Being teammates is nothing new for two players expected to start for the Taylor University football team this season.
Only now, junior strong safety Sam Bolin and sophomore cornerback Tyler Watson are attempting to help build a winning program rather than maintain one.
Teammates in the Center Grove Bantam League when Watson was a fifth-grader, the two enjoyed productive high school careers at Center Grove before reconnecting at Taylor, a NAIA school in Upland, just northwest of Muncie.
“I’m getting kind of bored of Tyler,” Bolin said, laughing. “No, it’s been awesome, especially because sometimes we’ll line up on the same side defensively and are able to communicate.”
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Bolin and Watson practically mirrored each other statistically in their first season as college teammates. Both finished with 30 tackles, with Bolin also credited with half a quarterback sack in Taylor’s 42-14 loss to Concordia (Michigan).
Bolin saw action in four games as a freshman, mostly on special teams.
At 5-foot-9, 195 pounds, Bolin is both strong and quick enough to change positions when the situation calls for it.
“I play strong safety, but sometimes I play on the line of scrimmage line as a linebacker,” he said. “I like playing in the secondary more because I can see the whole field.”
There are four former Center Grove players on the Taylor roster. The others are center Justin Tolle and defensive lineman Brad Boswell, both sophomores. The Trojans (Taylor, not Center Grove) posted a 3-7 record a year ago. The team has produced one winning season in the last eight years.
Watson, who started four games last year as a Taylor freshman, likes the familiarity of having known some of his teammates since childhood. He said the lessons he learned growing up immersed in Center Grove football remain a benefit.
“The biggest transition is going from a group of guys you’ve played with since you were little kids to being with people you don’t know,” Watson said. “What Center Grove taught us was toughness and perseverance.
“It is a clash of a lot of cultures when you get to college. It’s more about what Center Grove taught us, and we carry that onto the field.”
Taylor opens the season with consecutive road games against Robert Morris this Saturday and next weekend at Butler.
Jerome Grey is in his first season as Taylor’s defensive backs coach after finishing his playing career as a running back at Wheaton (Illinois) College, a Division III team. Grey is impressed with the consistent level of physicality Bolin and Watson bring to practices.
“With Sam, it’s just his energy and love of the game. He wants to hit and wants to be physical,” Grey said. “I probably work more with Tyler because Sam is more of a hybrid (defender). Tyler is extremely smart. Very technical. He puts himself in a position to make a play on the ball.
“Both of them go full speed no matter what.”
