Tusculum head coach and several players will travel to ETSU Saturday to face their old team

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — It will feel like a homecoming this Saturday at William B. Greene Jr. Stadium when the ETSU Buccaneers host the Tusculum Pioneers.

That is because the Pioneers are led by former ETSU player and longtime Buccaneer assistant coach Billy Taylor. He is not the only person making a return to Johnson City, either. The Pioneers feature several former Blue and Gold players who followed Taylor to Tusculum three years ago, and now they would like to shock the world by beating his alma mater.

"It will be the first time in my life that I've ever coached against ETSU. First time I've ever been rooting against ETSU, too," Taylor said. "But it's just a situation where, heck, I dedicated my whole adult life to East Tennessee State football. Now it's a different chapter, and God's got a plan for us. You got to move on. The game's not about me, it's about these guys that are in orange and black this week, and I hope we go up there and represent our school well."

The sentiment is shared by the former Buccaneers who made the journey with him to join the Pioneers program.

"When we transferred from there, and Coach coming from there, you know it's a big game for us," linebacker Cameron Garnett said. "So we really want to win this one."

The Bucs and Pioneers will kick off Saturday at 5:30 p.m. inside William B. Greene Jr. Stadium. Marking a historic rivalry renewal, it will be the first time since 1950 that these two regional programs have faced each other on the gridiron.