Eric the Red
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Zac Attack
Huskers' Taylor just enjoying Big 12 ride
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Writer
7/25/2006
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- He's gone from a last-minute stopgap measure to a standout player. From an afterthought to everybody's All-American.
OK, perhaps Zac Taylor isn't on everybody's 2006 college football All-American checklist. But there isn't a parent in this country who wouldn't be proud to have Nebraska's quarterback as a son.
There are also several coaches around the USA who are kicking themselves right now for not offering Taylor a scholarship. And one coach who can't believe how lucky he is that very few schools wanted Taylor.
Taylor's circuitous route to playing college ball at the highest level is fast approaching its final stage. After leaving his Norman home and making stops at Wake Forest and Butler County (Kansas) Junior College, he's preparing for his senior season directing coach Bill Callahan's West Coast Offense.
If life was fair, Taylor would be playing for his beloved hometown Oklahoma Sooners. And while OU coach Bob Stoops' reputation for evaluating high school talent seldom is questioned, this is one time it should be.
There are times a coach should take a chance on a kid simply because of who he is and what he's all about. Taylor is Exhibit A in this belief: He's the son of a former OU player and assistant
coach (Sherwood Taylor), he had a better high school career than a lot of prep players and his attributes as a human being are impeccable.
Taylor's depth of character was on full display at Monday's first session of the Big 12 Conference's Media Days.
The self-effacing, humble Taylor actually uses the word "sir" when answering a question. He talks as passionately about his involvement with the Special Olympics as he does about winning a Big 12 championship and doesn't hold a grudge against Stoops or any other coach who took a pass on him.
"I wasn't the most talented guy coming out of high school," Taylor said. "So I really didn't expect to be recruited by them (Sooners)."
Taylor, who did receive an offer from Oklahoma State but wasn't recruited by Tulsa, knew Nebraska also wasn't an option five years ago. That's because the option was the mainstay of then-coach Frank Solich's Husker offense.
"I'm not the fastest guy," he said. "So never in a million years would I have pictured myself playing at Nebraska, because all I knew about them was the option."
Funny how life can turn into a chain reaction. Nebraska fired Solich, the Oakland Raiders did the same to Callahan, Taylor decided Wake Forest's offense wasn't suited to his passing skills so he transferred to Butler County and intended to sign with either Marshall or Memphis.
But then Nebraska hired Callahan, who inherited a team with no quarterback capable of running the West Coast Offense. After a woeful 5-6 rookie season, a frantic Callahan put out an all-points bulletin seeking a quarterback capable of learning and operating an offensive scheme that initially stretches a defense with the short passing game.
When Callahan signed Taylor late in the recruiting period, Husker fans figured the Oklahoma native was a temporary fix. With Florida high school hot shot Harrison Beck also on the way, conventional wisdom was that Taylor would keep the West Coast Offense humming until Beck took over somewhere around mid\season.
"I didn't have any problem with people thinking that way," Taylor said.
One 8-4 season later, Taylor is all the rage in the Land of the Corn and Beck is the afterthought. And nobody in this country is more enchanted with Taylor's abilities than Callahan.
"He did as good a job as any first-year quarterback in this system that I've been around at any level, college or pro," Callahan said Monday.
Whoa. That's coming from a coach who took Oakland to the Super Bowl. But Callahan isn't the only NFL coach who admires the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Taylor.
Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden, Callahan's former boss with the Raiders, attended a Nebraska practice this spring. Gruden predicted big things this season for Taylor, who threw for 2,653 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior and led the Huskers to a win over Michigan in the Alamo Bowl.
"I've seen guys take major jumps in year two as a starter in this system," Gruden told the Nebraska media. "I think his intelligence, his background, is really going to help him this year.
"I saw him making all kinds of throws today moving to his right, moving to his left, from the shotgun, three-step drops. He's got a great command of this offense. I'm impressed."
Not surprisingly, Taylor doesn't read his press clipping. While he knew Gruden watched a Husker practice, he was unaware until Monday that the Tampa Bay coach had raved about him.
In typical Taylor fashion, he shrugged off the compliments and insisted his learning curve in the West Coast Offense still has the bends. He's encouraged by his progress but knows he hasn't mastered the seven-pound playbook (honestly) that Callahan gave when he first arrived on campus.
"It's been a 180-degree change; I feel completely different than I did the first day I showed up at Nebraska," he said. "But I can be smarter picking up the blitz. That's something I wasn't very good at last year and have worked hard on."
And what if all that hard work extends Taylor's playing career? What if Gruden wasn't just blowing smoke and Taylor's improvement in his second season convinces an NFL team to give him a chance to run the West Coast Offense on the pro level?
"I think that (NFL) is everybody's dream," Taylor said. "But I'd rather have a great senior season and not play in the NFL than have a poor senior season and get to play 10 years in the NFL."
There are a whole bunch of college seniors saying much the same thing at Media Days across the country. But how many are being truthful? How many would sacrifice a 10-year professional career for one college championship season?
Not many. But Zac Taylor makes you believe he's one of them. He's an All-American in the aspects of life that count so much more than the ability to throw a football.
Huskers' Taylor just enjoying Big 12 ride
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Writer
7/25/2006
View in Print (PDF) Format
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- He's gone from a last-minute stopgap measure to a standout player. From an afterthought to everybody's All-American.
OK, perhaps Zac Taylor isn't on everybody's 2006 college football All-American checklist. But there isn't a parent in this country who wouldn't be proud to have Nebraska's quarterback as a son.
There are also several coaches around the USA who are kicking themselves right now for not offering Taylor a scholarship. And one coach who can't believe how lucky he is that very few schools wanted Taylor.
Taylor's circuitous route to playing college ball at the highest level is fast approaching its final stage. After leaving his Norman home and making stops at Wake Forest and Butler County (Kansas) Junior College, he's preparing for his senior season directing coach Bill Callahan's West Coast Offense.
If life was fair, Taylor would be playing for his beloved hometown Oklahoma Sooners. And while OU coach Bob Stoops' reputation for evaluating high school talent seldom is questioned, this is one time it should be.
There are times a coach should take a chance on a kid simply because of who he is and what he's all about. Taylor is Exhibit A in this belief: He's the son of a former OU player and assistant
coach (Sherwood Taylor), he had a better high school career than a lot of prep players and his attributes as a human being are impeccable.
Taylor's depth of character was on full display at Monday's first session of the Big 12 Conference's Media Days.
The self-effacing, humble Taylor actually uses the word "sir" when answering a question. He talks as passionately about his involvement with the Special Olympics as he does about winning a Big 12 championship and doesn't hold a grudge against Stoops or any other coach who took a pass on him.
"I wasn't the most talented guy coming out of high school," Taylor said. "So I really didn't expect to be recruited by them (Sooners)."
Taylor, who did receive an offer from Oklahoma State but wasn't recruited by Tulsa, knew Nebraska also wasn't an option five years ago. That's because the option was the mainstay of then-coach Frank Solich's Husker offense.
"I'm not the fastest guy," he said. "So never in a million years would I have pictured myself playing at Nebraska, because all I knew about them was the option."
Funny how life can turn into a chain reaction. Nebraska fired Solich, the Oakland Raiders did the same to Callahan, Taylor decided Wake Forest's offense wasn't suited to his passing skills so he transferred to Butler County and intended to sign with either Marshall or Memphis.
But then Nebraska hired Callahan, who inherited a team with no quarterback capable of running the West Coast Offense. After a woeful 5-6 rookie season, a frantic Callahan put out an all-points bulletin seeking a quarterback capable of learning and operating an offensive scheme that initially stretches a defense with the short passing game.
When Callahan signed Taylor late in the recruiting period, Husker fans figured the Oklahoma native was a temporary fix. With Florida high school hot shot Harrison Beck also on the way, conventional wisdom was that Taylor would keep the West Coast Offense humming until Beck took over somewhere around mid\season.
"I didn't have any problem with people thinking that way," Taylor said.
One 8-4 season later, Taylor is all the rage in the Land of the Corn and Beck is the afterthought. And nobody in this country is more enchanted with Taylor's abilities than Callahan.
"He did as good a job as any first-year quarterback in this system that I've been around at any level, college or pro," Callahan said Monday.
Whoa. That's coming from a coach who took Oakland to the Super Bowl. But Callahan isn't the only NFL coach who admires the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Taylor.
Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden, Callahan's former boss with the Raiders, attended a Nebraska practice this spring. Gruden predicted big things this season for Taylor, who threw for 2,653 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior and led the Huskers to a win over Michigan in the Alamo Bowl.
"I've seen guys take major jumps in year two as a starter in this system," Gruden told the Nebraska media. "I think his intelligence, his background, is really going to help him this year.
"I saw him making all kinds of throws today moving to his right, moving to his left, from the shotgun, three-step drops. He's got a great command of this offense. I'm impressed."
Not surprisingly, Taylor doesn't read his press clipping. While he knew Gruden watched a Husker practice, he was unaware until Monday that the Tampa Bay coach had raved about him.
In typical Taylor fashion, he shrugged off the compliments and insisted his learning curve in the West Coast Offense still has the bends. He's encouraged by his progress but knows he hasn't mastered the seven-pound playbook (honestly) that Callahan gave when he first arrived on campus.
"It's been a 180-degree change; I feel completely different than I did the first day I showed up at Nebraska," he said. "But I can be smarter picking up the blitz. That's something I wasn't very good at last year and have worked hard on."
And what if all that hard work extends Taylor's playing career? What if Gruden wasn't just blowing smoke and Taylor's improvement in his second season convinces an NFL team to give him a chance to run the West Coast Offense on the pro level?
"I think that (NFL) is everybody's dream," Taylor said. "But I'd rather have a great senior season and not play in the NFL than have a poor senior season and get to play 10 years in the NFL."
There are a whole bunch of college seniors saying much the same thing at Media Days across the country. But how many are being truthful? How many would sacrifice a 10-year professional career for one college championship season?
Not many. But Zac Taylor makes you believe he's one of them. He's an All-American in the aspects of life that count so much more than the ability to throw a football.
