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An Interview with Troy Taylor

Towards the tail end of a long morning and afternoon at Media Day, I was able to talk with Stanford's new head coach, Troy Taylor. We only had about ten minutes, so I've transcribed the entire conversation here. My main takeaway from our short chat is that Coach Taylor is confident and excited about what lies ahead, and he's also incredibly nice. I could've happily talked with him for an hour or more on any number of subjects, but we hit on a few interesting things -- his theories on love as it relates to team building; his expectations about how he'll balance his three responsibilities as head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach; and how he'll approach the quarterback competition this summer and fall. Oh, and how nice is Coach Taylor? At the end of our conversation he thanked me for my time. So yeah, he's a nice guy. Read on...

Stanford Football Lays a New Foundation

When Jim Harbaugh was hired as Stanford's newest head coach in December of 2006, he famously announced that he'd be approaching the job "with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind." While that statement caused eyes to roll up and down the Pac-10 and even, I'd imagine, within the halls of Stanford's athletic department, Harbaugh had no choice. He was taking over a team that had finished 1-11 in 2006, one of the worst performances in the history of a program without much positive history. Before his hire there were many observers -- and even some Stanford decision makers, if we're to believe the lore -- who no longer thought Stanford could field a competitive Division I football team.

But Harbaugh believed.

Stanford's newest head coach is Troy Taylor, and while no one will ever confuse his personality with Harbaugh's, Taylor's opening press conference had one thing in common with Harbaugh's -- hope. Following Stanford's recent slide to the bottom of the PAC-12 during an era of unprecedented change across the college football landscape, once again there have been voices calling for change. It was no longer realistic, some argued, for Stanford to compete at this level in this era. (A Stanford professor even used an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times to lament what he saw as the folly of Stanford Football.)

But Troy Taylor believes.

Troy Taylor and the Road Not Taken

There are certain givens for every new coach's introductory press conference. There are obligatory well wishes for the people left behind at the previous stop and the proper genuflection towards those who have just made the hire. Regardless of whether or not the position is seen as a destination job, on this day it is. Head coaches will almost always express gratitude that they've finally reached their dream job, even if the people listening know that they haven't. There are smiles, handshakes, and jabs at the rival and enough optimism to make Charlie Brown blush.

Troy Taylor certainly hit all those marks when he met the media last month for the first time as Stanford's new head football coach, but there was something that marked him different than most ball coaches who stand at the podium.