In less than an hour, I will be recording a podcast with the still fresh from the bubble wrap Head Coach of Auburn, Gary Taylor.
Gary and I met back in 2009 when we were both assistant coaches in the ACC. He was doing some really good work at the time for Florida State, and was pretty consistently the best poolside conversation you could find in the whole league.
That affability has come across in multiple other podcasts that Gary has done. I would estimate that a good deal of his recruiting success is owed to the fact that he puts both swimmers and coaches at ease when they talk.
I want to talk to Gary about his move from FSU to NC State six years ago. I know that at the time it was actually a big leap. NC State was just one year into the rebuild that has gotten it so much attention now, and FSU was actually a better team in the league at the time.
One of the things I always really admired from Gary was the development of athletes wherever he went. Anton Ipsen got a lot of attention for winning the NCAA title this past year, but over his career Gary has been the kind of guy that would make walk-ons into A-Finalists at the conference level and borderline scorers into NCAA qualifiers.
Finally I want to turn to Auburn, and what made the opportunity so appealing to Gary. I know him as someone that was looking for just the right opportunity, so I'm curious as to what criteria he saw in the school.
Finally, I want to ask him what he sees as his own strengths, and what kind of strengths he is looking for (or has already found) as he builds an assistant coaching staff around him.