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There are little kids in Franklinton, La., that want to be LSU senior free safety Curtis Taylor.One of them includes Shane Smith’s son.”He has a Curtis Taylor jersey,” Smith said.Smith coached Taylor at Franklinton High School when Taylor was a blue-chip prospect in a town of about 4,000 people.He said he doesn’t get many chances to talk to Taylor because of their busy schedules. But whenever they do get a chance to converse, Smith always tells Taylor how proud Franklinton is of its hometown football hero.”It’s not often enough that we tell him how proud we are of him as a school and as a coaching staff and the impact that he’s had on our school and our community when it comes to football,” Smith said.Now LSU will rely on Taylor as its main leader in the secondary, a unit that returns several players with game experience but none with as many career starts as Taylor.Taylor had 54 tackles with six passes defended and three interceptions in 14 games in 2007. He started 13 of those games.The rest of LSU’s defensive backs have three career starts combined — all three by junior Danny McCray.”He knows the ins and outs,” said junior cornerback Jai Eugene. “He’s been in every situation you can be in.”Eugene called Taylor the “biggest leader” in the secondary.”He’s the only senior,” Eugene said. “He’s the one that has the most experience.”Taylor said he doesn’t see himself as the only returning starter in the secondary, even with the departure of cornerbacks Chevis Jackson and Jonathan Zenon and safety Craig Steltz.”All those [young] guys have game experience,” Taylor said. “I had to step up as far as being a leader, but I don’t really have to do too much because these guys I’m working with now — they’re real good guys, real smart, great communicators.”Smith said Taylor didn’t establish himself as a leader at Franklinton High School verbally. He did so through “maximum effort and intensity.””He wasn’t always as vocal as maybe some people think leaders need to be vocal,” Smith said. “He didn’t have to talk often, but when he did everybody listened.”Taylor said the biggest advice he gave to his younger teammates is to communicate and make sure everybody is on the same page.He said there were few problems with younger players knowing their alignments and positions, aside from the occasional questions.”That’s what I’m there for, to answer the questions,” Taylor said. “And if I have a question, I know they’re going to be able to answer it for me.”Smith said he noticed Taylor had “special ability” toward the end of Taylor’s sophomore year in high school.”One thing that he always did that I can remember is he is such an extremely hard worker,” Smith said. “Any time you combine a kid who’s got that God-given ability with the work ethic and the passion and the drive and the desire that he had, ultimately you’re going to have a successful player.”One of the first schools to offer Taylor a scholarship was Arkansas, one of LSU’s Southeastern Conference rivals, Smith said. But LSU offered Taylor a scholarship “not long after.””It was signing week, or the week just prior to signing week his junior year, that [former LSU] Coach [Nick] Saban came here to the school and said that they were going to offer him,” Smith said. “It all happened pretty quick.”Taylor played quarterback and wide receiver in high school, along with some experience at safety. He switched from quarterback to receiver midway through his senior year.”I brought him in [to the coaches’ office] and talked to him,” Smith said. “I said ‘Curtis, we’re going to move you because I think it’s going to help us offensively,’ and he said ‘Coach, whatever’s best for the team.’ I kind of expected him to say that.”Smith said he has never been to Tiger Stadium because of the two-hour drive from Franklinton to Baton Rouge.But he said he “definitely” plans on making it to a game this year.”This year at [Franklinton’s] graduation, he said ‘Coach, when you going to come to a game?'” Smith said. “I said ‘Curtis, I promise I’ll make one this year.'”
 
 
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Contact Robert Stewart at [email protected].