Trooper Taylor Rounds Out Red Wolves Football Staff

Head football coach of the Arkansas State Red Wolves, Blake Anderson, announced via Twitter last night his final hire – former Auburn assistant head coach, Trooper Taylor.

According to his bio from his years at Auburn, Trooper Taylor was an assistant head coach and wide receivers coach at Auburn.

In 2010, Taylor’s receiver corps produced in all phases, making impact catches and providing hard-nosed blocking for the Tigers’ conference-best rushing attack. Taylor was also instrumental in helping Auburn bring in one of the most highly regarded recruiting classes in the nation for 2011. The Tigers recruiting class was ranked fourth-best nationally by ESPN.com.

Auburn receivers connected on 45 plays of 20 yards or more, including five plays of 60 yards or more, as the Tigers set a school record for points (577) and led the Southeastern Conference averaging 41.2 points per game.

The Tigers had three receivers total 500 yards or more last season and as a unit averaged 16.9 yards per catch, hauling in 2,461 of Auburn’s total 3,002 total passing yards. Sophomore receiver Emory Blake and QB Cam Newton combined to register the longest pass play in Auburn history, a 94-yard scoring strike against ULM.

During his first season, he helped the Auburn offense emerge as one of the nation’s finest, while also solidifying his reputation as a top-notch recruiter.

The Auburn offense set numerous school records during his first season, including points in a season (433), most total yards of offense in a season (5,613) and most plays in a season (914).

Taylor coached Darvin Adams, who broke the Auburn single-season record for receptions with 60 for 997 yards and ranked second in the SEC with 10 touchdown catches. Adams, who entered the season with just three career catches for 18 yards, was named the MVP of the Outback Bowl after hauling in career highs of 12 receptions for 142 yards.

In addition to his coaching duties on the field, Taylor was instrumental in Auburn signing a consensus top-five recruiting class in 2010. For his efforts, he was named by Rivals.com to its list of the top 25 recruiters in the nation and one of the top 10 recruiters in the SEC for the signing class of 2010. It marked the third time he has been named to the top 25 list by Rivals.com, having previously earned the recognition in 2005 and 2007.

In 2008 in his only season at Oklahoma State, Taylor helped the OSU offense produce two first-team All-Americans in wide receiver Dez Bryant and running back Kendall Hunter. A Biletnikoff Award finalist and a first-team All-Big 12 selection and academic all-conference member, Bryant led the Big 12 in receiving and was third nationally.

In 2006 at Tennessee, Taylor coached Robert Meachem, a firstround NFL draft pick, to All-America honors.

He also directed the Vols running backs from 2004-05, coaching Cedric Houston and Gerald Riggs Jr., who became UT’s first pair of 1,000-yard rushers in the same season, in 2004.

Taylor played defensive back at Baylor from 1988-91 and finished his playing career as the school’s leader in kickoff returns (53) and return yardage (1,063).

Taylor came to Knoxville after coaching receivers at Tulane from 1999-2003. He coached four wideouts into the NFL during his tenure in New Orleans, in Adrian Burnette, Kerwin Cook and Terrell Harris. The fourth future NFL player under his tutelage at Tulane was Roydell Williams, who went on to set school and Conference USA career record for touchdown catches with 35.

His resume: