Trooper Taylor

Last updated

Trooper Taylor
Current position
TitleAssociate Head Coach/Running Backs Coach
Team Texas A&M
Conference SEC
Biographical details
Born (1970-02-20) February 20, 1970 (age 54)
Cuero, Texas, U.S.
Playing career
1988–1991 Baylor
Position(s) Defensive back
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1992–1997 Baylor (GA/DB/WR)
1998 New Mexico (RB)
1999–2003 Tulane (WR)
2004–2007 Tennessee (AHC/RB/WR)
2008 Oklahoma State (co-OC/WR)
2009–2012 Auburn (AHC/WR)
2014–2018 Arkansas State (AHC/CB)
2019–2020 Duke (WR)
2021Duke (AHC/CB)
2022–2023Duke (AHC/RB)
2023Duke (interim HC)
2024–present Texas A&M (AHC/RB)
Head coaching record
Overall1–0
Bowls1–0

Carl "Trooper" Taylor (born February 20, 1970) is an American college football coach at Texas A&M University. He is currently serving as associate head coach and running backs coach following Mike Elko, who left to return to Texas A&M as head coach. [1] Taylor was formerly an assistant coach at Auburn University from January 2009 until December 2012 where he served as assistant head coach and wide receivers coach under former head coach Gene Chizik. Prior to joining Auburn, Taylor served as co-offensive coordinator for Oklahoma State. He has spent over a decade coaching wide receivers, primarily in the Southeastern and Big 12 conferences.

Contents

Personal life

Taylor grew up in Cuero, Texas, and was raised in a family of 16. He earned his bachelor's degree from Baylor University in 1992 and is married to Evi Crosby-Taylor, who was a track and field scholarship athlete at Baylor. The couple were wed in 1993 on the field at Baylor's Floyd Casey Stadium and have two children: a son, Blaise, and a daughter, Starr.

Coaching career

Taylor played defensive back for the Baylor Bears from 1988 to 1991 and finished his playing career as the school's leader in kickoff returns and return yardage. After helping the Bears to the 1991 Copper Bowl and completing his degree, Taylor joined the coaching staff at his alma mater as a graduate assistant for two years before being named wide receivers coach in 1994. After coaching the secondary for two years, Taylor returned to coaching receivers before leaving Baylor to take the position coaching running backs at New Mexico.

In 1999, head coach Chris Scelfo lured Taylor to his staff at Tulane as the wide receivers coach. Taylor spent five years with the Green Wave before joining Phillip Fulmer's staff at Tennessee. Taylor served as running backs coach before being promoted to assistant head coach of player development in 2005, which called on him to manage the academic and social direction and development of student-athletes in conjunction with their position coaches and the coordinators. In 2006, Taylor coached the wide receivers, helping the Vols to a 12th ranked pass offense. [2] Following the 2007 season when offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe took the head coaching position at Duke (taking the OL and RB coaches with him), Taylor was considered a candidate to take over the position full-time. Fulmer instead chose Dave Clawson and Taylor left UT to take a job as co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Oklahoma State under Mike Gundy, with whom he had previously coached at Baylor in 1996. With the help of Taylor's receivers, the 2008 Cowboys ranked 6th in the nation in offensive production. [3]

On January 5, 2009, new head coach Gene Chizik hired Taylor to serve as assistant head coach and wide receivers coach at Auburn.

Coach Taylor has been recognized as a top-25 national recruiter on six occasions (2005 [4] and 2007 [5] by Rivals.com, 2009 by ESPN, [6] 2010 by Rivals.com [7] and 2011 by 247Sports.com, [8] ESPN [9] and Rivals.com [10] and 2012 by Rivals.com [11] ). He has experience coaching in 9 bowl games including the 1994 Alamo Bowl, 2002 Hawaii Bowl, 2005 Cotton Bowl Classic, 2007 Outback Bowl, 2008 Outback Bowl, 2008 Holiday Bowl, 2010 Outback Bowl, the 2011 BCS National Championship Game, and the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl.

He took over as interim head coach for Duke following Elko's departure. [1]

Players coached

Taylor has served as position coach for a number of prominent players over his career. At Tulane, he coached four wideouts into the NFL, including Roydell Williams of the Washington Redskins. He also coached the nation's top receiving trio in 2001: Adrian Burnette, Kerwin Cook, and Terrell Harris, who combined to lead the country with 2,384 receiving yards on 185 catches.

During his time in Knoxville, he coached NFL backs Cedric Houston and Gerald Riggs Jr., who became Tennessee's only pair of 1,000-yard rushers in the same season in 2004. He also coached future NFL wide receiver Robert Meachem to All-America honors in 2006. Meachem was part of a trio of Vols receivers including Jayson Swain and Bret Smith that caught a combined 159 receptions for 2,439 yards and 22 touchdowns. With all three players gone in 2007, Taylor mentored the new pass-catching trio of Lucas Taylor, Austin Rogers and Josh Briscoe to a combined 175 catches for 2,130 yards and 14 touchdowns.

In 2008, Taylor coached Oklahoma State's All-American receiver Dez Bryant into the 3rd leading receiver in the nation with catches totaling nearly 114 yards per game. [12] Bryant was part of a potent Cowboys attack that ended ranked as the nation's 6th leading offense. [3]

Head coaching record

YearTeamOverallConferenceStandingBowl/playoffs
Duke Blue Devils (Atlantic Coast Conference)(2023)
2023 Duke 1–0 [lower-alpha 1] 1–0T–6thW Birmingham
Duke:1–00–0
Total:1–0
  1. ↑ Taylor was named interim head coach for the team's bowl game following Mike Elko's departure to Texas A&M.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turner Gill</span> American football coach and former player

Turner Hillery Gill is an American college athletic administrator and former football player and coach. He is the Executive Director of Student-Athlete and Staff Development at the University of Arkansas, a position he assumed in 2019. Gill has served as head football coach at the University at Buffalo (2006–09), the University of Kansas (2010–11) and Liberty University (2012–18), compiling a career college football coaching record of 72–84. He was one of 11 black head coaches in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision at the time of his hiring at Kansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Chizik</span> American football player and coach (born 1961)

Eugene C. Chizik Jr. is an American football coach who was most recently the defensive coordinator and Assistant Head Coach for Defense at North Carolina. A veteran of the coaching ranks, Chizik previously was UNC's defensive coordinator for the 2015 and 2016 seasons, and served as the head coach of the Auburn football team from 2009 until the end of the 2012 season. Chizik's 2010 Auburn Tigers football team completed a 14–0 season with a victory over Oregon in the BCS National Championship Game, and quarterback Cam Newton won the Heisman Trophy. Chizik played college football at the University of Florida in 1981 for head coach Charley Pell.

The 2006 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Tennessee entered the 2006 season coming off a 5–6 record in 2005. The Volunteers were given a preseason ranking of #23 in both the Coaches' Poll and the AP Poll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gus Malzahn</span> American football player and coach (born 1965)

Arthur Gustavo Malzahn III is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach at the University of Central Florida (UCF). He was the head football coach at Auburn University from 2013 to 2020. He helped lead the 2010 Auburn Tigers to a National Championship as the team's offensive coordinator. As head coach at Auburn, he led the team to a SEC Championship win and an appearance in the 2014 National Championship. Malzahn has coached Heisman winner Cam Newton and two Heisman finalists: Nick Marshall and Tre Mason, including coaching 14 All-Americans. During Malzahn's tenure at Auburn, he qualified as the second-longest tenured head coach at one school in the SEC, behind Nick Saban. Out of active head coaches, Malzahn also holds the best record against coach Saban.

Dameyune Vashon Craig is an American football coach and former player. He is currently an offensive assistant at Georgia State University. He was most recently the wide receivers coach at Texas A&M University. Craig played professionally as quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons with the Carolina Panthers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darrin Chiaverini</span> American football player and coach (born 1977)

Darrin Earl Chiaverini is an American college football coach and former wide receiver. He is the head football coach for Northeastern State University, a position he has held since 2024. He played college football at Colorado. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Fedora</span> American football player and coach (born 1962)

Herbert Lawrence Fedora is an American football coach and former player who is the former coach and general manager for the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League (USFL). He previously served as head coach at the University of Southern Mississippi from 2008 to 2011, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 2012 to 2018, and the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Baylor University in 2020.

Tony Franklin is an American football coach, most recently serving as the offensive coordinator for the Army Black Knights sprint football team. Previously, he held the same position with the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders of Conference USA after making a move from the same position with the California Golden Bears. He announced his retirement from MTSU soon after the new year in 2021, following the completion of a challenging 2020 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Rhoads</span> American football player and coach (born 1967)

Paul Robert Rhoads is an American football coach. He is currently the outside linebackers coach at Boston College. A long-time major conference assistant coach and head coach, he is best-known for his seven-year tenure as head coach at Iowa State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kodi Burns</span> American football player and coach (born 1988)

Kodi Burns is an American football coach who was most recently the wide receivers coach for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the wide receivers coach at the University of Tennessee and Auburn University, where he played college football first as a quarterback and later as a wide receiver winning a national championship in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Auburn Tigers football team</span> American college football season

The 2009 Auburn Tigers football team represented Auburn University during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers were led by first year head coach Gene Chizik. Despite playing the 12th toughest schedule in the nation, the Tigers finished the season 8–5 and won the Outback Bowl 38–35 in overtime against Northwestern.

Curtis Scott Luper is an American football coach who is currently the running backs coach with the Missouri Tigers. He previously coached running backs and was a recruiting coordinator at Auburn under head coach Gene Chizik. Luper served as the assistant head coach and running backs coach of the Oklahoma State Cowboys from 2005 to 2008.

Jay Boulware is an American football coach, who is the running backs coach and special teams coordinator for Kentucky.

Jeff Grimes is an American football coach, and the offensive coordinator for the Kansas Jayhawks. He was previously the offensive coordinator at both Baylor University and Brigham Young University (BYU), Louisiana State University's (LSU) offensive line coach and run game coordinator, and the offensive line coach at both Virginia Tech (2013) and Auburn University. In addition, he was the assistant head coach, run game coordinator and offensive line coach at the University of Colorado, BYU's offensive line coach, offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Arizona State University (ASU), and offensive line coach at Boise State University (BSU) (20000.

Tommy Thigpen is an American college football coach and former player. He is currently the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at University of North Carolina, a position he assumed in January 2018. Prior to that, he spent 14 years as an assistant coach in the collegiate ranks, including a stint at Auburn University where he was part of the 2010 National Championship team. Thigpen played as a linebacker at the University of North Carolina and thereafter was drafted by the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He also played for the Barcelona Dragons of the World League of American Football (WLAF).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neal Brown</span> American football player and coach (born 1980)

Neal Brown is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at West Virginia University. Brown was previously the head coach at Troy University from 2015 to 2018. Brown also previously served as the offensive coordinator at Troy (2008–2009), Texas Tech University (2010–2012), and the University of Kentucky (2013–2014).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Beamer</span> American football coach and former player (born 1977)

Shane Beamer is an American football coach and former player who is currently the head coach at the University of South Carolina. He is the son of former Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer.

Scot Loeffler is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Bowling Green State University. He formerly served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Boston College. He was previously the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Virginia Tech, having previously held the same role at Auburn University under head coach Gene Chizik. Prior to joining Auburn, Loeffler served as offensive coordinator for Temple. He has spent over a decade coaching quarterbacks, primarily in the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences. On November 28, 2018, Loeffler was named head coach at BGSU.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Texas Longhorns football team</span> American college football season

The 2015 Texas Longhorns football team, known variously as "Texas", "UT", the "Longhorns", or the "Horns", was a collegiate American football team that represented the University of Texas at Austin as a member of the Big 12 Conference in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team played its home games at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, where the team is based. The Longhorns were led by second-year head coach Charlie Strong. Shawn Watson and Joe Wickline ran the offense. Vance Bedford served as defensive coordinator. They finished the season 5–7, 4–5 in Big 12 play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place.

The Auburn Tigers football team represents Auburn University in American football.

References

  1. 1 2 Rowe, Adam (November 27, 2023). "Breaking: Trooper Taylor named interim Duke Football head coach". The Devils Den. 247 Sports. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  2. ↑ "2006 Bowl Subdivision (FBS) National Team Report - Passing Offense". NCAA. 2007. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
  3. 1 2 "2008 Bowl Subdivision (FBS) National Team Report - Total Offense". NCAA. 2009. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Rivals.com Top 25 recruiters for 2005". Rivals.com. 2005. Retrieved October 15, 2009.
  5. ↑ "Rivals.com Top 25 recruiters for 2007". Rivals.com. 2007. Retrieved October 15, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Ed Orgeron, Charlie Strong among the top 25 recruiters". ESPN. 2009. Retrieved October 15, 2009.
  7. ↑ "Class of 2010: Top 25 recruiters". Rivals.com. 2010. Retrieved February 9, 2010.
  8. ↑ "247Sports honors the nations top recruiters". 247Sports.com. 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Top football recruiters of the year". ESPN. 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Southeast dominates list of top recruiters". Rivals.com. 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Rivals names Auburn's Trooper Taylor as one of nation's top recruiters again". Birmingham News. 2012. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  12. ↑ "2008 Oklahoma St. Football Ranking Summary". NCAA. 2009. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.