Trooper Taylor Remaining On Duke's Coaching Staff Though Duke Has A New Head Coach In Mike Elko?
Trooper Taylor joined the Duke staff in January of 2019 and serves as the program’s Associate Head Coach while mentoring Duke’s cornerbacks. Trooper Taylor spent his first two seasons (2019-20) coaching the wide receivers.
In 2020, Taylor mentored six Duke players to at least 150-plus receiving yards, including two with over 300-plus yards. His wideout group accounted for 74 percent of Duke’s receiving yards and earned seven of the 11 receiving touchdowns on the year. Junior Jake Bobo led the team in receiving yards with 358 on 32 catches with one touchdown, while sophomore Jalon Calhoun registered a team-high 39 receptions for 349 yards and two scores. Both earned six games with 30-plus receiving yards to headline the wide receivers group.
Trooper Taylor also mentored Jarett Garner, Eli Pancol, Dennis Smith and Darrell Harding Jr., to over 150-plus receiving yards. Garner, Pancol, and Smith recorded 274, 241 and 235 receiving yards, respectively, while Harding Jr. accumulated 160 yards during his second season. Pancol tied with tight end Jake Marwede for a season-long 55-yard reception, while Garner added a 52-yard touchdown reception.
In his first season at Duke, Taylor mentored Calhoun and Pancol to Freshman All-America honors by Pro Football Focus. Calhoun led all ACC freshmen in pass receptions with 46, a mark that placed him third among Power 5 rookie wide receivers. As one of just two true freshmen to start in all 12 games, Calhoun registered a team-best 420 receiving yards with four touchdowns. He had 10 games where he recorded at least two receptions, and compiled his lone 100-yard receiving game (105) and only multi-touchdown game (2) during Duke’s victory over North Carolina A&T. The Greenville, S.C., native had Duke’s longest receiving touchdown with a 49-yard reception in Duke’s regular season finale against Miami.
Pancol finished with six catches for 91 yards (15.17) and three touchdowns during his rookie season. He compiled at least 10-plus receiving yards on three different occasions and had two catches for over 20-plus yards, both for touchdowns. The Pendleton, Ind., native also notched three rushes for 20 yards (6.7), including a nine-yard touchdown against Georgia Tech. He finished fifth on the team with 24 points accumulated from four total scores.
Trooper Taylor also guided Aaron Young, Scott Bracey, Harding Jr., and Bobo to over 100-yards receiving during his first season. Young and Bracey compiled 367 and 270 yards on 29 and 21 catches, respectively, while Harding Jr. and Bobo finished with 130 yards (eight receptions) and 122 yards (10 receptions) a piece.
“according to his biography on goduke.com”
During the 2006-2007 season Trooper Taylor was on the coaching staff at Tennessee where he and now former Duke Head Coach David Cutcliffe were on staff together.
Though, David Cutcliffe is no longer the Head Coach of Duke because he, Director Of Athletics Nina King parted ways after Duke finished with a record of 3-9 in 2021 and Mike Elko is Trooper Taylor isn’t going anywhere because Mike Elko is retaining Trooper Taylor from David Cutcliffe coaching staff.
Trooper Taylor was named interim Head Coach while Nina King , Vincent Price conducted a head coaching search after David Cutcliffe Nina King parted ways 14 seasons. Trooper Taylor coached the cornerbacks last season after coaching Duke’s wide receivers in 2019.
Mike Elko’s plan for Trooper Taylor?
For him to coach the offense this season!
“according to an article by Stephen Wiseman on newsobserver.com”