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Just For Kicks
Al Chase
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Taylor leaves accounting for coaching
TIFFANY Taylor has traded a career in accounting for one as assistant women's soccer coach at NCAA Division I Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa. Her first day on the job is Monday.
It wasn't what she had in mind when she graduated from Boston University in 2006.
The 2001 Punahou graduate had started working part time for a private equity firm in Boston during her senior season at BU.
However, Taylor would sit in her office, look at the view outside and wonder every day, "Why am I inside when I want to be outside?"
Last March, BU assistant coach Jennifer Goff started talking to Taylor about an opening for an assistant at Framingham State, a school near Boston.
"I kind of blew the idea off because I enjoyed what I was doing and that is what I went to school for," Taylor said. "And, I knew the firm wouldn't let me leave early."
Finally she went to meet with Framingham State coach Tucker Reynolds.
"He was hilarious. I couldn't take anything he said seriously and he would do it all with a completely straight face. I knew I would have a good time with him," said Taylor, who had worked summer camps at Washington State and BU.
She asked her boss if she could leave early from August to the end of October and was surprised when the answer was yes.
Taylor did not know what to expect when practice started. She was coaching an average Division III team and knew it would be hit or miss with the freshmen. She tried to keep her distance early, but that didn't last.
"The girls kind of broke me down and made me a part of the team. If I hadn't had that experience, I wouldn't have considered doing this as a full-time profession," Taylor said.
"It made it very hard to tell them of my decision to leave. We had set expectations for years to come."
Then Taylor was promoted to another position at her firm and didn't think she would be able to coach this coming fall because of the time pressures associated with the new position.
She also talked about the profession and her abilities with her BU coach Nancy Feldman, who was a friend of Bucknell coach Ben Landis.
Taylor decided to apply for the experience.
"I was surprised to get a call in mid-January for a phone interview. I was mostly shocked about a week later when he called and said I was a finalist and wanted me for a campus interview," Taylor said.
"The next week was the longest of my life. I thought it was a perfect fit for me, but I didn't know if I was a perfect fit for them. I didn't know how my D-III experience would play," Taylor said.
The job offer came Feb. 9.
"I just remember shaking. I just sat down for a while," Taylor said.
The next day, after calling Landis with some questions, she called again that night and accepted the position.