the job, post-Vick, provides and requires an extra authority.

“When Tyrod comes in the huddle, we all shut up,” right tackle Blake DeChristopher said. “He just has that presence. We all stop and listen. We all respect him.”

Said Tech coach Frank Beamer:  “Exceptional player. Really good leader. Good person, good player, good leader. He’s a guy who’s constantly trying to get better.”

And yet, as it must be with a Tech quarterback, there is a flip side. The man of the people. By numerical order, Taylor’s locker is next to David Wilson, a highly-touted true freshman running back who rushed for 165 yards last week against Marshall. Wilson said he’s bonded with Taylor more than anyone. They joke constantly.

After his debut, Wilson walked up to Taylor and asked him: Am I dreaming?

Yeah, Taylor joked. You’re about to wake up in your hotel room.

“He’s different than what I’d thought he’d be,” Wilson said. “I thought he’d be some kind of soldier or something. But we laugh together and everything. He’s real funny.”

Taylor shared the job for two years with Sean Glennon, and not very harmoniously. Glennon, invariably, would falter, and have to be bailed out by the 6-foot, 215-pound Taylor, who’d sometimes try to do too much. He threw too many interceptions, made too many bad reads, and basically sunk Tech’s chances in the 2008 Orange Bowl vs. Kansas before the Hokies had a chance.

But, of course, there’s the flip side of the equation. The games he won with those legs and that occasionally brilliant arm. The 300 total yards to help give Beamer his first win over Florida State in 2007 The sudden comeback vs. North Carolina. The 2009 Orange Bowl, when he made a touchdown run vs. Cincinnati to rival Vick’s greatest hits. And, of course, Nebraska, one of the best games in Taylor’s career, when he accumulated 258 total yards in a 35-30 win and burned one Bo Pelini blitz after another.

He’s 14-3 as a starter. Only Michael and Marcus Vick have better winning percentages in the last 13 years. And Taylor’s better now than he was in 2008, he said in a teleconference with reporters. He’ll take what the defense gives him.

“If we call a pass play, I have the arm strength to find my receivers,” Taylor said. “If it breaks down, I can always run.”

Last year was messy anyway. Taylor was going to redshirt and let Glennon play the season, until Glennon flamed out in the opening-season loss to East Carolina. VT head coach Frank Beamer, smarter than the average bear, immediately burned Taylor’s redshirt. Then Beamer, not so smart, insisted on splitting time between the two, even though Taylor was the far better player.

The result was a lack of rhythm at the position, and Taylor was often wild with his passes. He tossed only two touchdowns. He threw seven interceptions. He was hurt off and on, too.

Said NU head coach Bo Pelini said: “The biggest key for him now is that it’s his offense. I’m sure that helps him with a little bit of a comfort level, to be out there all the time.”

See also: What Did Bobby Bowden Say about Lane Stadium? 

Email Samuel McKewon at sam@ne.statepaper.com

 

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