How Walter Taylor's Winding Career Led Him Back To Vanderbilt Football, As a Tight End

NASHVILLE—-All 6-foot-5, 236 pounds of Walter Taylor’s frame were going downhill as he worked to fulfill his assignment as the lead blocker on a power read play. Then he met Vanderbilt linebacker Austin Howard, who Taylor admits got the best of him when they collided.

Welcome to the tight end room, man.

This is life these days for Taylor, and he better get used to it. If he’s going to get on the field for this program, this is how it’s going to have to be done. Time for Taylor to pick all this up, and fast.

“This was brand new for Walt,” Vanderbilt tight ends coach Brendan Flaherty said in regard to Taylor’s profile as a tight end when he arrived at Vanderbilt. “Walt had never been in a receiver stance, a three point stance, he'd never been asked to block. He'd never run a route.”

When Taylor arrived at Vanderbilt in 2022, this isn’t what he—or the Vanderbilt staff—had in mind. Taylor was supposed to be the next guy to take a stab at turning this downtrodden program into a winner, as its quarterback.

The mystique surrounding Taylor back in those days indicated that he had a chance to do it, too. itHe was as athletic as any quarterback that Vanderbilt had in recent memory. The ball looked pretty coming out of his hand. The high ceiling nearly radiated off of him. He at least had a chance to make it as a starter around here.

Four years, three transfer portal entries and some swallowed pride later, Taylor is here working to make his college football dream materialize. The shine has worn off on his local legend, but he’s exchanged the pressure of being perceived as this program’s future at quarterback for peace.

“I’m not really coming to practice with a whole lot of doubts,” Taylor told Vandy on SI. “I can come out here and play fast and have fun. I love playing tight end.”

Nov 11, 2023; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Walter Taylor (2) runs the ball against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the second quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images | Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

In the hours following Taylor’s transfer portal entry and subsequent post that he’d be playing tight end, Flaherty didn’t have to say all that much to let Taylor know he was interested. He didn’t even need a full sentence.

“TE?” the text read.

“Yes sir,” Taylor says he replied.

Taylor and his dad had always talked through the idea of him becoming a tight end if life as a quarterback didn’t take him where he wanted in his senior season. They believed that his mix of athleticism and size could allow him to be successful if he made the move. Taylor chased the quarterback dream for a while, but Taylor hit his breaking point after losing the quarterback battle at Ball State and spending the year as a backup. Time to make the move. Time for a new program, or so he thought.

All Taylor knew was that his current situation didn’t have him on the path he hoped it would. Something had to give.

“It’s like ‘man, I don't really have that much time left playing college football, and I want to be a player. I want to play,” Taylor said. “I just thought that playing tight end would give me the best opportunity to get on the field.”

Luckily for Taylor, Vanderbilt junior Brycen Coleman had just started the process of moving from tight end to wide receiver and Vanderbilt had a need for a tight end. Vanderbilt wasn’t going to guarantee Taylor a chance at playing time because of the veteran tight ends it already had on the depth chart, but it told him that it’d give him a chance.

Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Tim Beck was in on the idea after he’d seen Taylor’s quarterback tape, what he demonstrated on the ground as a freshman against Ole Miss and had heard from a multitude of people about what Taylor could provide. Beck saw how fruitful the transition from quarterback to tight end was for former Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers and figured he’d take another chance on it.

Flaherty says that because of Taylor’s frame, he’s going to have some additional responsibilities that Stowers didn’t. He’s not likely to have near the production that Stowers did throughout his two-year Vanderbilt career, either.

As he stands in the end zone after Vanderbilt’s Saturday scrimmage at FirstBank Stadium, Taylor doesn’t seem to be all that discouraged by that reality. Taylor is upbeat and appears to be encouraged. This program allowed him to come back and give this another chance. That’s what’s got him in this mood.

“It just feels like home,” Taylor said. “It was a no brainer, honestly, just to come back and just be around my guys, get this Vanderbilt degree.”

Taylor’s dad, Walter Jr.—the Vanderbilt tight end is Walter III—told Vandy on SI that he believes the deciding factor in his son’s decision was the opportunity to get a Vanderbilt degree. Even while Taylor was at Colorado as a junior, the older Watler remembers hearing about his son’s desire to get a degree from Vanderbilt when it was all said and done.

Now, he’s on track to get it.

“He loves Vandy,” Walter Jr. said. “He said he could live there, in Nashville. He said that when he first went there, that's how he felt about the place. That's how he feels about the place now. So having him back, man, I'm super excited. I'm so excited for him and I want the best for him right now. I truly believe Vandy is the best place for him.”

In a white Vanderbilt uniform, Taylor awaited the snap, caught it, held it for a second and sprung through the gap at the goal line. Before he was stood up by a defender, Taylor was in the end zone.

A little less than three minutes earlier, Taylor had thrown a beautiful ball down the sideline that landed in the hands of Vanderbilt receiver Junior Sherrill. Taylor didn’t quite do enough in that performance against Ole Miss to prove that he was worthy of being Vanderbilt’s starting quarterback down the stretch, but he, Sherrill and Vanderbilt running back Sedrick Alexander were the lone bright spots in that 33-7 Vanderbilt loss.

Four years later, the three of them are sharing the practice field together again. Alexander and Taylor are sharing a living space as roommates again, too.

Taylor appeared to give all that up for good when he was a part of Vanderbilt’s mass exodus following its 2-10 season. He, like many, believed he’d be able to find that the grass was greener elsewhere.

The place that Taylor thought would fill the need; Colorado. The Buffaloes were clearly planning to start now-NFL quarterback Shedeur Sanders–and did–but Taylor felt as if he could help Deion Sanders’ program. By the time Colorado had played its final game, though, Taylor had yet to take a snap and was intent on looking elsewhere.

Taylor spent that year standing off to the side and reflecting on what he’d have to do in order to fulfill his vision of being a starting quarterback as a Division-I program. He’d have to become a better decision maker. He’d have to become more consistent. He figured that he may have to go to a lower level, too.

As a result, Taylor made the move to Ball State and embraced his role within its quarterback battle. Ball State senior Kiael Kelly beat Taylor out, though. By the end of the season, Kelly, two Ball State receivers and junior quarterback Aidan Leffler had all thrown an in-game pass. But, Taylor hadn’t.

“I was kind of going through it mentally,” Taylor said. “It's so hard to be a backup quarterback, it’s so hard. So it was very tough mentally. It was definitely like a breaking point that made me decide to just make that change [to tight end] and just get on the field.”

Taylor may trade his journey with someone else's in another world, but it’s changed him–for the better, those around him believe. Who knows if Taylor’s position change will finally have him taking meaningful snaps on Saturdays, but he’s changed more than that since the last time he lived around Vanderbilt’s campus.

“What the whole thing did for him, I think it brought him closer to God,” Taylor Jr. said. “I'm super proud of him because some people would've quit but he persevered and I'm proud of him.”

There Taylor was airborne in the middle of the field with the ball coming his way and a few defenders closing in. It’s the first time the media contingent on hand has ever seen Taylor doing this, but it’s life these days for him.

When Taylor hauled it in and dropped to the FirstBank Stadium turf, it wasn’t quite Stowers-esque. But, it was reminiscent of what a few former Vanderbilt tight ends have done around that part of the field over the years.

At the very least, Taylor didn’t have the look of a quarterback that had just made the adjustment to playing tight end–which is more steep than Stowers’ was because of Taylor’s lack of experience. He’s starting to look less and less like a quarterback and more like a tight end just about every time he’s out there.

“It's awesome seeing how he can transition that fast because he's doing really well now,” Vanderbilt fullback Gabe Fisher said. “At first, he had to tone down some things, but he's coming in stride and I don't think any quarterback can do it that fast, like, just turning the tight end, so it's pretty awesome.”

Even with Taylor’s development, he’s not guaranteed anything. Vanderbilt tight ends Cole Spence and Jayvontay Conner might be, but Taylor is going to have to stand out in order to earn every snap that he receives.

Taylor’s journey hasn’t taught him that getting on the field is always likely, but it’s taught him what it takes. He’s going to give this all he has, and knows what this could all mean if he finds a way onto the field consistently for the first time in his college career.

“It’s just taught me to just keep going, keep striving,” Taylor said in regard to his journey. “Everything is on the other side of hard, so that's just how I feel about it. Anytime it gets hard, I know that everything I want is on the other side of it, so I just keep pushing.”