Feeling was right for Tate

TAZEWELL, Va. — Brandon Tate is a ‘feeling’ type of guy.

Tazewell just felt right.

While Tate had an opportunity to return closer to his Mississippi home for his first head coaching position, Aliceville, Ala., didn’t compare to his choice of Tazewell.

“I am a big guy based on how I feel, ‘Did I feel like being there’ and I didn’t have that feeling,” Tate said. “I came to Tazewell and it reminded me of my visit to West Virginia when I was going through recruiting.

“It just felt right, the town, the people, they made me feel like, ‘Hey, you can make this home, we want you here’, so I had the right vibe.”

Tate, who played football at West Virginia University, was named earlier this week as Tazewell’s third head football coach in three seasons.

He replaced Terry Smith, who resigned early this summer due to family and health concerns. Tate will serve as a guidance counselor at the school.

The instability with football at Tazewell will end now, according to Tate.

“Right now I am planning to be here for a while,” Tate said. “We both know how that has got to happen, we have got to get some wins.”

It’s not just about winning games. Tate, who is a father of a twin boy (Kaden) and girl (Kenna), is looking to ‘help create good, young men’.

“(I am) looking to build character, looking to build men, looking to build good husbands, good role models, good guys in the community, just good guys outside of just football players,” Tate said. “At the same time I am looking to do that through football.”

The 25-year-old Tate takes over a program that struggled to a 1-9 season in 2010. He knows the only way for the Bulldogs is up, but isn’t looking to build to that point. Rebuilding isn’t in Tate’s vocabulary, he wants to win now.

“I don’t believe in rebuilding, I know of no such thing as a rebuilding year...,” said Tate, who was at West Virginia from 2004-08, and spent his final season of eligibility at Alcorn State. “We are looking to win 10 games this season.

“We will take it game by game, but every game we will look to win. We will not go into any game with any doubt or mindset that there is a chance we will lose. I don’t believe in rebuilding, I believe in right now, we can do it right now.”

That won’t be easy, but winning never is.

“One thing I plan on bringing is the whole ‘no excuse’ attitude,” Tate said. “I think this job is a challenge, but you will never hear me complain about it. One thing I was taught at West Virginia is you work hard, make no excuses and one thing I will bring is a football mentality of ‘spot the ball’.

“What that means is you spot the ball wherever you want to put it and we are ready to play. No excuses, we will spot the ball and line up and play.”

Tate, who was a graduate assistant for two seasons at West Virginia, and did three different jobs as an assistant for another year-and-a-half at Marshall, heard about the Tazewell position from Bob McClain. He was an assistant at West Virginia when Tate played in Morgantown.

Tazewell resident Chris Blankenship — who had kids attending a football camp at Appalachian State — made contact with McClain, who is now an assistant with the Mountaineers in Boone, N.C..

Word got back to Tate that the Bulldogs were looking for a new coach.

“I told Bob the only way I will look to go to high school and leave (Marshall) is if there is a pretty fast and quick opportunity that I can become a head coach,” Tate said. “I was put here for a reason, a lot of things happened for me to be here, I truly believe that.”

Tate, who is a native of Macon, Miss., had originally expected to be a receivers coach at Fairmont State, but had a change of heart. There was also the position in Alabama, but that didn’t have the right feel.

Tazewell certainly did.

“I went there and just didn’t feel right and I didn’t like the vibe,” said Tate, who is currently staying at a local residence, but hopes to move into a home of his own within the next two weeks. “I came here and I was blown away with the people, the town, the community, I was blown away.”

Some coaches might have avoided Tazewell, but the Bulldogs do have a positive history in football. They won the state title in 1986, and reached the Region IV finals just three years ago, losing a heartbreaker to Richlands in overtime.

“I have heard a lot about Richlands, I will do my research and find out the history between that. If I don’t know the history then why am I here,” Tate said. “I plan to find out about all the history of Tazewell football and about the program and Tazewell itself.”

Tate has met with a group of players numbering between 35 to 40, many of whom are currently involved in a 7-on-7 passing league. He already knows what will be his first priority as the season approaches.

“Structure and discipline, right now there hasn’t been much structure and there hasn’t been much discipline and you can see that after being here for two or three days,” Tate said. “My biggest challenge is putting that in.”

He’ll have a staff that includes Josh Thompson, Ernie Yost, Corey Nunley and Tom Keene, and hopes to build that number closer to 10.

The more the better, he’s not planning to do it by himself.

“I won’t be able to do this without the community’s help, I won’t be able to do this without the school’s help, and I won’t be able to do it without my staff’s help,” said Tate, who was ‘discovered’ by former West Virginia assistant Rick Trickett while playing in a basketball game. “I won’t go into the situation saying ‘This is my team, this is how I want things done’.

“I am moreso of a general, moreso of a guy that will oversee things for the most part. We as a town, we as a community, we as a school, we are looking to work together. We as a staff, we are looking to work together.”

Tate, who plans to emphasize accountability to his players, does feel there is talent to work with at Tazewell. He’s hoping to see more of it when practice officially begins on Aug. 1. He’ll find a spot for anyone.

“The biggest thing now is there is talent there, the biggest challenge now as far as talent wise is putting it where they will succeed that will be good for the team,” Tate said. “Now that is what we have got to figure out, myself and as a staff.

“We have to evaluate the guys and say he is a fullback, or he is a linebacker instead of just putting guys where they think they should be.”

Tate, who was a standout basketball player in addition to football, and also played baseball and track in high school, has always dreamed of being a coach, following in the footsteps of his prep football coach, T.J. Billups.

“I knew I would be into coaching, I knew I wanted to coach from age 15,” Tate said. “I had a great relationship with my brothers and had a great relationship with my high school coach and after seeing the type of coach he was it kind of inspired me to want to get into coaching.”

He will learn the hard way, but don’t expect Tate to be one-and-done. He won’t be deterred from the task at hand.

“I am kind of overwhelmed, but it is nothing I will run from, nothing that I will back down from,” said Tate, whose Bulldogs will host George Wythe to open the season on Aug. 26. “I accepted the challenge, one thing I have learned about is when there is a challenge you stick your chest out and handle it...

“My goal is to win game one and make good men, good husbands and good community guys out of the players. That is my goal.”

Paw prints: More coming soon on Tate’s college career and his path to Tazewell.

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

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