Lance Taylor (American football)

{{Short description|American football player and coach (born 1981)}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Lance Taylor

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| current_title = Head coach

| current_team = Western Michigan

| current_conference = MAC

| current_record = 10–15

| contract =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1981|7|17}}

| birth_place = Mount Vernon, Alabama, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| alma_mater =

| player_years1 = 2000–2003

| player_team1 = Alabama

| player_years2 = 2004

| player_team2 = Colorado Crush

| player_years3 = 2005

| player_team3 = Columbus Destroyers

| player_years4 = 2005

| player_team4 = Green Bay Blizzard

| player_years5 = 2006

| player_team5 = Louisville Fire

| player_positions = Wide receiver

| coach_years1 = 2007–2008

| coach_team1 = Alabama (GA)

| coach_years2 = 2009

| coach_team2 = Appalachian State (WR)

| coach_years3 = 2010

| coach_team3 = New York Jets (intern)

| coach_years4 = 2011

| coach_team4 = New York Jets (QC)

| coach_years5 = 2012

| coach_team5 = New York Jets (QC/asst. TE)

| coach_years6 = 2013

| coach_team6 = Carolina Panthers (asst. WR)

| coach_years7 = 2014–2016

| coach_team7 = Stanford (RB)

| coach_years8 = 2017–2018

| coach_team8 = Carolina Panthers (WR)

| coach_years9 = 2019–2020

| coach_team9 = Notre Dame (RB)

| coach_years10 = 2021

| coach_team10 = Notre Dame (RB/RGC)

| coach_years11 = 2022

| coach_team11 = Louisville (OC)

| coach_years12 = 2023–present

| coach_team12 = Western Michigan

| overall_record = 10–15

| bowl_record = 0-1

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards = FootballScoop.com Running Backs Coach of the Year (2015)

| coaching_records =

}}

Lance Eugene Taylor (born July 17, 1981){{cite tweet |author=Notre Dame Football |author-link=Notre Dame Football |user=NDFootball |number=1151602490103803905 |date=July 17, 2019 |title=Happy Birthday, @CoachLT39! 🎂🎈🎊 We're so excited to have your family to join our family. #GoIrish ☘️ https://t.co/yVgHZkCuPM |language=en |access-date=December 15, 2022}}{{Cite web |title=Lance Taylor Named Western Michigan Football Head Coach |url=https://wmubroncos.com/news/2022/12/8/lance-taylor-named-western-michigan-football-head-coach.aspx |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Western Michigan University Athletics |date=December 8, 2022 |language=en}} is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach for Western Michigan University, a position he has held since 2023.

Playing career

Taylor was a walk-on wide receiver for Alabama from 1999 to 2002, where he played under four different head coaches - Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione, Mike Price, and Mike Shula.{{cite web |last1=Stephenson |first1=Creg |title=Lance Taylor on playing for 4 coaches at Alabama, his father's legacy & working for Saban |url=https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2022/05/lance-taylor-on-playing-for-4-coaches-at-alabama-his-fathers-legacy-working-for-saban.html |website=AL.com |access-date=10 December 2022 |language=en |date=23 May 2022}} He eventually would play in 38 consecutive games as a wide receiver and earn a scholarship. As a senior, Taylor was a special-teams captain.{{cite web |last1=Paul |first1=Tony |title='Our future is in great hands': WMU hires Louisville OC Taylor as football coach |url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/2022/12/08/source-wmu-hires-lance-taylor-as-next-football-coach-hes-a-saban-disciple/69711565007/ |website=The Detroit News |access-date=10 December 2022}}

Taylor played professional football for the Colorado Crush and Columbus Destroyers of the Arena Football League, and the Green Bay Blizzard and the Louisville Fire of the AF2.{{cite web |title=Lance Taylor Named Western Michigan Football Head Coach |url=https://wmubroncos.com/news/2022/12/8/lance-taylor-named-western-michigan-football-head-coach |website=Western Michigan University Athletics |date=December 8, 2022 |access-date=10 December 2022 |language=en}} An ACL injury ultimately ended his playing career. The reconstructive procedure was performed by Dr. James Andrews.{{cite web |last1=Stephenson |first1=Creg |title=Lance Taylor: 'That's not necessarily a record I wanted' |url=https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2022/05/lance-taylor-on-playing-for-4-coaches-at-alabama-his-fathers-legacy-working-for-saban.html |website=AL.com |access-date=10 December 2022 |language=en |date=23 May 2022}}

Coaching career

=Stanford=

Taylor served as the running backs coach for Stanford from 2014 through 2016. During his tenure he coached Heisman Trophy runner-up Christian McCaffrey and All-Pac-12 running back Bryce Love. His team won the 2016 Rose Bowl and the 2015 Pac-12 Football Championship. During the 2015 season, Taylor was named the Running Backs Coach of the Year by FootballScoop.com.{{Cite web |last=Barnett |first=Zach |title=Lance Taylor - 2015 Running Backs Coach of the Year |url=https://footballscoop.com/news/lance-taylor-2015-running-backs-coach-of-the-year |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Footballscoop |date=December 30, 2015 |language=en}}

=Notre Dame=

Following two years in the National Football League (NFL) with the Carolina Panthers, Taylor was named running backs coach for Notre Dame in 2019. The team made the College Football Playoff in 2020 and also made an appearance in the 2020 ACC Championship Game.{{Cite web |title=Lance Taylor - Football Coach |url=https://gocards.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/lance-taylor/2292 |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=University of Louisville Athletics |language=en}} Following the 2020 season, he was promoted to run game coordinator.{{Cite web |date=2020-01-14 |title=Kelly Promotes Rees, Taylor |url=https://und.com/kelly-promotes-rees-taylor/ |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website |language=en-US}}

=Louisville=

Despite rumors that Taylor would be retained by Notre Dame following the departure of Brian Kelly, it was announced that Taylor would be leaving the Fighting Irish to become Louisville's next offensive coordinator under coach Scott Satterfield.{{Cite web |last=Engel |first=Patrick |date=2022-01-16 |title=Notre Dame RB coach Lance Taylor leaving to become Louisville offensive coordinator |url=https://www.on3.com/teams/notre-dame-fighting-irish/news/notre-dame-football-running-backs-coach-lance-taylor-louisville-offensive-coordinator/ |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=On3 |language=en}}

=Western Michigan=

On December 8, 2022, Taylor was hired as the 17th head football coach at Western Michigan.{{cite news|url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/2022/12/08/source-wmu-hires-lance-taylor-as-next-football-coach-hes-a-saban-disciple/69711565007/|title='Our future is in great hands': WMU hires Louisville OC Taylor as football coach|work=The Detroit News|first=Tony|last=Paul|date=December 8, 2022|access-date=December 8, 2022}}

Personal life

Taylor is from Mount Vernon, Alabama, where he graduated from Citronelle High School as class salutatorian.{{cite web |last1=Sunray |first1=Cedric |title=American Indian Climbs Coaching Ladder to the NFL |url=https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/american-indian-climbs-coaching-ladder-to-the-nfl |website=Indian Country Today |date=September 13, 2018 |access-date=10 December 2022 |language=en}} He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management in 2003 from the University of Alabama. He is married to his wife Jamie and has two children, son Jet and daughter Jemma.

Taylor's father, James, played for Bear Bryant at Alabama, where he was a member of three SEC championship teams, including the 1973 team that was recognized as national champions by the UPI Coaches Poll.{{cite web |title=COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Title No. 12 Comes Easily |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/03/sports/college-football-title-no-12-comes-easily.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=8 November 2023 |date=January 3, 1993}} In 2015, James was named to the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame.{{cite web |last1=AL.com and Press-Register staff |title=James Taylor to be part of Mobile Sports Hall of Fame |url=https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2015/04/james_taylors_time_with_the_be.html |website=AL.com |access-date=10 December 2022 |language=en |date=20 April 2015}}

Taylor is a member of the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians, a state-recognized Native American tribe in Alabama.{{Cite web |last=Rickert |first=Levi |date=December 9, 2022 |title=Western Michigan University Names Lance Taylor (Choctaw) the Only Native American NCAA Division I Head Football Coach |url=https://nativenewsonline.net/education/western-michigan-university-names-lance-taylor-choctaw-the-only-native-american-ncaa-division-i-head-football-coach |access-date=10 December 2022 |website=Native News Online}} As of December 2022, he is the only NCAA Division I head football coach who is Native American.