by Malcolm Butler
Who knew a 53-year-old rap singer could be the savior of Louisiana Tech’s 2026 softball season?
Josh Taylor did. Or at least the fifth-year Bulldog Boss hoped.
With his team mired in a more than month-long slump, Taylor did what any respectable 50-something-year-old skipper would do.
He turned to Eminem.
Yes, that Eminem: Marshall Mathers, the well-known American rapper and songwriter, who made a name for himself before most of the current Tech players were even born.
It was a last resort.
Over the previous six weeks, in which Tech lost 20 of 30 games, Taylor and his coaching staff tried a little bit of everything. Motivational talks. Riverboat cruises. Tough love.
“As a coach, you get them to try to respond to something,” said Taylor. “We tried a lot of things over the course of the (slump), whether that be words, actions, really anything. But nothing seemed to stick.
“There were things that went in and then immediately out. I am learning that with today’s (student athletes) you must find a way to make things stick.”
Nothing worked.
“You never know how they are going to respond to anything that you try,” said Taylor, the two-time CUSA Coach of the Year. “And when you do not get the response that you had hoped, you move on to the next thing. Whatever it is. It could be funny or it could be stern.
“They hadn’t responded to either, so I tried to find a more creative way to get them to understand the message which is the first line or two of that song.”
So, after dropping two of three games to FIU over Alumni Weekend April 10-12, Taylor showed up for practice the following Tuesday with music on the mind.
And for the next two hours, the speakers at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field blared the lyrics to Eminem’s 2002 hit “Lose Yourself.”
Over and over and over.
“I felt we needed something different but something that was also entertaining,” said Taylor. “Something that was fun because we wanted them to play loose and with more energy and with more intent. That song fits the purpose, but it also adds in the fun and the element of repetitiveness.”
After starting the season 12-3, the Bulldogs began finding ways to lose games, including some heart-breaking, head-scratching late game setbacks in CUSA play.
That is when Taylor had a conversation with Tech alum Berkley Calapp, who also served as an assistant coach to Taylor at Nevada.
“Berkley reminded me of some things we did at Nevada that were very successful,” said Taylor. “She reminded me of the reasons why the players at Nevada were drawn to me and liked playing for me. It brought back some things to me. She reminded me of a lot of things that led to successful outcomes.
“It got me thinking deeper and more outside the box. If nothing else, then to try to get this team to enjoy the last three or four weeks of the season and to play hard.”
So, for over two hours on a Tuesday afternoon in mid-April, the roughly 5-minute song played repeatedly with lyrics that have meaning.
“Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity.
“To seize everything, you ever wanted in one moment.
“Would you capture it, or just let it slip?”
Junior outfielder Karli Sellers and her teammates were not sure what to think about the song or the method from their head coach.
“He didn’t tell us anything at first,” said Sellers. “He came down for practice and put it on repeat. Once we realized it was playing over and over on purpose, we started to listen to the words and message behind the song.
“After practice he asked us what the point of it was. We knew it was about doing the most with our opportunities and not missing our moment.”
After a solid two hours of the same song, the Bulldogs thought the message had been received. Taylor did not.
So, on Wednesday at the start of practice, the speakers once again blared with Eminem … for two straight hours of Lose Yourself.
“The first day he played it I thought it was funny and it’s a good song, so I didn’t think too much about it,” said senior infielder Kaylee Grealy. “But when it was playing on the second and then the third day, I thought there had to be a message in the song.
“I figured Coach Taylor was trying to get us to actually listen to the lyrics and understand what the song was really saying.”
Bingo.
On that Friday prior to the opening game of a CUSA series against Sam Houston State, Taylor walked into the team meeting room. And there – in addition to his 22 Bulldog players – were cutouts of Eminem.
The message had been received and even embraced. Taylor smiled from ear to ear as players looked on with sly grins.
“My original idea was to prank Coach Taylor and get a big cardboard cutout of Eminem to put in his office,” said Grealy. “But I found out that life-size cardboard cutouts are expensive.
“I also wanted to do something to bring everyone’s mood or vibes up because we had been in a rough spot lately.”
Over the last two weeks, cutouts of Eminem have decorated the Bulldogs dugout at home and on the road. And they seem to have brought some lightheartedness to the Tech team.
The Bulldogs have won four straight games entering this weekend’s regular season series finale against UTEP, including a three-game road sweep over defending CUSA champion Liberty this past week.
“It has been a great way to get the message across but in a light fun way,” said Sellers. “We know when that song comes on or we start to sing it in the dugout that it’s time to lock in.”
At one point in the Game 2 victory over Liberty, during a 14-pitch, bases loaded at bat by red-shirt sophomore Gracie Flores, the entire dugout started reciting the words to Lose Yourself.
“Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity.
“To seize everything, you ever wanted in one moment.
“Would you capture it, or just let it slip?”
Flores responded with a run-scoring walk, igniting the Bulldogs dugout. It gave Tech a 2-0 lead as the Bulldogs eventually prevailed 10-0 on Liberty’s Senior Day.
Taylor said his team’s recent response has been what he has been hoping for all season long.
“Whether it’s your senior year or your freshman year, you only have one chance this season to play with this group,” said Taylor. “The message is to be where your feet are and play the game one pitch at a time. That one shot, that one opportunity, might be it. So, you must make sure you are present during it.”
With Tech’s three wins over Liberty, the Bulldogs qualified for the upcoming Conference USA Tournament in Delaware next week.
The Bulldogs will depart Monday for the hopefully week-long trek north, equipped with bats, balls, uniforms, and mini cutouts of Eminem.
“The makeup of championship teams hasn’t changed,” said Taylor. “Whether it’s the 2022 championship team or the 2019 championship team or the 2008 championship team. Those seasons had things that bonded those teams throughout their journeys, whether it’s a tornado or a new coaching staff.
“There are a lot of things that can bond a championship team. I hope (Eminem) is ours.”
