June 5, 2001

By Natalie Meisler
Denver Post

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Since stepping down a year ago from a job she loved - Colorado State women's basketball assistant coach - Nicki Taggart spent her time exploring related career fields. She planned her wedding in Florida and pined for the position she left on the Rams' bench.

Even when her former job reopened in February, she didn't dare inquire about coming back.

"Absolutely not," she said. "When I left coaching I had to learn to find something else that made me happy. I planned on the possibility of not coaching again."

Her future husband and former boss, CSU head coach Tom Collen, took care of it on his own.

Following the NCAA Tournament in March, Collen approached then-athletic director Tim Weiser about Taggart returning to the Rams. There also was a team meeting, giving the players an opportunity to air concerns they might have.

The couple married May 18, and the announcement that Nicki Taggart Collen would return to the CSU coaching staff Aug. 1 was made when they came back from their Grand Cayman honeymoon.

"I think the team is excited. Nicki brings a lot to the floor, she knows the game well and it is going to help individuals improve as well as the team," said CSU guard Angie Gorton, the lone senior on a 2001-02 team with all the makings of another postseason contender.

On most teams regardless of sport, assistant coaches also serve as buffers between athletes and the head coach regarding playing time, disagreements, academics and personal matters. It's part of the job for assistant coaches to be placed in a bind, but more so when the head coach is a spouse.

"It scared the girls a little at first, (but) Nicki told us we can confide in her. As long as we have her word, we can all trust her," Gorton said. "It all boils down to every person on the team has one personal coach she can confide in."

Taggart Collen already was sensitive about the issue. She played at Purdue - when Collen, then an assistant coach with the Boilermakers, recruited her before he moved on to Arkansas - and transferred to Marquette.

"I think they all had a little concern," she said of the Rams. "Whether a situation is husband or wife or assistant coach and coach, you're going to have to tell players they have to tell the head coach something because maybe it's too big for an assistant to handle.

"The players are aware I'm like any other assistant, and you can trust me. If you went and did something that's not the best thing to do, I would not run and tell Tom. If it's something bigger, maybe it is something you should discuss with him."

As for their relationship, the Collens know there will be a lot of adjustments to be made during the 2001-02 season, both as newlyweds and bringing work home from the same "office." The Collens, however, are in good company in terms of husband-wife staffing even though in many other instances the wife is the basketball team's head coach and the husband is an assistant. June and Mike Daugherty were hired as a couple at Washington, where June Daugherty told athletic director Barbara Hedges she required a nanny for her twins on trips. The Huskies reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in March.

Purdue hired Kristy and Kelly Kirby as a package. Purdue reached the NCAA championship game, where it lost to Notre Dame.

"The potential certainly exists for (issues), but we'll just work extra hard to make sure that doesn't happen," Collen said. "Basketball has to be enough of a priority for both of us that we don't let personal issue do anything to jeopardize the success of the program. We don't want to do anything but create a great environment for the student athletes.

"In order to have a great coaching staff, you've got to have people who trust each other and communicate well. It's got to be give and take on the basketball staff in general to be successful, but the same traits of a successful marriage apply also."

Before they married, the Collens were open about their relationship, which developed after she was hired for CSU's 1999-2000 season. They were engaged a year ago. She stepped down under administrative pressure and worked part-time as a radio announcer for the Rams. She also worked for a Fort Collins sports marketing firm, but was reluctant to pursue jobs in her degree field - mechanical engineering - the past year.

So she watched CSU games, unable to cheer too loudly with the radio headsets on, yet helpless to do much else.

"I'm sure it was tough for her knowing she wanted to coach and not being able to coach," Gorton said. "She still coaches us off the floor. One time she told me I needed to keep a girl out of the middle."

Said Taggart Collen: "I loved coaching, and it's something I had to give up to marry Tom. I'd do it again."

CSU has nepotism rules regarding one family member in a position to report to another. In February, football coach Sonny Lubick hired as an assistant son Matt, who reports to the offensive coordinator. Basketball staffs are much smaller, but Taggart Collen was going to report to women's associate head coach Curt Miller, who left CSU to coach Bowling Green. His position hasn't been filled.

Taggart Collen replaces second-year assistant Raegan Scott, a former Colorado star who is leaving coaching to enter graduate school and get married out of state.

Staff change is nothing new to Collen. He is entering his fifth season as CSU's coach, and has had at least one new assistant every year.

"As long as Tom is coaching, I'll be an assistant," Taggart Collen said. "It will provide stability even if the other two assistants leave every year. We both like Fort Collins."

He figures it can't hurt recruiting when every coach promises prospects and their parents that a "family environment" awaits, but the Collens are living proof.

As for his other staff vacancy, Collen said: "We have a lot of great applicants. As the years go on, this has become a better job. I've been rather impressed with the level of candidates."

As for the new old coach, Taggart Collen said: "It's funny how things come full circle. Good things happen when they are ready to happen."