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Thomas "T. C." Taylor (born September 22, 1978) is an
American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
coach and former player who is currently the head coach for the Jackson State Tigers. He played
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
for the school as a
quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
and
wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...
, and after graduating had stints in the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) with the
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
and
Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...
, as well as in
NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...
with the Frankfurt Galaxy and
Amsterdam Admirals The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe. History The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, t ...
. He later served as a coach at
Coahoma Community College Coahoma Community College (CCC) is a public historically black community college in Coahoma County, Mississippi. The college was founded in 1949 and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. It of ...
,
Texas Southern Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schoo ...
, and North Carolina Central, before joining Jackson State in 2019.


Early life and education

Taylor was born on September 22, 1978, in
Magnolia, Mississippi Magnolia is a city in Pike County, Mississippi and the county seat. The population was 2,420 at the 2010 census. Magnolia is within the McComb, Mississippi McComb micropolitan area, Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Magnolia was founded in ...
. He attended South Pike High School and played
quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
, the same position he had played in elementary school and junior high school. He began attending
Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a Public university, public Historically Black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and ...
(JSU) in 1998 and spent his first two seasons as backup to Mark Washington. He showed enough promise while backup to Washington that in 2000, Taylor's
junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...
year, he was named starter at the position. However, after struggling in his first two games, Taylor was benched for
freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...
Robert Kent. One week after being benched at quarterback, Taylor switched to playing
wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...
. In his first game at the new position he caught one pass. He caught one again in the following game, before scoring his first career
touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...
in the third. He then went on to catch 26 passes in the next four games, including eight for 148 yards and two touchdowns against Arkansas–Pine Bluff. Taylor finished his junior year as Jackson State's third leading receiver, having recorded 559 yards and four touchdowns on 34 receptions. As a
senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...
in 2001, Taylor broke the single-season school record for receptions, finishing with 84 for 1,234 yards and 11 scores. He was named third-team
All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
by
The Sports Network The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by the Sports Network Inc., a subsidiary of CTV Specialty Television, which is also a joint venture of Bell Media (70%), also owned by BCE ...
and first-team Black college All-American by the Sheridan Broadcasting Network. He additionally was the runner-up for the Conerly Trophy, given to the best player in Mississippi (with
Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning family, he is the youngest ...
winning the award). Although Taylor only appeared in a total of 19 games at wide receiver in his career at JSU, he finished with 1,793 receiving yards and over 175 catches.


Professional career

After going unselected in the
2002 NFL draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted ...
, Taylor was signed by the defending champion
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
as an
undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...
. He was released at the final roster cuts, but later re-signed to the
practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...
. He was released from the practice squad in October 2002. Taylor was re-signed in January 2003 and was sent to
NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...
two months later. Although originally slated to play for the
Barcelona Dragons Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Barcelona Dragons: * Barcelona Dragons (NFL Europe) The Barcelona Dragons were an American football team that was a part of the World League of American Football and later in the res ...
, he ended up appearing in four games for the Frankfurt Galaxy and one for the
Amsterdam Admirals The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe. History The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, t ...
. Taylor appeared in the Galaxy's
World Bowl XI World Bowl XI was NFL Europe's 2003 championship game. It was played at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland on June 14, 2003. The crowd were entertained pre-match by Scottish rock legend Fish performing a rousing rendition of “Caledonia”. Half ...
win over the
Rhein Fire Rhein Fire may refer to either of two American football franchises: * Rhein Fire (NFL Europe) The Rhein Fire were a professional football team in the NFL Europe, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in Düsseldorf, Germany ...
. He was released by the Patriots in July 2003, but later signed with the
Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...
, before an injury ended his playing career.


Coaching career

Taylor began a coaching career in 2005, being named wide receivers and quarterbacks coach at
Coahoma Community College Coahoma Community College (CCC) is a public historically black community college in Coahoma County, Mississippi. The college was founded in 1949 and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. It of ...
. He served one year in that position before being named
offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...
, which he served as through 2011. He left for
Texas Southern Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schoo ...
in 2012, serving two years there as the recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach. Taylor joined North Carolina Central in 2014, spending his first year as quarterbacks coach. He was promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2015, and became the team's sole offensive coordinator in 2017. While at North Carolina Central, he helped them earn three conference championships and an appearance in the
2016 Celebration Bowl The 2016 Celebration Bowl (officially known as the 2016 Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl) was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 17, 2016, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. The second Celebration Bowl ga ...
. Taylor returned to his
alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...
, Jackson State, in January 2019, being hired as quarterbacks coach. He did not serve in that position, ultimately becoming the
tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...
s and wide receivers coach. He served as interim offensive coordinator in 2020. He rose to full-time offensive coordinator in 2021, while retaining his other positions. After head coach
Deion Sanders Deion Luwynn Sanders Sr. (born August 9, 1967) is an American American football, football coach with the Colorado Buffaloes football, Colorado Buffaloes. Sanders is also a former professional football and baseball player, having played in the N ...
left for
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
in December 2022, Taylor was named his successor.


Head coaching record


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, T. C. 1978 births Living people American football quarterbacks American football wide receivers Amsterdam Admirals players Coahoma Tigers football coaches Detroit Lions players Frankfurt Galaxy players Jackson State Tigers football coaches Jackson State Tigers football players New England Patriots players North Carolina Central Eagles football coaches Texas Southern Tigers football coaches People from Magnolia, Mississippi People from McComb, Mississippi Coaches of American football from Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi American expatriate sportspeople in Germany