Taylor Wright leads Episcopal Academy the way his father led Villanova: Through ‘attitude’

Television cameras love to capture Tiger and Charlie Woods, golf’s most famous father-son duo, and the uncanny similarities between their swings, body language, and mannerisms.

Bring a camera to the next Episcopal Academy basketball game and you’ll see something similar.

Whether it’s arms folded across his chest or extended outward, palms skyward, expressing confusion or angst, or sometimes just burying his face in his palms to hide his incredulity, Taylor Wright has all of his father’s moves.

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Even those who know both well can momentarily get confused.

“Oh my God, they have the same mannerisms,” said Episcopal assistant coach Tom Leibig, who was a walk-on at Villanova and a member of the 2018 national championship team.

“Sometimes I think it’s his dad talking when he’s talking. It’s the same thing. It’s great. It’s all good stuff. It’s just funny. If I had my eyes closed, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference sometimes.”

Wright, 30, is the interim boys’ basketball coach at Episcopal Academy, where he graduated in 2011.

His father, Jay, 61, is the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach who led Villanova to two national championships, four Final Fours, and might just be the best coach — college or professional — in Philadelphia basketball history.

As apples go, Taylor Wright couldn’t have fallen from a better coaching tree.

Yet his own athletic experiences, including as a pitcher in the college and independent league ranks, have also helped prepare Wright for the task at hand.

Talk to him long enough and, perhaps echoing another trademark of his father, Wright often humbly explains how lucky he feels about various aspects of his life.

Fortuitous, sure, but Wright has also worked hard and made the most of his opportunities.

Like the time he gave up a job in finance to become a minor league pitcher.

Wright wanted to play pro baseball since childhood, but didn’t think he was good enough when he graduated from Brown in 2015.

More than three years after graduation, he gave it a shot.

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The 6-foot-5 right-hander was a reliever and starter for the Bears, even posting a 1.35 ERA during Ivy League play as a junior.

Wright, however, didn’t make it with the Somerset Patriots in the Atlantic League, but eventually found a home in Indiana with the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League.

“I was 26 when I started,” Wright said. “I took it as a chance to be one of the young guys again because I was playing with guys who may have been 22, but they’d been playing minor league baseball since they were 18.”

So Wright became a sponge, learning everything he could from coaches and teammates. Eventually, he became one of the team’s most reliable relievers.

“I always wanted to play baseball since I was 3 or 4 years old,” he said. “I didn’t really give myself a chance after college. I didn’t think I was good enough. I was in a spot where I was working another job and I just said, ‘Give it a shot. You can live the rest of your life happy if you give it a shot and they tell you you’re not good enough.’ I was just lucky enough that they said, ‘We have a spot for you,’ and then I made the most out of that opportunity.”

Each offseason, he returned home as an assistant basketball coach for Episcopal’s junior varsity team.

When then-Episcopal coach Brian Shanahan first asked Wright to join his coaching staff four years ago, Wright thought he’d just enjoy reconnecting with basketball between baseball seasons.

“I said, ‘Oh, I’ll do this to pass the time,’” he said, “but from that year on, I just fell in love with it. It was so much fun. The kids were awesome, and it’s really special to be at my alma mater…

“I really enjoy this. I was lucky I was still playing and I was able to finish my playing career with something in the back of my head like, ‘Hey, I can see myself doing this.’”

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He eventually became a substitute teacher at EA during the pandemic. Last year he became a full-time faculty member. Now he teaches history.

Wright also made a bullpen appearance in 2021 when illness forced Shanahan to miss some time.

He stepped in and led the varsity Churchmen to a championship in the Marple Newtown Holiday Tournament.

Wins have been difficult to come by this season, but context is needed to fairly evaluate Episcopal’s performance.

The Churchmen (8-13 overall, 1-7 Inter-Ac) have just one win in league play this season.

Last week, Episcopal lost by eight at defending champion Malvern Prep, but the Churchmen led at halftime and trailed by two in the final minute.

Episcopal’s lone league win came against Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, which upset previously unbeaten Penn Charter last month.

Plus, unlike other Inter-Ac schools that currently have Division I basketball players, Episcopal has a few Division I lacrosse players.

This season, Wright’s squad has been led by seniors Eddie Jones and TJ Lamb, who will play lacrosse at Villanova and Cornell, respectively.

“They have done everything we’ve asked, knowing full well they are getting ready for their big senior lacrosse season,” Wright said. “They have just totally poured themselves into basketball season and it’s set the tone for everybody else.”

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In Villanova basketball parlance, that’s called “attitude,” a mantra that helped the Wildcats become one of the nation’s most recognizable and successful NCAA programs during Jay Wright’s two-decade tenure.

Even former Villanova assistant coaches such as Pat Chambers, the once longtime coach at Penn State who is now at Florida Gulf Coast, have adopted the mantra.

These days you’ll hear “attitude” dozens of times at Episcopal games. You’ll also find a Chambers on the bench.

Paul Chambers, who graduated from Episcopal in 1988 (Pat graduated in 1989) and became one of the best point guards in Penn’s history, is an assistant coach at his alma mater.

“If it’s not broken don’t fix it,” Chambers joked at a recent practice. “My brother has had a lot of success with [attitude]. Obviously, Jay has had a lot of success with it, and I think Taylor will as well.”

Wright is counting on it. He says he wants to be named the full-time head coach. His dad, who now works for CBS Sports, makes games when he can. He might also be on retainer as a consultant for his son. Chambers joked the Episcopal coaching staff often asks: “Did Jay watch our film? What did he think?”

Wright’s younger siblings, Colin and Reilly, both also graduates of EA, tease him about the mannerisms all three once razzed their father for during his coaching career. Wright, however, seems to embrace it all now.

“I’ve been around him so much that I don’t even realize I’m doing it,” he said. “It’s just one of those things that seemed to work [for him] so why not try it? It’s at least been a nice family joke.”

Wright added that he didn’t always have the best attitude growing up, but eventually learned what was truly important to him.

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“It’s funny,” he said, “I just turned 30 and I’m getting to that age when I’m realizing my parents were right.

“Attitude really is the No. 1 thing. Basketball is a wonderful vehicle to teach that lesson…I was lucky enough to have a father who understood it very well and could communicate it very well.”

Later, he added: “We’re trying to relate everything we do to how this is going to help you be a better student, employee, boss, husband, brother, and father. That stuff is really important to us. That’s what’s cool about coaching in high school because we can teach those things through basketball.”