BRIGHTON — The way Taylor Langley views it, he’s not looking at a rebuilding job in his new role as Brighton’s boys basketball coach.
He was encouraged by his first impressions of the Bulldogs during a summer showcase at Saginaw Valley State University.
“I’m very excited,” Langley said. “Coach (Mike) Griest and the staff — and most of the staff is staying on with me — did a great job. I’m excited to build. The cupboard has never been more full for me as a coach going into a situation. There are some great kids at Brighton who have a chance to play basketball at the next level. I just hope I can be part of helping them develop to achieve that goal if that’s a goal they have for themselves.”
Langley takes over a program that has gone 53-31 the last four seasons. The Bulldogs return three of their top five scorers from a team that went 8-3 in its final 11 games after a 4-9 start.
Langley comes to Brighton after being a college head coach for eight years at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and two years at Graceland University in Iowa.
While coaching at Graceland, he moved to Iowa with the hope his wife would find work there as a nurse anesthetist. A job wasn’t available, so her and the family’s young child remained nine hours away in Michigan.
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Langley returned to Michigan and got an entrepreneurial opportunity in Novi. The family moved to the Brighton-South Lyon area when Langley rejoined the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan and began looking for open positions.
Seeing Brighton’s job available was a jaw-dropping moment.
“Brighton just popped up on the job board,” he said. “I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding!’ John (Thompson, Brighton’s athletic director) and I connected. We met, talked about philosophy in life and sports and then he asked me to come in for an interview. I didn’t really hesitate.
“Coaching isn’t my career anymore, but it’s still a huge passion and a way I get to serve and give back to the community. I have 20-plus years of knowledge from endless failures I’ve learned from. I feel like I can share with young men and hopefully make a positive impact in their lives on and off the court.”
A 2002 graduate of Almont, Langley didn’t plan to become a coach as he was growing up.
“Like most high school kids, I didn’t have a whole lot of direction and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” he said. “I was a decent high school athlete. I had a couple opportunities to play Division III football, but didn’t want to spend that much money for a private school at the time.
“I was trying to figure out life. My dad said, ‘Why don’t you come coach with me and see if you like it?’ I instantly fell in love with it. I fell in love with the connections and relationships and positive impact you can have on people. I never really looked back. Even in my professional life outside of coaching from a business standpoint, it’s still all about relationships, still about taking care of your people and making sure you create a quality work force that wants to stay with your company.”
Langley coached at UM-Dearborn from 2014-15 to 2019-20 and Graceland in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Before those head coaching stints, he was an assistant coach for four years at Davenport University and for six years at various high schools in Michigan.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
