Trooper Taylor - Associate Head Coach/Cornerbacks - Football Coaches

Trooper Taylor

Title:
Associate Head Coach/Cornerbacks
Phone:
(919) 684-2635

Trooper Taylor joined the Duke staff in January 2019, and serves as the program’s associate head coach, while mentoring the Blue Devil running backs. Taylor has also coached the wide receivers (2019-20) and cornerbacks (2021) during his time in Durham.

Taylor has over 30 years of coaching experience, including being on staff at Auburn University for its 2010 BCS National Championship run, in which the Tigers went a perfect 14-0. In total, he’s coached in 16 bowl games during a career that includes stints at Baylor, New Mexico, Tulane, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Auburn and Arkansas State. He has also been named one of the nation’s top-25 recruiters by Rivals.com on three occasions (2005, 2007 and 2010).

Last season, Taylor helped mentor a trio of running backs in Jaylen Coleman, Jaquez Moore and Jordan Waters. Duke finished the season tied for second in the ACC in rushing touchdowns (31), third in rushing offense (184.15), and fourth in rushing yards (2,394). The threesome, along with quarterback Riley Leonard, formed the first quartet in Duke history to post 400-plus rushing yards in a single-season. The grouping also became the first foursome in Blue Devil history to compile four-plus rushing touchdowns in a single-season.

While with the cornerbacks, Taylor mentored a group of veterans, led by Josh Blackwell, Leonard Johnson and Jeremiah Lewis. The trio combined to register 100 tackles, four interceptions, and 14 pass breakups in 2021. Blackwell’s seven breakups alone placed him tied for eighth in the ACC, while Johnson and Lewis finished tied for ninth with two interceptions each.

In 2020 while with the wide receivers, Taylor mentored six Blue Devils to at least 150-plus receiving yards, including two with over 300-plus yards. His wideout group accounted for 74 percent of Duke’s receiving yards and earned seven of the 11 receiving touchdowns on the year. Jake Bobo led the team in receiving yards with 358 on 32 catches with one touchdown, while Jalon Calhoun registered a team-high 39 receptions for 349 yards and two scores. Both earned six games with 30-plus receiving yards to headline the wide receivers group.

In his first season at Duke, Taylor mentored Calhoun and Eli Pancol to Freshman All-America honors by Pro Football Focus. Calhoun led all ACC freshmen in pass receptions with 46, a mark that placed him third among Power 5 rookie wide receivers. As one of just two true freshmen to start in all 12 games, Calhoun registered a team-best 420 receiving yards with four touchdowns. He had 10 games where he recorded at least two receptions and compiled his lone 100-yard receiving game (105) and only multi-touchdown game (2) during Duke’s victory over North Carolina A&T.

Pancol finished with six catches for 91 yards (15.17) and three touchdowns during his rookie season. He compiled at least 10-plus receiving yards on three different occasions and had two catches for over 20-plus yards, both for touchdowns. The Pendleton, Ind., native also notched three rushes for 20 yards (6.7), including a nine-yard touchdown against Georgia Tech. He finished fifth on the team with 24 points accumulated from four total scores.

Taylor came to Durham after spending the previous six seasons (2013-18) on the staff at Arkansas State University, where he helped the Red Wolves to 47 wins, six bowl game appearances and a pair of Sun Belt Conference championships in 2015 and 2016. Over his last three campaigns in Jonesboro, he served as the program’s assistant head coach.

Taylor coached the cornerbacks at Arkansas State as the Red Wolves made appearances in back-to-back GoDaddy Bowls (2013 & 2014), New Orleans Bowl (2015), Cure Bowl (2016), Camellia Bowl (2017) and Arizona Bowl (2018). During his tenure, Taylor coached 11 All-Sun Belt selections including his son, Blaise, who enjoyed an honor-filled career that included four all-conference citations as well as National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete accolades. In addition, Taylor helped Arkansas State secure five consecutive signing classes that were ranked among the top three in the Sun Belt Conference by at least two of the major recruiting services.

As the University of Auburn’s assistant head coach and wide receivers coach from 2009-12, Taylor helped the Tigers to 33 victories, four postseason wins, and the Southeastern Conference and BCS titles in 2010. Auburn boasted a perfect 4-0 record in postseason contests in the four-year stretch with triumphs in 2009 (38-35 over Northwestern in OT in the Outback Bowl), 2010 (56-17 over South Carolina in the SEC Championship game and 22-19 over Oregon in the BCS Tostitos National Championship game) and 2011 (43-24 over Virginia in the Chick-fil-A Bowl).

During the national championship run in 2010, Auburn’s receivers helped the offense score a Tiger single-season record 577 points while leading the SEC in scoring at 41.2 points per game as three wideouts topped the 500-yard plateau through the air.

In 2009, he mentored Darvin Adams, who broke the Auburn single-season record for receptions with 60 for 997 yards while ranking second in the SEC with 10 touchdown catches. Adams, who entered the season with just three career catches for 18 yards, was named the MVP of the Outback Bowl after catching 12 passes for 142 yards in the win over Northwestern.

The 2008 season marked Taylor’s lone campaign at Oklahoma State University as the Cowboys went 9-4, played in the Holiday Bowl and closed the year ranked No. 16 in the final Associated Press national poll. Serving as co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach, Taylor was part of an offense that produced a pair of First Team All-America picks in wideout Dez Bryant and running back Kendall Hunter. That season, Oklahoma State ranked sixth nationally in total offense and ninth in scoring.

Taylor was on the University of Tennessee staff from 2004-07 and coached both the running backs (2004-05) and wide receivers (2006-07). The four-year capsule was highlighted by 34 victories, two 10-win seasons (2004 and 2007), two SEC Eastern Division championships (2004 & 2007), three bowl games (2004 Cotton, 2006 Outback and 2007 Outback) and three top-25 national finishes (No. 13 in 2004, No. 25 in 2006 and No. 12 in 2007).

While with the Volunteers, Taylor coached Tennessee’s first pair of single-season 1,000-yard rushers in Gerald Riggs Jr. and Cedric Houston (2004) as well as future NFL All-Pro back Arian Foster. In addition, wideout Robert Meachem received All-America honors in 2006 under Taylor’s tutelage and was a first-round pick by the New Orleans Saints in the 2007 NFL Draft.

Prior to his stint in Knoxville, Taylor spent five seasons coaching the wide receivers at Tulane from 1999-2003. Among his pupils were four individuals – Adrian Burnette, Kerwin Cook, Terrell Harris and Roydell Williams – who went on to careers in the NFL. Williams closed his collegiate career as Conference USA’s all-time leader in touchdown receptions with 35.

Taylor served the 1998 season coaching the running backs at the University of New Mexico after spending five seasons (1993-97) coaching at Baylor, his alma mater. He began as a graduate assistant coach, working with the administration and the defensive backfield in 1993 and 1994, respectively, before later coaching the wide receivers (1995 and 1997) and defensive secondary (1996).

Taylor lettered four seasons (1989-90-91-92) as a defensive back at Baylor and helped the Bears to the Copper Bowl in his final campaign, while graduating as the school’s career leader in both kickoff returns (53) and return yardage (1,063). He graduated from Baylor with a bachelor’s degree in communications in 1992.

A native of Cuero, Texas, Taylor is married to the former Dr. Evi Crosby of Harbor City, Calif., and the couple has one daughter, Starr, and one son, Blaise.

THE TROOPER TAYLOR FILE
Hometown: Cuero, Texas
Education: Baylor, 1992 (communications)
Wife: Evi
Children: Starr and Blaise
Birthday: February 20, 1970

TAYLOR'S COACHING CAREER