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Washington High School has a new head football coach and school officials didn’t have to look far to find him.

Greenville native, D.H. Conley graduate and former Vikings offensive coordinator Matt Taylor will be the next leader of the Pam Pack football program.

The 36-year old Taylor replaced Perry Owens, who resigned in early May to take an assistant coaching position in his hometown of Edenton.

Taylor was an offensive lineman for the Vikings in the early 2000’s, wrestled at UNC-Pembroke, then graduated with a Business Administration degree from North Carolina Wesylan in Rocky Mount.

Taylor started as a middle school coach in Greenville, then moved to Conley at the same time former East Carolina quarterback Holton Ahlers arrived on campus. Receiver C.J. Johnson followed a year later. Both recently signed NFL free agent contracts with Seattle. He later earned his lateral entry license and taught Business and Accounting classes

“it was fun coaching those guys and I’m looking forward to getting started here,” Taylor said. “I wasn’t looking to leave Conley, but Washington holds a special attraction to me and I decided it would be a great place to start as a head coach.”

Taylor and his wife were married in a waterside ceremony in Washington Park and he said they plan to move here at some point.

“This football program has always had great community support and I’ve found when you become part of that community, it pays great dividends,” Taylor said. “I am over the moon excited to start building relationships with my players, their families and the student body here at WHS.”

Washington ran a high-scoring spread offense under Owens that could light up the scoreboard in a hurry. Conley had a successful offense under Taylor as well, but he’s not committed to a particular scheme just yet.

“I have a background in the Wing-T and we ran the Spread at Conley, but I don’t know what we’ll run here just yet,” Taylor said. “We’ll evaluate what we have and our job as coaches is to put the kids in the best position to be successful.”

Athletic Director Lane Raper led a search committee made up of school personnel and new county AD Keith Mitchell.

“He separated himself from a good group of candidates with his confidence and passion for the game,” Raper said. “He is committed to be part of our community and we’re very pleased to have him as our next head football coach.”

Taylor will officially take over the football program June 12^th at the first team workout. Raper said his teaching duties for the fall are still undetermined.