Lance Taylor - Running Backs Coach

[ResLife Hero]

https://247sports.com/college/notre...tre-Dames-next-running-backs-coach-128367975/

Irish Illustrated and 247Sports have learned that Notre Dame has hired Lance Taylor as its next running backs coach. Following his interview on Saturday, the Fighting Irish extended an offer and Taylor quickly accepted.

The final two candidates were Taylor and Indiana running backs coach Mike Hart, but according to a source, Taylor was extremely impressive during the interview process and he separated himself as the guy to lead Notre Dame's backfield.

Taylor, a 37-year old assistant, was named the 2015 FootballScoop.com Running Back Coach of the Year. He was instrumental in the growth of A.P. Player of the Year and Heisman Trophy finalist Christian McCaffrey as Stanford rushed for nearly 160 yards per game and amassed more than 100 yards in 11 of 13 games upon Taylor’s arrival.

Taylor was the assistant wide receivers coach with the Carolina Panthers, the assistant tight ends coach with the New York Jets, the wide receivers coach at Appalachian State and a graduate assistant at Alabama prior. A walk-on that eventually earned a scholarship, Taylor attended the University of Alabama and played in 24 games during his career with the Crimson Tide.

As a recruiter at Stanford, Taylor spanned the country including his home state of Alabama, California, south Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Taylor is credited for landing recruits such as four-star offensive tackle Clark Yarbrough, four-year defensive end Ryan Johnson, four-star quarterback Jack West, four-star running back Bryce Love, and three-star wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside among others.

 

[Irish YJ]

dropping this here too

What I like about him:
-switched positions from HS to College (RB/WR). Jafar will benefit
-should improve our RBs in the passing game
-seems articulate, and passionate

What I don't like:
-played for Bama lol. feeling like we're setting ourselves up for a poach in a couple years


in the film room with Taylor
https://www.panthers.com/video/in-the-film-room-with-lance-taylor-18566710

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F9d7CFrARmY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="663" height="373" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3b91u1H6o48" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="270" src="https://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x6ij7yu" allowfullscreen allow="autoplay"></iframe>

 

[Irishize]

If he’s a great RB Coach, then we should expect to have him for only a few years. If he’s not being poached by his alma mater it likely means he wasn’t worth poaching.

I like the hire & can’t wait to see him impact both on the field & on the recruiting trail.

 

[Valpodoc85]

I was a bit worried our running back closet was bare with the loss of Dex. Maybe I'm reading to much into this, but perhaps Taylor sees more potential in our running back room that previously thought....

 

[ThePiombino]

I was a bit worried our running back closet was bare with the loss of Dex. Maybe I'm reading to much into this, but perhaps Taylor sees more potential in our running back room that previously thought....

Don't get too excited. His current alternative to the ND job was unemployment.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[phgreek]

Don't get too excited. His current alternative to the ND job was unemployment.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

lol

 

[Irish#1]

Good hire.

 

[Dizzyphil]

Looks like to be a really good recruiter as well.

 

[BeauBenken]

Should please Lax, and I agree that it's a good hire so long as he is passionate on the recruiting trail.

 

[sportallyr]

Coached Christian McCaffrey and recruited Bryce Love. I'm sold!

 

[rtrn2glory]

Love the hire

 

[NDMIA]

Recruiting
.9112 4* Bryce Love
.9037 4* Cameron Scarlett
.8807 3* Trevor Speights
.7709 2* Dorian Maddox
.9229 4* Sione Lund - Transferred to Utah

Coaching
Christian McCaffrey 2014,2015,2016
Bryce Love 2015,2016
Cameron Scarlett 2015,2016

Just from a recruiting standpoint. Lance Taylor has provided Stanford with their #1 back from 2015-2019 (I believe RS SR Cameron Scarlett is the clubhouse favorite to start in 2019). He was Christian McCaffrey’s coach for the entire time while he was at Stanford and had Bryce Love in his first two seasons. 3/5 of his commits were 4* recruits and Sione Lund was a victim of some serious mental health issues stemming from an extremely rough childhood along with some other issues that forced him to move closer to home. All in all I think Lance Taylor is an excellent position coach, has NFL experience, played at a big time program (Alabama), and has recruited at an extremely high level at a high academic school. I think this is a big time and maybe even home run hire at the RB position. Really excited to see what he can do. Guessing he’s gonna have a crazy 7 days of recruiting before the dead period kicks in.

 

[Luckylucci]

Don't get too excited. His current alternative to the ND job was unemployment.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Not sure this is always indicative of the quality of coach the next team is getting.

 

[NDIrish88]

Love the hire . . . now go get Chris Tyree!

 

[irishff1014]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"Out of the guys I’ve spoken with on the college level in recruiting, he’s one of the top guys.”<br><br>What is Notre Dame getting in new running backs coach Lance Taylor? If it’s what he delivered at Stanford, this could be a perfect fit.<a href="https://t.co/Cm13HXMiqB">https://t.co/Cm13HXMiqB</a></p>— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteSampson_/status/1089873728266268674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2019</a></blockquote>
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[stlnd01]

Don't get too excited. His current alternative to the ND job was unemployment.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

FWIW, he seemed pretty well-regarded in Carolina. Panthers blogs/boards all seem rather baffled as to why he was let go, other than maybe not being the current OC's "guy."

 

[IrishLion]

FWIW, he seemed pretty well-regarded in Carolina. Panthers blogs/boards all seem rather baffled as to why he was let go, other than maybe not being the current OC's "guy."

I had heard or read at some point that they were disappointed with the lack of development from their WR's.

To me, that falls on the front office/GM for drafting project guys for the potential upside, rather than going after traditional WR's, but I'm just a dude on a couch.

Drafting hybrid players like Funchess and Samuel and hoping they turn into full-time starters and no.1 targets at WR in the NFL is dumb as shit. Those are guys you draft to out-scheme your opponents if you've already got a legit outside target. When you don't have a legit outside target, and your gadget players aren't finding ways to make plays, you don't blame the WR coach.

DJ Moore was the first pick they got right, but he's still a slot guy mostly, and he's still gonna need an legit/traditional outside guy to take the heat off of him.

 

[ulukinatme]

Yay, no Bike Hart. Fuck Michigan.

 

[Southside Sully]

Watching those 3 videos, i would say guy will be a homerun on the recruiting trail. Seems super personable and hopefully a deal closer

 

[RDU Irish]

As much as I like this hire I have to wonder....

Balco deer antler spray heading to SB?

 

[ResLife Hero]

As much as I like this hire I have to wonder....

Balco deer antler spray heading to SB?

One can hope

 

[Andy in Sactown]

In the Panther's video he casually name dropped his position coach in college at Alabama (2:02) .. Dabo Swinney.

 

[Sea Turtle]

One can hope

If you can't beat them, join them.

 

[BobbyMac]

Since he's coming from NC and has experience at both WR & RB maybe he can stop and pick up these two guys and they can finish at St Joseph HS before EEing

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[connor_in]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Join us in welcoming <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachLT39?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoachLT39</a> to the Irish family. He will be coaching the running backs. <br><br>More: <a href="https://t.co/YylInhv6HP">https://t.co/YylInhv6HP</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoIrish?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoIrish</a> ☘️ <a href="https://t.co/qM1X3f3Y08">pic.twitter.com/qM1X3f3Y08</a></p>— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/NDFootball/status/1095366942758785026?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly on Lance Taylor:<br><br>"He recruited at an extremely high level during his time at Stanford, and he worked with the very best in the NFL. His ability to bring both of those experiences together makes him a perfect fit on our staff."</p>— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteSampson_/status/1095367751474921473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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[irishff1014]

Welcome Lance I hope you do big things for the running backs and this football team.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Time will tell, but I really feel like BK nailed this hire.

His track record is brilliant.

 

[NDMIA]

Just as an FYI. Here’s the first recruits Lance Taylor followed on Twitter in the last few days since taking the ND job.

Chris Tyree
Kendall Milton
Seth McGowan
Zachary Evans
Bijan Robinson

I like the big fish hunting there. Can’t wait to see what kinda moves we see with the RB prospects in the next few weeks.

 

[Irish YJ]

Adding this for comparison on recruiting and coaching going forward. Using only BK years.

IMO, production was improved under Denson. Recruiting overall at the RB position is subpar. It's hard to find a position group overall where recruiting on average (ratings) is worse, more problematic, and more hit or miss.

Notes Recruiting
-RB recruiting average was under class average 6 of 10 years
-4 of 10 years were zeros (2 no commits + 2 transfer of only commit)
-Of the 4 years RB average was over class average, 3 RBs transferred
-14 RB commits in 10 years, 4 transfers (29% rate)
-we banked a lot of production off one year of recruiting (2015)

H=Hinton, A=Alford, D=Denson

Recruiting Factoids
Year/Coach (Total Class Average Rating / Average RB Rating) - Commits (Rating)
2019D (90.6 / 88.6) - Williams (89.2) , ATH KAR (87.9)
2018D (90.1 / 85.9) - Smith (87.2), Flemister (84.6)
2017D (89.4 / 90.8) - Holmes (90.8) Trans
2016D (89.0 / 87.3) - Jones (89.3), McIntosh (85.2) Trans
2015A/D (90.5 / 92.7) - Williams (95.6), Adams (89.7)
2014A (89.3 / NA) - NA
2013A (92.3 / 96.4) - Bryant (97.7) Trans, Foltson (95.1)
2012H/A (91.2 / 91.7) - Mahone (91.7) Trans,
2011H - (90.0 / 88.0) - GA3 (90.5), McDaniel (85.4)
2010H (88.4 / NA) - NA

Converts (not counted in RB recruiting if they didn't start at RB)
2017 - QB Davis 90.8, WR Armstrong 87.1
2012 - S/WR Prosise (89.4)

Note - GA3 WR (2011), was listed as something other than RB, but IIRC he started at RB.
and... Russell (94.4) listed as RB, never a RB


Coaching/Production

Year/Coach - Team Yard per game rank / Team yards per attempt rank / leading rusher and Rank

2018D - 51 / 62 / Williams (67th) (out 4 games)
2017D - 7 / 3 / Adams (14th) (BW also 90th, two 1st round NFL OLs)
2016D - 80 / 62 / Adams (80th)
2015A - 28 / 8 / Prosise (59th)
2014A - 70 / 70 / Folston (80th)
2013A - 82 / 54 / McDaniel (114th) (GA3 close)
2012A - 38 / 31 / Riddick (73rd) (Wood close)
2011H - 54 / 26 / Wood (39th) (Grey close)
2010H - 92 / 77 / Wood (132nd) (Allen with almost the same yardage as Woods)


updated to correct Prosise

 

[Irish#1]

If he really wanted to make everyone on IE happy, he would have signed his contract and been on a plane to visit Tyree, Milton, etc, before the ink dried.