View source for C. Randy Taylor

{{Short description|American football and basketball coach}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name = C. Randy Taylor
| image = CRandyTaylor.png
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| alma_mater = [[Ohio State University]]
| player_sport1 = Football
| player_years2 = 1924–1926
| player_team2 = [[Tufts Jumbos football|Tufts]]
| player_sport3 = Basketball
| player_years4 = {{Circa|1925}}
| player_team4 = [[Tufts Jumbos men's basketball|Tufts]]
| player_sport5 = Track
| player_years6 = c. 1925
| player_team6 = [[Tufts Jumbos|Tufts]]
| player_positions = [[Halfback (American football)|Halfback]] (football)
| coach_sport1 = Football
| coach_years2 = 1927
| coach_team2 = [[Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls football|Johnson C. Smith]] (assistant)
| coach_years3 = 1928
| coach_team3 = Johnson C. Smith
| coach_years4 = 1933
| coach_team4 = [[Douglass High School (Oklahoma City)|Douglass HS (OK)]] (assistant)
| coach_years5 = 1934
| coach_team5 = [[Shaw Bears football|Shaw]] (assistant)
| coach_years6 = 1937–1940
| coach_team6 = [[Tillotson Eagles football|Tillotson]]
| coach_years7 = 1941–1942
| coach_team7 = [[Bluefield State Big Blues football|Bluefield State]]
| coach_years8 = 1947–1950
| coach_team8 = [[Kentucky State Thorobreds football|Kentucky State]]
| coach_sport9 = Basketball
| coach_years10 = 1928–1929
| coach_team10 = [[Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls basketball|Johnson C. Smith]]
| coach_years11 = 1936–1939
| coach_team11 = [[Tillotson Eagles|Tillotson]]
| overall_record =
| bowl_record = 1–0
| tournament_record =
| championships =
| awards =
| coaching_records =
}}
'''Claude Randolph Taylor''' was an [[American football]], [[basketball]], and [[track and field]] coach and educator. He served as the head football coach at [[Johnson C. Smith University]] in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]], Tillotson College—now a part of [[Huston–Tillotson University]]—in [[Austin, Texas]], [[Bluefield State College]] in [[Bluefield, West Virginia]], and Kentucky State College for Negroes—now known as [[Kentucky State University]]—in [[Frankfort, Kentucky]]. Taylor was also the head basketball coach at Johnson C. Smith for one season, in 1928–29, tallying a mark of 6–11.
==Early life and college==
Taylor was a native of [[Harlem]] in [[New York City]]. He attended [[DeWitt Clinton High School]], where starred in football and [[track and field|track]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title="Randy" Taylor To Coach At Johnson C. Smith University |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31860044/the_new_york_age/ |newspaper=[[New York Age]] |location=[[Manhattan|New York, New York]] |date=September 27, 1927 |page=6 |access-date=May 23, 2019 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{Open access}} }}</ref> He then matriculated at Tufts College—now known as [[Tufts University]]—where he played football and basketball and ran track, before graduating in 1927 with a Bachelor of Science degree. As a senior, he was named the school's best all-around athlete.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Tufts Seniors Name Will Rogers Their National Hero At Dinner |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31859910/the_boston_globe/ |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] |location=[[Boston|Boston, Massachusetts]] |date=March 24, 1927 |page=25 |access-date=May 23, 2019 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{Open access}} }}</ref>
==Coaching and teaching career==
In 1933, Taylor was hired as a science teacher at [[Douglass High School (Oklahoma City)|Douglass High School]] in [[Oklahoma City]]. He was also appointed assistant football coach under head coach L. L. McGee.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Joins "Red Machine" Staff |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-black-dispatch/136998537/ |newspaper=[[The Black Dispatch]] |location=[[Oklahoma City|Oklahoma City, Oklahoma]] |date=September 21, 1933 |page=3 |access-date=December 17, 2023 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{Open access}} }}</ref> The following year, he was hired at [[Shaw University]] in [[Raleigh, North Carolina]] as a biology instructor and assistant football coach under head football coach [[James Lytle]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=C. R. Taylor To Assist Shaw Grid Mentor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-st-louis-argus/136998629/ |newspaper=[[St. Louis Argus]] |location=[[St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]] |agency=[[Associated Negro Press]] |date=September 14, 1934 |page=5 |access-date=December 17, 2023 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{Open access}} }}</ref>
Taylor served as the head football coach at [[Kentucky State University]] in [[Frankfort, Kentucky]] for four seasons, from 1947 to 1950, compiling a record of 21–16–2. After the 1950 season, he was succeeded as head football coach by [[Big Bertha Edwards]], who had assisted Taylor as backfield coach. Taylor remained the school's track coach.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Edwards Now Sports Head At Kentucky |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-black-dispatch/136999434/ |newspaper=[[The Black Dispatch]] |location=[[Oklahoma City|Oklahoma City, Oklahoma]] |agency=[[Associated Negro Press]] |date=December 23, 1950 |page=6 |access-date=December 17, 2023 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] {{Open access}} }}</ref>
==Head coaching record==
===Football===
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name      = [[Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls football|Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls]]
| conf      = Independent
| startyear = 1928
| endyear   = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year         = [[1928 college football season|1928]]
| name         = Johnson C. Smith
| overall      = 4–4
| conference   =
| confstanding =
| bowlname     =
| bowloutcome  =
| bcsbowl      =
| ranking      = no
| ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name       = Johnson C. Smith
| overall    = 4–4
| confrecord =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name      = [[Tillotson Eagles football|Tillotson Eagles]]
| conf      =
| startyear = 1937
| endyear   = 1938
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year         = [[1937 college football season|1937]]
| name         = Tillotson
| overall      =
| conference   =
| confstanding =
| bowlname     =
| bowloutcome  =
| bcsbowl      =
| ranking      = no
| ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year         = [[1938 college football season|1938]]
| name         = Tillotson
| overall      =
| conference   =
| confstanding =
| bowlname     =
| bowloutcome  =
| bcsbowl      =
| ranking      = no
| ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name       = Tillotson
| overall    =
| confrecord =
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name      = [[Bluefield State Big Blues football|Bluefield State Big Blues]]
| conf      = [[Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association|Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association]]
| startyear = 1941
| endyear   = 1942
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year         = [[1941 college football season|1941]]
| name         = Bluefield State
| overall      = 5–3
| conference   = 4–3
| confstanding = 4th
| bowlname     =
| bowloutcome  =
| bcsbowl      =
| ranking      = no
| ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year         = [[1942 college football season|1942]]
| name         = Bluefield State
| overall      = 4–1–3
| conference   = 2–1–3
| confstanding = 3rd
| bowlname     =
| bowloutcome  =
| bcsbowl      =
| ranking      = no
| ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name       = Bluefield State
| overall    = 9–4–3
| confrecord = 6–4–3
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
| name      = [[Kentucky State Thorobreds football|Kentucky State Thorobreds]]
| conf      = [[Midwest Athletic Association]]
| startyear = 1947
| endyear   = 1950
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year         = [[1947 college football season|1947]]
| name         = [[1947 Kentucky State Thorobreds football team|Kentucky State]]
| overall      = 4–6
| conference   = 3–3
| confstanding = 4th
| bowlname     =
| bowloutcome  =
| bcsbowl      =
| ranking      = no
| ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year         = [[1948 college football season|1948]]
| name         = Kentucky State
| overall      = 7–2–1
| conference   = 2–1–1
| confstanding = 2nd
| bowlname     = [[Vulcan Bowl|Vulcan]]
| bowloutcome  = W
| bcsbowl      =
| ranking      = no
| ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year         = [[1949 college football season|1949]]
| name         = Kentucky State
| overall      = 6–4
| conference   = 2–2
| confstanding = 3rd
| bowlname     =
| bowloutcome  =
| bcsbowl      =
| ranking      = no
| ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| year         = [[1950 college football season|1950]]
| name         = Kentucky State
| overall      = 4–5–1
| conference   = 1–2
| confstanding = 3rd
| bowlname     =
| bowloutcome  =
| bcsbowl      =
| ranking      = no
| ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name       = Kentucky State
| overall    = 21–17–2
| confrecord = 8–8–1
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
| overall  =
| bowls    = no
| poll     = no
| polltype =
| legend   = no
}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls football coach navbox}}
{{Bluefield State Big Blues football coach navbox}}
{{Kentucky State Thorobreds football coach navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, C. Randy}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:Year of death missing]]
[[Category:American football halfbacks]]
[[Category:Bluefield State Big Blues football coaches]]
[[Category:Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls basketball coaches]]
[[Category:Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls football coaches]]
[[Category:Kentucky State Thorobreds football coaches]]
[[Category:People from Harlem]]
[[Category:Shaw Bears football coaches]]
[[Category:Tufts Jumbos football players]]
[[Category:Tufts Jumbos men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Shaw University faculty]]
[[Category:Tufts Jumbos men's track and field athletes]]
[[Category:High school football coaches in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:DeWitt Clinton High School alumni]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Manhattan]]
[[Category:Coaches of American football from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Players of American football from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Basketball coaches from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Basketball players from New York City]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from New York City]]
[[Category:Schoolteachers from Oklahoma]]
[[Category:African-American coaches of American football]]
[[Category:African-American track and field athletes]]
[[Category:American male track and field athletes]]
[[Category:African-American schoolteachers]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American academics]]
[[Category:20th-century American academics]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen]]