Former running backs coach Lance Taylor included in ESPN's minority coaches to watch for a head-coaching job
There are so many rising coaches in college football, and no one better represents that than Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman.
Similar to Stanford head coach David Shaw, Freeman started off working a couple coordinator jobs before he got his opportunity to assume the head coaching position at Notre Dame. He has hit the ground running as Notre Dame currently holds the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, and is expected to be a contender in 2022.
However, it is not often that a Black man gets the chance to be the head coach at a FBS program, as according to ESPN about half of the programs in the FBS have yet to hire a Black head coach. When they do, it has been proven that their tenure and chance to turn around a program around is much more brief than the chances given to white coaches.
Freeman will look to change that narrative, and pave the way for more Black men to get a chance to coach at the highest level. ESPN's Adam Rittenberg compiled a list of 45 minority coaches under 45 to watch for future head-coaching jobs, and Stanford's former running backs coach Lance Taylor was included.
Taylor coached at Stanford from 2014-16, and in that time he helped mentor Christian McCaffery, and followed that up with stints at Notre Dame, with the Carolina panthers, and now Louisville where he is the offensive coordinator. Here is what Rittenberg had to say about Taylor:
Taylor landed his first coordinator opportunity after stints at Notre Dame, Stanford and the Carolina Panthers. He coached Christian McCaffery during a record-setting 2015 season at Stanford, and had a nice stretch with Kyren Williams and other Notre Dame running backs. Louisville coach Scott Satterfield will call plays, but Taylor can enhance his profile at U of L.
"He's a fast riser who will end up on somebody's head-coaching list this coming season," a Power 5 coach said.
This will be a huge year for not only Louisville who the pressure is on to succeed, but also Taylor who may have a chance to springboard himself into a head coaching job by the end of the season.
