CBS Sports questions Stanford's hiring of Troy Taylor
Palo Alto- Many Stanford fans were thrilled at the hiring of Sacramento State's Troy Taylor, but that excitement appears to not be emulated throughout the country.
CBS Sports' Barrett Sallee graded all of the hirings around college football, and to the surprise to fans around the state of California he was not high on Taylor. Sallee gave Taylor's hiring a "C" and went on to question whether his success at Sacramento State will translate saying:
Taylor was the coach at Sacramento State before jumping up to the Pac-12 after four years in the FCS. He was successful at the lower level posting a 30-8 record, but this is a whole different ballgame. It's hard enough to be the coach at Stanford given the restrictions that existed. It'll be even more difficult for a first-time FBS coach.
While it is fair to question it from an overall perspective as it is with any new coach, it must be considered that Taylor brought a program in Sacramento State that many people felt was worth canceling to success it had never seen. It is also interesting to see his Pac-12 counterpart Deion Sanders (Colorado) who is also coming from a lower level received an A-. Now granted he has much more loose restrictions to deal with in Boulder, and is much more famous, but Taylor is far more experienced as a coach.
At the end of the day, only time will tell whether Taylor was the right hire or not, but Stanford needed someone who was forward thinking and a winner willing to deal with the difficulties that coincide with the gig. They appeared to have gotten just that in hiring Taylor, who will bring one of the most transcendent offensive playbooks that the FCS level has seen within the past few years.
Another fun coaching note, Stanford will not only take on Sacramento State in Week 2, but they also will be traveling to Boulder to take Sanders and Colorado in Week 4.
