Troy Taylor: Transition to Stanford has been 'amazing'

Troy Taylor took the long route to ultimately being named the head football coach Stanford this offseason, but he’s glad he did. A former quarterback at Cal, Taylor immediately got into coaching following the end of his brief NFL career in 1994, taking a job as offensive coordinator at Casa Roble (CA) High School.

After joining the college ranks as a graduate assistant at Colorado and later for several seasons with the Golden Bears, he took a job as the head coach at Folsom (CA) High School in 2002. But after just three seasons, he left coaching to become a color analyst on Cal’s radio broadcast. He remained in that role for the next eight years before the itch to coach again returned.

He went back to Folsom in 2012 and remained for four seasons, winning a state title before ultimately returning to college as an assistant at Eastern Washington and later Utah. That decision paid off when he landed his first college head coaching job at FCS school Sacramento State in 2019.

His work there earned him the recognition of Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir, who hired Taylor following the resignation of David Shaw after 12 seasons. As he attended Pac-12 Media Day for the first time as the Cardinal coach on Friday, Troy Taylor reflected on his journey to Stanford.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “It really is. I’ve enjoyed every moment. Truth be known, I could have stayed at Folsom High School and loved it. I had a great time. I enjoyed my relationship with players and coaches. It was just one of those things where I felt like I needed new challenge. Could have went up to Eastern Washington, could have been there for 20 years. I kind of enjoyed everywhere I’ve been. At Utah, it was fun. Sacramento State, I could have been there forever. Hard to leave that place being my hometown and special people.

“I feel like the luckiest guy in the world. Maybe Bill Walton is the first luckiest guy in the world, but I’m the second to be able at Stanford, to be able to do things the right way, to be able to have, I believe, sustained success, be around unbelievable people and student-athletes.”

At Sacramento State, Taylor led the Hornets to a 30-8 record over three seasons (team did not play in 2020 due to COVID). Sacramento State at least tied for first place in the Big Sky Conference ever year and went undefeated in 2022 before losing in the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs.

Now as Taylor prepares to take over at Stanford, it’s clear he has his work cut out for him. After putting together 10 straight winning seasons from 2009-18, the Cardinal have failed to reach more than four wins the past four seasons.

Still, thanks to returning players such as running back EJ Smith and the administration that hired him, he’s confident he has what it takes to turn things around.

“To me it’s an amazing ride that I’ve had, and I feel very fortunate,” he said. “There’s been a lot of people that have played a part in that, a lot of great players, a lot of great coaches, administrators. I feel very blessed.”

Stanford will kick off the Troy Taylor era against Hawaii on Sept. 1.