STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State had one of the top offenses in the country before its architect moved on to another job. As the school's new co-offensive coordinator, Trooper Taylor knows his task is to maintain that level of production and not mess it up.
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"Without a doubt, there will be some changes. Time brings about a change. When guys leave out and new people come in, there's going to be some change naturally," Taylor said Thursday. "But for the most part, I'm smart enough to see if it ain't broke don't fix it. They were pretty darn good."
Taylor came to Oklahoma State from Tennessee, replacing Larry Fedora on coach Mike Gundy's offensive staff. Fedora was hired as the new head coach at Southern Miss in December after guiding an Oklahoma State offense that ranked seventh in the nation in total yardage.
As a longtime friend of Gundy, Fedora and other members of Oklahoma State's staff, Taylor wants to fit right in without causing too much commotion.
"They've done a great job, and I'm not here to try to slow that down," Taylor said. "I'm here to try to improve that."
At a news conference previewing the start of the Cowboys' spring practice next week, Gundy said there won't be any changes in offensive philosophy. He expects to use the same schemes and same terminology that Fedora installed during his three years in Stillwater.
"We haven't changed anything," Gundy said.
Taylor's story was only slightly different.
"It's actually been really good because you have a set of eyes that are coming from the outside looking in, so you're able to critique, you're able to add a few different wrinkles," Taylor said. "It's been really good because I'm allowed to give my honest opinion.
"Sometimes we don't agree, sometimes we do, but the bottom line is when coach Gundy signs off on it, that's what we're going to do."
Taylor had been coaching receivers for the Volunteers, including former Tulsa high school standout Robert Meachem and former Oklahoma City high school star Gerald Jones, before getting the opportunity to reunite with friends and former colleagues on the Cowboys' staff including Curtis Luper, Joe Wickline and Gunter Brewer. Taylor and Brewer will be co-coordinators of the Oklahoma State offense.
"It's fun getting back to the spread offense and hearing the formations being called the same way and hearing some of the plays being called the same way," Taylor said. "It's like I'm speaking the same language again where before I went to Pluto and I had to learn 3 yards and a cloud of dust again."
If nothing else, Taylor said he expects players to notice a difference in his temperament. He said he's already had Oklahoma State's receiving corps sign the "Taylor Bill of Rights" and he's explained to players that he considers them all to have the last name Taylor because everyone is family.
His top priority? Whatever is best for the players.
"Right now they have a system, the way things unfold and the way that they're used to doing things," Taylor said. "I'm not going to try to come in here and try to change any of that."
For Taylor, that family approach has long been ingrained in him. He credits his late father Bonnie Taylor for inspiring him, and his backward baseball cap is a way of honoring the man who was nicknamed "Blaze."
"Every time I put it on, I think about him and the things that he taught me growing up as a young man," Taylor said. "He was taken away from me at an early age, so it's kind of a tribute to him. It's definitely not for style, it's definitely not because I've got a bad haircut, it's about respect to a man that I owe a bunch to to being who I am today."
Taylor said he was 12 years old when his father died of a heart attack.
"Nobody wants to get out of bed and be miserable about going to work. I watched my father get up and go to two different jobs starting at 5 o'clock in the morning and he hated both of them. That was my motivation," Taylor said.
"He worked in a cotton mill and he worked in a feed mill, and he had a heart attack walking from one to the next and died in the street. That's not going to happen to me, that's not going to happen to my son, that's not going to happen to anybody that I coach because I'm going to teach them about the value of education."
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jj, this was a warm interpersonal story about a new coach and you just had to type your gooner graffiti all over it. What a miserable little worm you must be in real life.
JJ -- er nitwit -- the problem at OSU has not been the offense -- the problem has been on the other side of the ball. If they ever get the defense straightened out -- look out.
...the ability to keyboard, almost form sentences properly and feebly attempt to upgrade one's existence through degrading others should NEVER be confused with having an opinion worth sharing... Godspeed and have a great weekend, JJ.
kinda hard to pad your stats with the number one schedule in the country dont you think?? and if memory serves me correctly.....werent the schooners favored by double digits to blow out WVU who allegedly had no chance against the "mighty" schooner nation??? seriously jj i think its time for you to recheck the skirting on your home...well what you call home and then maybe attend a class or two at your "life long" favorite university and then maybe you can talk smack......but till then go sport your 2000 national championship shirt some more and go to walmart to collect your favorite ou shirt of the month for only 9.97 plus tax and continue to sport your mullet
Yes JJ, the Texas D was terrible, as was the Kansas D (even though we lost, still good offensive production without Bowman). You really shouldn't talk about things you clearly have no knowledge of. The defense lost us 3 games last year, and we will hopefully be in better shape on that end. Also, good one with the "OSUcuks", it is really original. Did you come up with that?
OSUcks padded their stats against bad schools and then stunk it up against quality schools (and Troy). Face it, if OSU's offense was so good they would have been better than a .500 team. (Yes I know they were 7-6 but if they played another game against a team not the caliber of Florida Atlantic then they would have been back to .500).
Yeah, JJ, that Texas defense stunk too. For the most part, offensive production was not an issue in us winning or losing games. Being able to maintain leads and prevent our opponents from scoring was the big issue (and a stupid play call as the clock wound down). Tim needs to have a banner year for all of us concerned.
funny he says that because if i remember right we played the toughest schedule in the country....played 3 teams that played in BCS games and put the second most amount of yards against kansas all season and wait......werent we the only school in the country to average 230 yards passing 230 yards running????
JJ I do not know if you have noticed, but the one thing OSU has been known for recently is offense. Maybe your sooners could learn a thing or two instead of getting whipped by Boise State and a new coach at West Virginia. Our offense played well against all the teams you mentioned except for OU.
The story starts out, "Oklahoma State had one of the top offenses in the country before its architect moved on to another job." That was so evident when they played Georgia, Troy, Kansas, A&M and OU. OSUcks offense was only "good" against bad defenses.
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