Samuel Brown Taylor (February 26, 1898 â April 1, 1966) was an American educator, Negro league baseball player, and college football coach. He served as the head football coach at Virginia State College for NegroesâÂÂnow known as Virginia State UniversityâÂÂin 1925, Clark CollegeâÂÂnow known as Clark Atlanta UniversityâÂÂfrom 1925 to 1929, Prairie View State Normal & Industrial CollegeâÂÂnow known as Prairie View A&M UniversityâÂÂfrom 1930 to 1943, Virginia Union University from 1945 to 1948, Bluefield State CollegeâÂÂnow known as Bluefield State UniversityâÂÂfrom 1948 to 1958, and Kentucky State CollegeâÂÂnow known as Kentucky State UniversityâÂÂfrom 1959 to 1961.
A native of Doswell, Virginia, Taylor attended Northwestern University. He played Negro league baseball for the Dayton Marcos in 1926.
In 1943, Taylor was named the "Supervisor of Negro Education" for the state of Kentucky. He was one of the primary educators in the state of Kentucky responsible for de-segregation of public schools after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954.
Taylor began his coaching career at the Virginia Normal School and Industrial Institute (now known as Virginia State University) as its first men's basketball coach in 1924âÂÂ25.
In September 1925, Taylor and his new bride, Lullene Perrin, moved to Clark CollegeâÂÂnow known as Clark Atlanta UniversityâÂÂin Atlanta, where Taylor coached football until 1930. He also coached basketball and baseball at Clark.
In 1930, Taylor was hired as head coach at Prairie View State Normal & Industrial CollegeâÂÂnow known as Prairie View A&M UniversityâÂÂin Prairie View, Texas.
Taylor took over the reins as head football coach and track coach at Virginia Union University in 1945 after the war. Once again, Lewis "Jack Rabbit" Smith teamed up with Taylor and ran under the maroon and steel colors of Virginia Union.
In 1948, the Virginia Union football team defeated Jake Gaither's Florida A&M Rattlers in the Orange Blossom Classic, 39âÂÂ18.
In the summer of 1949, Taylor was hired as the head football coach at Bluefield State CollegeâÂÂnow known as Bluefield State UniversityâÂÂin Bluefield, West Virginia. He coached at Bluefield State until late spring 1959.
Taylor was the 13th head football coach at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky from 1959 until midway through the 1961 season when Mel Whedbee took charge of the team. Hip replacement surgery sidelined Taylor as the football coach, but he continued to coach track. In 1965, Taylor had the fastest quarter mile runner in the country.
After a lengthy illness, Taylor died in Lexington, Kentucky in 1966 at age 68. He was inducted into the K-Club Athletic Hall of Fame October 2009.
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