Former Alabama Receiver Hired as MAC Head Coach

The college football regular season has wrapped up, save for the annual Army vs. Navy game and therefore the coaching carousel is in full swing. Many Alabama fans are on the lookout for assistant coaching potentially on the move, but the Crimson Tide nation can celebrate one of its own being chosen to lead his own program.

Former Alabama wide receiver Lance Taylor has been named as the newest head football coach of the Western Michigan Broncos. It is Taylor's first chance to be a head coach and he comes to Kalamazoo after one year as Louisville's offensive coordinator.

Taylor came to the Crimson Tide as a walk-on initially, but then earned a scholarship and played in 38-consecutive games and was a special teams captain under Mike Shula. He hauled in 12 receptions for 115 yards and two touchdowns for Alabama in 2003 and also scored a punt return touchdown in 2002.

He left Alabama and played several years in the Arena Football League before starting his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the Crimson Tide in 2007 under Nick Saban.

He's coached at several places working his way up the ladder over the last 12 seasons. His college stops include Appalachian State, Stanford, Notre Dame and Louisville and his professional experience has the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers on his resume.

The Western Michigan Broncos make Taylor the 17th head coach after firing Tim Lester. He unfortunately led the program to a 5-7 record in 2022, finishing third in the Mid-American West Division. Lester went 37-32 in his six seasons in charge and led the Broncos to a 1-2 bowl record.