Preface
Many adjectives describe current Tennessee Titan, Taywan Taylor.
Hilltopper. Program record-setter. Play maker. Brandon Doughty's and Mike White’s go-to guy.
His name elicits memories of trick plays, deep catches, touchdowns, and 100+ yard games.
Everyone seemed to overlook and/or undervalue the two-star prospect from Pleasure Ridge Park HS in Louisville, Kentucky.
In a Billy Beane-esque fashion, then-WKU Football offensive coordinator and assistant head coach, Jeff Brohm, paid no mind to the rating system. After watching Taylor’s performance during a basketball game, Brohm encouraged then-coach Bobby Petrino to give Taylor a football scholarship.
Taylor’s story is the story of WKU Football’s (and most Group of Five programs') roster for years: lower-ranked recruits, as well as JUCO players, who were overlooked or perceived in a certain manner. Whether he recruited or inherited the player, Jeff Brohm and Company tapped into each individual player’s strengths and unequivocally elevated the program. By the end of 2016, the Brohm-era saw an overall record of 31-10. Brohm and his staff did the unimaginable with WKU given their short tenure in the FBS (and Conference USA); their departures were inevitable.
Despite success on the recruiting trail, WKU Football's offense has not been the same since 2016.
Some argue that the fall was bound to happen. Others point to the coaching change. A few fans believed, in time, the team would find their identity once again. None of those notions will be disputed in this piece.
Mike Sanford Jr., was dismissed on November 25, 2018 after two seasons, an overall record of 9-16, and a 2018 record of 3-9. After one day, Tyson Helton was named WKU Football's next head coach.
The prompt hiring of Helton - an ex-WKU Football offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Brohm - was a clear and direct message to return to the "brand" of WKU Football that was competitive, exciting, explosive, and winning. Joining Helton, will be the 2017-2018 WKU Football defensive staff: a message of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
While I am not sure if Helton or Bryan Ellis (now-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach) are adherents of analytics, the 2014-2016 brand of WKU Football suggests an understanding and respect for decision making and trends that yield wins. During such time, WKU Football became an offensive juggernaut, a Top 25 team (2015), and back-to-back C-USA champions with a slew of overlooked, lower-ranked players.
There is an immense amount of data on any team. By way of analyzing such data, we can create a narrative that pieces together the past, present, and possible future of WKU Football.
