Catching up With: Scott Taylor

Barry Faulkner

First as a player and now as a coach, Scott Taylor has collected

championship game appearance like most of us stockpile junk mail.

An All-CIF Southern Section goalie at Costa Mesa High in the late

1980s, he helped the Mustangs claim back-to-back CIF Division II

championships in 1986 and ’87.

He then went on to Golden West College, where he was the last line of

defense for the Rustlers on back-to-back state championship teams.

He was an assistant coach at Mesa when the Mustangs won the 1995 CIF

Division II crown, then, in his second season as head coach of his alma

mater, guided the Mustangs to the Division II title game in 1997.

After stints as an assistant at Marina High and Golden West College,

Taylor landed at Santa Margarita High, where he has coached the girls the

last four seasons. He also coached the boys twice during that tenure.

His 2000 Santa Margarita girls team won the CIF Division IV

championship and his last two girls teams have advanced to the CIF

Division I title clash, losing each time to Foothill.

So what’s the secret of Taylor’s long line of success?

Well, he believes, there’s no secret at all.

“It has all been about the fundamentals,” said Taylor, who finished

his collegiate career as a two-year starter at UC Santa Barbara. “I

emphasize basic body position, which translates into a fundamental

approach on offense and defense. Until you get the fundamentals down,

there’s no reason to move on.”

Taylor’s success at Santa Margarita has also been made possible, he

says, by a stream of consistent talent. But three CIF title-game

appearances in four girls seasons is still remarkable, especially since

the Eagles do not have an on-campus pool.

“We train at Saddleback College, which means we have late workouts,”

said Taylor, who is the resident substitute teacher at Santa Margarita.

“It’s almost like running a club program, but I’ve had a lot of fun

with it and I’ve had a group of kids who have been really dedicated.”

Taylor, 31, said his dedication to the game has never waned. And while

he is enjoying things at Santa Margarita, he would eventually like to

return to the community college level as a head coach.

“I really like the recruiting,” said Taylor, who lists former Costa

Mesa and Newport Harbor Coach Brian Kreutzkamp, also a former Mesa

teammate of Taylor’s, as one of those from whom he has absorbed coaching

wisdom. “Since you only have (community college) players for two years,

it’s always a challenge to build a team every year.”

Taylor, a San Clemente resident who married in August, said he also

credits his former Golden West College coach, Ken Hamdorf, for shaping

many of his coaching principles.

Whatever he’s doing, and wherever he has done it, Taylor has obviously

figured out how to make things work.