Zac Taylor

This article is about American football player and coach. For New Zealand singer, member of boyband Titanium, see Zac Taylor (singer).
Zac Taylor
Cincinnati Bearcats
Position: Offensive coordinator
Personal information
Date of birth: (1983-05-10) May 10, 1983
Place of birth: Norman, Oklahoma
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight: 210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High school: Norman (OK)
College: Nebraska
Undrafted: 2007
Career history
As player:
As coach:

Zac Taylor (born May 10, 1983) is an American football coach and former quarterback. He is currently the offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bearcats football team of the University of Cincinnati. From 2005 to 2006, he was the starting quarterback for Cornhuskers football team at the University of Nebraska. He was recruited late in the 2004-05 off-season by the Huskers, being a described "lucky break" due to the Huskers lack of quarterbacks at the time. He led Nebraska to an 8-4 record during his inaugural year, 2005, as a starter at quarterback. Taylor is from Norman, Oklahoma, hometown of the rival University of Oklahoma Sooners. He signed with the National Football League's Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2007. Taylor was later cut from the team's 85 man roster and joined the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers as their 4th quarterback. The Blue Bombers played in the Grey Cup (the CFL Championship game) on November 25, 2007.

Early collegiate career

Despite Taylor's record-setting career at Norman High School in Norman, Oklahoma, few colleges recruited him. Even his hometown school, the Oklahoma Sooners, passed him over. In 2002, he signed with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, where he redshirted his first year, and filled in as a backup position the next, completing the only pass he attempted in those 2 years. From there he transferred to Butler Community College (Kansas) where he passed for nearly 3,000 yards with 29 touchdowns. In his breakout season, Taylor led Butler to the NJCAA championship game and earned second-team NJCAA All-American honors.

College career

After his 2004 season Taylor looked at multiple NCAA Division I schools, including Memphis, Marshall and Nebraska. Nebraska had abandoned their long standing running/option offense for an entirely new, West Coast offense led by newly appointed coach Bill Callahan. The Huskers had a rebuilding season in 2004, going 5-6 and missing a bowl bid for the first time since 1968. Taylor had a rough start, statistically speaking, in his 2005 year at Nebraska, completing 39 of 89 passes for 399 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions in his first three games. In his fourth game however, Taylor had a breakout day against Iowa State, throwing for a school record 431 yards on 36 of 55 passing with two touchdowns. The 36 completions was also a school record at the time.[1] He steadily improved throughout the season, ending in a 30-3 win against Colorado where he threw 392 yards,[2] and a come-from-behind 32-28 win against the Michigan Wolverines in the Mastercard Alamo Bowl, where he threw a Nebraska bowl record 3 touchdown passes.[3] Taylor broke the school record for passing yards in a season with 2,653 yards on 55.1% of his passes being complete.

In his 2006 opener against Louisiana Tech, Taylor showed significant improvement over his season-opener the previous year, completing 22 of 33 attempts for 287 yards with 3 touchdowns and one interception.[4] The game after, against Nicholls State, Taylor once again showed his precision in passing the ball, finishing 19 of 23 for 202 yards and a new career-best in 4 touchdown passes.[5]

Taylor led the Nebraska Cornhuskers to a record of 9-3 with an appearance in the 2006 Big 12 Championship Game, facing off against the Oklahoma Sooners. Taylor passed for 2789 yards and 24 touchdown passes during the regular season and earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.

Coaching career

On January 30, 2012, Taylor was named assistant quarterbacks coach for the NFL's Miami Dolphins. He was previously an assistant coach at Texas A&M, serving under former head coach Mike Sherman, his father-in-law.[6][7] On November 30, 2015, he was promoted to the team's interim offensive coordinator, after the firing of the previous offensive coordinator, Bill Lazor. During the five games Taylor served as OC, the Dolphins went 2-3 and averaged 17 points per game,[8] a slight regress from their per-game average under Lazor, though Interim Coach Dan Campbell still had positive things to say of Taylor's performance.[9]

In January 2016, Taylor was hired by Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Tommy Tuberville to be the Bearcats' offensive coordinator. According to Taylor, Jim Turner, who had been an offensive line coach for the Dolphins, was the one who connected him with Tuberville.[10] Taylor was seen as a "rising start in the coaching ranks" by the Bearcats, thanks to his experience in the NFL and his job developing Miami Dolphins Quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Under Taylor's mentoring, Tannehill had set many team records, including being the only Miami QB to throw for 3,000 yards in four straight seasons and being only the second Miami QB with multiple 3000-yard seasons, as well as totaling the third-most passing yards for a QB in his first four seasons in NFL history, with 15,460.[11]

Personal life

Taylor is married to Sarah Sherman, and they have three children: Brooks, Luke, and Emma Claire. Taylor's younger brother, Press Taylor, was a quarterback for Marshall University and is currently the offensive quality control and assistant quarterback coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. Taylor's father, Sherwood, was a defensive back and captain for Oklahoma and head coach Barry Switzer from 1976-1979. His sister, Kathryn, is a Special Olympics swimmer.[12]

Statistics

2005

Passing
Opponent Team Comp Att Pct Yds TD INT
Maine Nebraska Cornhuskers 15 36 41.7 192 0 2
Wake Forest Nebraska Cornhuskers 14 33 42.4 114 1 1
Pittsburgh Nebraska Cornhuskers 10 20 50.0 93 0 0
Iowa State Nebraska Cornhuskers 36 55 65.5 431 2 0
Texas Tech Nebraska Cornhuskers 21 35 60.0 229 2 2
Baylor Nebraska Cornhuskers 18 32 56.3 168 2 0
Missouri Nebraska Cornhuskers 22 43 51.2 281 2 2
Oklahoma Nebraska Cornhuskers 25 45 55.6 249 2 2
Kansas Nebraska Cornhuskers 14 26 53.8 117 1 1
Kansas State Nebraska Cornhuskers 21 31 67.7 220 2 0
Colorado Nebraska Cornhuskers 27 43 62.8 392 2 0
Michigan Nebraska Cornhuskers 14 31 45.2 167 3 2
Totals 237 430 55.1 2653 19 12

2006

Passing
Opponent Team Comp Att Pct Yds TD INT
Louisiana Tech Nebraska Cornhuskers 22 33 66.7 287 3 1
Nicholls State Nebraska Cornhuskers 19 23 82.6 202 4 0
Southern California Nebraska Cornhuskers 8 16 50.0 115 0 0
Troy Nebraska Cornhuskers 14 17 82.4 268 1 1
Kansas Nebraska Cornhuskers 15 33 45.5 395 4 0
Iowa State Nebraska Cornhuskers 17 21 81.0 131 1 0
Kansas State Nebraska Cornhuskers 12 21 57.1 149 1 0
Texas Nebraska Cornhuskers 15 28 53.6 277 2 1
Oklahoma State Nebraska Cornhuskers 21 39 53.8 241 2 0
Missouri Nebraska Cornhuskers 13 21 61.9 208 2 0
Texas A&M Nebraska Cornhuskers 21 35 60.0 267 2 1
Colorado Nebraska Cornhuskers 19 28 67.9 249 2 0
Oklahoma Nebraska Cornhuskers 23 50 46.0 282 1 3
Auburn Nebraska Cornhuskers 14 26 53.8 126 0 1
Totals 233 391 59.6 3197 25 8

References

  1. "Taylor Sets Passing Records in Double-OT Win". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  2. "Taylor Tosses 2 TDs as Huskers Dominate Buffs". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  3. "Nebraska Erases 11-Point Deficit to Win Alamo Bowl". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  4. "Nebraska Amasses 584 Yards of Offense in Rout". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  5. "Taylor (4 TDs), No. 21 Nebraska Sharp on Eve of USC Showdown". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  6. "Now with Texas A&M, former Husker Taylor still roots for NU".
  7. "5 things you need to know about Zac Taylor, Dolphins' new O-coordinator". PalmBeachPost.com. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  8. Sipple, Steven M. "Zac Taylor's Rise in Coaching Worth Watching". Lincoln Journal Star. The Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  9. "Miami Dolphins Coordinators Didn't Improve Units". MiamiHerald.com. Miami Herald. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  10. Sipple, Steven M. "Zac Taylor's Rise in Coaching Worth Watching". Lincoln Journal Star. The Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  11. "Zac Taylor Bio". University of Cincinnati Official Athletic Site. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  12. Christopherson, Brian. "Rasing a Husker, 9/3: Zac Taylor". Lincoln Journal Star. The Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
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