| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Associate head coach, running backs coach |
| Team | Texas A&M |
| Conference | SEC |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1970-02-20)February 20, 1970 (age 55) Cuero, Texas, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1988–1991 | Baylor |
| Position | 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) |
| 2021 | Duke (AHC/CB) |
| 2022–2023 | Duke (AHC/RB) |
| 2023 | Duke (interim HC) |
| 2024–present | Texas A&M (AHC/RB) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 1–0 |
| Bowls | 1–0 |
Carl "Trooper"Taylor (born February 20, 1970) is an Americancollege football coach atTexas A&M University. He is currently serving as associate head coach and running backs coach followingMike Elko, who left Duke University to return toTexas A&M as head coach.[1] Taylor was formerly an assistant coach atAuburn University from January 2009 until December 2012 where he served asassistant head coach andwide receivers coach under former head coachGene Chizik. Prior to joining Auburn, Taylor served as co-offensive coordinator forOklahoma State. He has spent over a decade coachingwide receivers, primarily in theSoutheastern andBig 12 conferences.
Taylor grew up inCuero, Texas, and was raised in a family of 16. He earned his bachelor's degree fromBaylor 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'sFloyd Casey Stadium and have two children: a son, Blaise, and a daughter, Starr.
Taylor playeddefensive back for theBaylor 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 the1991 Copper Bowl and completing his degree, Taylor joined the coaching staff at his alma mater as agraduate assistant for two years before being namedwide 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 atNew Mexico.
In 1999, head coachChris Scelfo lured Taylor to his staff at Tulane as the wide receivers coach. Taylor spent five years with theGreen Wave before joiningPhillip Fulmer's staff atTennessee. Taylor served as running backs coach before being promoted toassistant 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 coordinatorDavid 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 underMike Gundy, with whom he had previously coached at Baylor in 1996. With the help of Taylor's receivers, the2008 Cowboys ranked 6th in the nation in offensive production.[3]
On January 5, 2009, new head coachGene Chizik hired Taylor to serve asassistant head coach andwide receivers coach at Auburn.
Coach Taylor has been recognized as a top-25 national recruiter on six occasions (2005[4] and 2007[5] byRivals.com, 2009 byESPN,[6] 2010 by Rivals.com[7] and 2011 by247Sports.com,[8] ESPN[9] and Rivals.com[10] and 2012 by Rivals.com[11]). He has experience coaching in 9 bowl games including the1994 Alamo Bowl,2002 Hawaii Bowl,2005 Cotton Bowl Classic,2007 Outback Bowl,2008 Outback Bowl,2008 Holiday Bowl,2010 Outback Bowl, the2011 BCS National Championship Game, and the2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl.
He took over as interim head coach for Duke following Elko's departure.[1]
Taylor has served as position coach for a number of prominent players over his career. At Tulane, he coached four wideouts into the NFL, includingRoydell Williams of theWashington 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 backsCedric Houston andGerald 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 receiverRobert Meachem toAll-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'sAll-American receiverDez 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]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke Blue Devils(Atlantic Coast Conference)(2023) | |||||||||
| 2023 | Duke | 1–0[a] | 1–0 | T–6th | WBirmingham | ||||
| Duke: | 1–0 | 0–0 | |||||||
| Total: | 1–0 | ||||||||