Warren Central football head coach Joel Taylor yells out corrections during practice on Wednesday. Aug. 9, 2017 (Matt Lunsford/photo@bgdailynews.com)

Joel Taylor was tasked with rebuilding the Warren Central football program, but the Dragons will have to find a different coach to bring home the school’s first victory since 2015.

The Daily News learned Wednesday that Taylor will not return as head coach after three winless seasons.

Taylor met with players Tuesday to announce his retirement from football.

“I wanted to get the boys together and say it’s a chapter that’s over for me personally,” Taylor told the Daily News. “Decided to hang up the whistle. Just a chapter in life that closes and another one will open. It was just time for me. There has been nothing but 100 percent support from the administration at Warren Central.

“It’s just time for me to move on.”

The Dragons enter 2019 looking to end a 35-game losing streak dating back to Oct. 16, 2015.

Warren Central went 0-10 in his first season and exited the first round of the playoffs the last two years.

Taylor came to Warren Central after 18 years coaching the Bowling Green Junior High School football team.

Taylor said three winless seasons played no part in his decision to retire.

“The kids performed and did everything we asked them to do,” Taylor said. “It was a tremendous opportunity to get to work with those young men and I would gladly do it over again if given the opportunity. That had nothing to do with it.

“As a coach, you come in and the situation is what it was and you try to make the best of it and get the program ready to take the next step. I think the kids there have a good strong foundation and I think somebody will be able to come in and build with that.”

Taylor took over at Warren Central as the fourth coach in four seasons, hoping to bring stability to a program rapidly declining with football participation. Taylor built numbers from 14 participants at early fall practice in 2016 to upward of 40 players on the roster in 2018.

Before Taylor, the Dragons were coached for one season each by Clay Stephens in 2015 and Howard Feggins in 2014. Taylor was the longest-tenured coach since Mike Rogers coached the Dragons from 2009-13.

Warren Central athletic director Jason Esters assisted Taylor the last two seasons and credited the coach for keeping the program afloat during a challenging era.

“Three years ago, we wouldn’t have a football program right now if it weren’t for Joel Taylor,” Esters said. “At the time we had several kids that were transferring. There wasn’t much interest in the job at the time for several different reasons. He stuck there for three years. It was tough going down there every day and losing, but the kids came to practice every day and played hard.

“I hate it for Joel that he didn’t get a win. He put in a lot of time, the players put in a lot of time and they deserve that more than anything. The community desires it, but I feel like the coaching staff and players that worked every day, they deserved to get a victory.”

Taylor said he sees the Dragons turning the corner shortly with participation on the rise at Moss Middle School and a proper change in the schedule for 2019. The Dragons have dropped Meade County, Central Hardin and John Hardin from the fall slate and added games against Apollo, Russell County and Russellville.

Taylor also said participation at Moss Middle, which feeds into Warren Central, has fielded a seventh-grade and eighth-grade team the last two seasons after struggling to field one complete team a few years before 2017.

“We couldn’t hang in there with the teams that were state champions and state championship contenders, but the teams off the fringe of that, we were able to compete and make it somewhat competitive and exciting,” Taylor said. “Had some leads and some big plays. It’s there. When you play young kids, consistency is going to be one of the more difficult things to bring Friday night on every play. With their maturity, you can only foresee them getting better and better as the year goes on.”{&end}