Utah’s offense could be getting a major overhaul with the hiring of Troy Taylor, who co-coordinated Eastern Washington’s explosive offense at the FCS level this year.
Taylor will be Utah’s next offensive coordinator in a move announced by the Utes Monday. Coach Kyle Whittingham also announced that offensive line coach Jim Harding, who spent the last two seasons as the program’s co-offensive coordinator, was named Utah’s assistant head coach.
Taylor’s most notable coaching accomplishment, though, may not have come at Eastern Washington in 2016 despite the Eagles averaging 529.6 yards per game and 42.4 points per game en route to a 12-2 record and FCS semifinal loss to Bo Pelini and Youngstown State.
That’s because Taylor worked with Jake Browning from the time the Washington quarterback was in fifth grade through the end of his record-setting prep career at Folsom High School in California. So perhaps we’ll see an innovated, quarterback-driven offense installed in Salt Lake City stating this coming fall.
“I have watched Troy Taylor closely over the years when he was coaching innovative high school offenses in California and was eager to see how that translated to college coaching. He achieved the same results at Eastern Washington and we are fortunate that Troy was interested in bringing that style of offense here to Utah,” Whittingham said. “Troy has trained a prolific number of record-setting quarterbacks in high school, at his academy and now in college.”
Here’s how Taylor described his offense:
“We will have an attacking style of offense that stretches the field and the defense in every way,” Taylor said. “Creating success for the quarterback will be our utmost priority. If your QB plays well, you have a great chance of winning. Therefore, the development of his fundamentals and skill set are vital. However, it is just as imperative to have an offensive system that is both dynamic and user friendly. That has been the driving force in my offensive philosophy and I am excited to bring this to the University of Utah.”