May 17, 2011
by Jimmy Watson Shreveport Times
Foster Jay Taylor, affectionately known by his Louisiana Tech students as F. Jay, would have gotten a chuckle out of his death notice in Monday's edition of The Times.
It said simply, "Taylor, F. Jay, 87, of Ruston, died Sunday; arrangements incomplete; arrangements by Kilpatrick Funeral Home, Ruston." No muss, no fuss and no fanfare for a man who affected Tech more during his 25-year tenure as president (1962-87) than anyone before him and probably more than anyone who will succeed him.
Widely known as a visionary for women's athletics, Taylor hired Sonja Hogg and Leon Barmore, then watched them build the Lady Techsters into NCAA national champions. He even built the Thomas Assembly Center to give Lady Techsters and Bulldogs a recruiting edge.
But Taylor also hired a young, hard-living football coach named Maxie Lambright, then watched him direct the Bulldogs to NCAA D-II national championships and a 44-4 record in a four-year span. Taylor built Joe Aillet Stadium for the late Lambright as a recruiting edge.
"It was not unusual for Dr. Taylor to call me on a Friday, knowing I was going on a recruiting trip, and ask if he could ride along," former Tech offensive coordinator Mickey Slaughter said. "He wasn't the type guy, if we were going to Shreveport to scout the Byrd-Captain Shreve game, who had to go to Sansone's for supper. He was perfectly happy with a hot dog or two at the ballgame.
"Dr. Taylor liked to give us evaluations of players, whether we asked for them or not. But he was usually right on the mark."
Taylor hired Scotty Robertson, who would become an NBA coach, and the late Tommy Joe Eagles, who left Tech to coach at Auburn and New Orleans. Those hires would get Tech's men's basketball program nationally ranked with athletes like Mike Green, Karl Malone and Mike McConathy.
He hired Gary Stanley as track and field coach and that move is still bringing conference championships to Ruston. He hired Bill Galloway as softball coach, built one of the then-best softball complexes in the South, then watched those Lady Techsters advance to multiple NCAA Tournaments and to a pair of Women's College World Series.
Perhaps the best-known college president Gibsland has produced, F. Jay had a disarming smile that allowed him to get into the pockets of big boosters and to coax legislators out of financial appropriations they didn't know they had. He also influenced thousands of graduates, including Baylor women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey, who said she wouldn't be coaching were it not for Dr. Taylor.
"I was working on my master's degree in business when Dr. Taylor sent the campus police to bring me to the 16th floor of Wyly Tower," Mulkey said while driving to Ruston for the Wednesday funeral. "Coach Hogg was retiring and he wanted me to coach with coach (Leon) Barmore. I loved the man. I loved what he stood for and I love the fact that he loved the Lady Techsters and Louisiana Tech University."
Retired Tech journalism department head Wiley Hilburn was coaxed into serving on Tech's athletic council for a number of years by Taylor who brought Hilburn in to "liberate" the Tech Talk from being an administration-controlled publication.
"F. Jay was a big free speech guy, but there were a number of times when he chewed me out because the Tech Talk took a stance against him," Hilburn said chuckling. "He never stayed mad more than two weeks. But he was also the last big brother I had. He taught me things like eating barbecue shrimp in New Orleans and about the different types of architecture there."
Now the head men's coach at Northwestern State, McConathy said Taylor was supportive of all the sports at Tech and expected all of them to do well.
"He was a great man and he cared for you long after you graduated," McConathy said. "He made me feel like I was important to him, not just to Louisiana Tech. That's something a I always appreciated."
Slaughter recognized his former boss for prowess at having his hand in everything from building and grounds to athletics to academics during his tenure.
"He was right in the middle of it and everybody loved him for being so involved," Slaughter said. "Louisiana Tech, north Louisiana and specifically Ruston, have suffered a great loss in the passing of F. Jay Taylor."
