Fall — 2004
cover stories
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Brian StewartSMC Student 1984-85,
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“Last weekend, I went up to Coach Taylor’s house because I knew his wife had passed, and it was their anniversary. So I dropped in to have a beer and see if he was doing okay.” There’s a bond that often springs up between men involved in extreme effort. It happens in combat, it happens in mountain climbing or going down big dangerous rivers. That bond, for Brian Stewart and Robert Taylor (‘Coach T’ to the thousands he’s coached), sprang up in the SMC Corsair football program. “I got in a little trouble at Northern Arizona University, so I had to come back home to LA. But my dad said, ‘You’re not stayin’ in this house,’ recalls Brian of a time when he was living on the jagged edge. “Then one day, Coach T showed up and said, ‘I heard you play football. You still wanna play?’ And that was it. He went over to SMC, put down $50 for me to register, and suddenly I’m part of the team.” “If it hadn’t been for playing football and going to SMC, I don’t know what would have happened to me, I really don’t,” says Brian. “My aunt and uncle probably would have gotten me a job in a bank. And that would have been the worst that could have happened: puttin’ me around some money!” he says with a huge laugh. But that indeed is not what happened. Brian went on to Syracuse University, the University of Missouri, played NFL ball for the Falcons until he got injured, and now has coached for the Chargers and the Houston Texans. Brian has some rock-solid advice to other people who’ve had to fight their way to get a leg up in their lives. “I use SMC’s name all the time when I give talks, because it’s the Number One transfer school in California. And I tell people—first and foremost—go to class and give it all you’ve got. And definitely play a sport, because you’ll learn camaraderie and teamwork. That’s what I learned from Coach T. And if it wasn’t for him, I don’t think I’d be in the NFL. When I was playing, I always felt his love all around me.” Back |
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