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Legendary Muskegon football coach has died

Dave Taylor is remembered for resurrecting a losing Muskegon team in the 1980s and leading the program to greatness both on and off the field.

MUSKEGON, Michigan — Muskegon has lost a legend.

Dave Taylor, a North Muskegon graduate of 1959, Ferris State University football star and longtime coach of area teams, has died. He was 83, loved ones say.

Taylor coached for 32 years in Fremont, Muskegon Heights, Mona Shores and Muskegon. In his tenure, he amassed 195 wins and was Coach of the Year in 1986. He led his team in an undefeated season in 1990, to three state championships and to the state playoffs eight times. 

He was inducted into the Muskegon Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, then the Michigan High School Football Hall of Fame in 2014.

But Taylor will be remembered for a winning attitude on the field and off of it, his loved ones say.

"I have never met anybody in my many years on this planet who had less of an ego than Dave Taylor. He never yearned for the limelight and always praised others and not himself over the years," wrote friend Jim Moyes on the Local Sports Journal

Taylor began his lifelong love of football as a star tackle and linebacker at North Muskegon High School. He took his talents to Ferris State, then the Grand Rapids Blazers, the city's fleeting pro football team. 

He then went on to become an assistant coach before eventually—and reluctantly—taking a head coach job, Moyes writes. That's where he found a lifelong passion and revived the Muskegon football team to greatness. 

"Coach Dave Taylor dedicated his life to shaping not just athletes, but individuals, instilling values of hard work, perseverance, and teamwork in every player," wrote the Big Reds Facebook page. "He was a pillar in our community, always ready to lend a helping hand and inspire the next generation. The countless lives he influenced and the tradition he helped build will forever be in our hearts."

Taylor leaves behind two children. He's preceded in death by his wife, Shirley, Moyes says

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