WOODLAND HILLS — When Taft’s new football coach Fred Emmerson reached out to Steve Smith his intentions were clear.
“I’m huge on tradition,” Emmerson told the Taft alum, who reached All-American status at USC and was a Super Bowl champion in the NFL. “We need to start leaning into the alumni base and honoring that.”
Emmerson felt that was missing from Taft — a school that enjoyed two trips to the LA City Section championship game when Smith was the team’s star receiver. He invited Smith and a slew of alums to Thursday night’s game as a way to remind his players of the standard Taft used to meet, and show them where he wants it to return.
On Thursday, Smith’s No. 2 jersey was retired at halftime.
Taft dropped to 1-2 this season as it lost 52-20 to visiting Dymally (3-0).
Toreadors receiver Lior Leshem had a team-high five catches for 111 yards and three touchdowns — each one out of the slot position. The same spot his idol, Smith, used to excel in.
“He’s one of the receivers that I look up to,” Leshem said. “My athletic trainer knew him and said he was one of the hardest workers. I just try to take that and put it into my game.”
Influences like that is why Emmerson asked Smith, his brother Malcolm and other alums to attend Thursday’s game. He wanted his players to see the product of constant effort and be reminded of that each time they walk into the new team room where Smith’s jersey will hang.
Smith also showed up to Taft’s practice Wednesday.
That’s where Leshem and the wide receivers came up with the idea to hand Smith the ball after the team’s first touchdown Thursday night.
So, when Leshem hauled in a 19-yard touchdown on Taft’s opening drive, he pointed at Smith, sprinted over to him and did just that.
Smith took it and faked a spike on the track.
“Go get another, 1-3,” he told Leshem.
It was just 20 years ago when that spike was a real one. One that meant so much to Taft High School, and even more to Woodland Hills. Taft is far from what it was when fans from outside the local community just wanted to catch a glimpse of the talented receiver headed to USC and eventually the NFL.
Emmerson’s the school’s third head coach in four years, but he has distinct plans to restore its status.
The first step was tangible — a new turf field. The second has yet to be built — a team room that will be named after Smith, where his jersey will hang, among other callbacks that teach the players what it means to represent Taft. And the third is his philosophy regarding the importance of history.
“Taft used to be something very special,” Emmerson said. “We got to get it back to that. The best way to do that is connecting the present with the future and the past.”
After the teams had cleared the field Thursday night, Emmerson remained, chatting with faculty about how he thought the game could have been closer. Then, he was presented with a shirt that sported Taft’s logo on the front and one significant word on the back.
A word that encapsulated why he invited Smith, why he says he sees himself “coaching his kids at Taft in 10 years,” and a word that inspires him to bring Taft back to where it once was.
Tradition, the shirt read.