Beaumont United High’s football program is eager to play its sophomore season. At the same time, the Timberwolves look to pay tribute to one of their own who they lost over the summer.
Ed Taylor, Beaumont United assistant coach, passed away July 14 at the age of 37. Taylor was instrumental in helping his boss and mentor, head coach and athletic coordinator Arthur Louis, get the fledging Timberwolves team off the ground in 2018.
Louis’s relationship with Taylor went back 20 years when the former coached the latter at what was then a new Beaumont Ozen High.
“He was incredible, man,” Louis told Texas Scorecard. “He had so much energy as a young kid.”
An offensive lineman for the inaugural Ozen team, Taylor was an outstanding academic student and a selection to the All-Academic Team, Louis added. The coach recalled Taylor leaving it all on the field every Friday night.
“On the field, he was somebody to be trusted,” Louis, who described his late protégé as “a big offensive lineman,” said. “He took pride in his position on [and off] the football field.”
Taylor, who stood 5-foot-9, graduated from Ozen in 2000 and attended Lamar University. He soon began a career in education. One of his dreams, according to Louis, was to become “an exceptional football coach.”
Taylor returned to Ozen to take on the head coaching position. He was Ozen’s last football coach before Hurricane Harvey prompted the merger of Ozen and storm-damaged Beaumont Central High into Beaumont United, where he was reunited with Louis.
“I chose him to be my assistant head coach and my offensive coordinator,” Louis said. “I had a lot of trust in Ed because of his hard work ethic, his knowledge of the game, and commitment to excellence.”
In 2018, the Timberwolves, a combination of former Ozen and Central players, went 2-8.
Louis said that Taylor was beloved by athletes, coaches, teachers and students alike.
“Everybody loved Ed whether it was on the football field or in the classroom, whether it was a student or whether it was a teacher,” he said. “[He was] a very charismatic coach and an animated teacher. He made everything come alive on the football field and in the classroom. He could teach all type of different learners … that was his specialty.”
According to Louis, it was “priceless” to have had Taylor on his Timberwolves staff, which is a fraternity of ex-Beaumont West Brook High and Ozen players who were under Louis’s tutelage.
Beaumont United plans to honor Taylor by dedicating the 2019 season to him. Varsity players will wear helmet decals which bear his initials and a coach’s headset.
“Work a little bit harder, stay up a bit later, one more rep of this, that, and other … it’s all for Coach Taylor,” Louis said.