Kerry Taylor (American football)

Kerry Lee Taylor (born February 20, 1989) is a former professional football wide receiver and high school coach. In college he played for Arizona State University and in high school for Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona.

Kerry Taylor
Free agent
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (1989-02-20) February 20, 1989
Chandler, Arizona
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school:Hamilton (Chandler, Arizona)
College:Arizona State
Undrafted:2011
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics
Receptions:22
Receiving yards:229
Receiving touchdowns:1
Player stats at NFL.com

College career

Taylor verbal commitment to Arizona State University as part of Dirk Koetter's 2007 recruiting class bring along teammate Colin Parker[1] from perennial power Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona.[2][3] Online college recruitment service Scout listed him as the 4th best prospect in Arizona and the 22nd best wide receiver nationwide. When Koetter was fired before the 2007 season and Denis Erickson hired, Taylor honored his verbal commitment to ASU by signing a letter of intent.

Arizona State University Statistics[4]
Year GS G Rec. Yds. Avg TD Lg Avg/G
2007 0 13 8 53 6.6 1 11 4.1
2008 6 12 27 405 15.0 3 52 33.8
2009 8 9 23 276 12.0 0 29 30
2010 6 12 54 699 12.9 3 54 58.3
Career 20 46 112 1433 12.8 7 54 31.2

While at ASU, Taylor sought and completed a Bachelors in Interdisciplinary Studies with a Sociology and Communications.[4] As his collegiate career ended, Taylor addressed Erickson's staffing decisions to a television audience as, “helping out his buddies.” He further explained, "We all know this is Erickson's last stint in coaching. He is just trying to get some of his buddies one last paycheck," due to poor offensive schemes and lackluster overall performance.[5]

Professional career

Taylor declared for the 2011 NFL Draft but was not selected by any team therefore making him an undrafted free agent. Only the Arizona Cardinals[6] and Jacksonville Jaguars[7] promoted Taylor from practice squads during regular season play.

Green Bay Packers

After going undrafted in the 2011 NFL Draft, Kerry Taylor signed with the Green Bay Packers on July 28, 2011. He played in four preseason games with the team where he caught a combined seven passes for 56 yards and one touchdown.[8] He was released on September 3, 2011.

New England Patriots

Taylor shortly thereafter signed to the practice squad of the New England Patriots on September 5. He was subsequently released on September 16.

San Francisco 49ers

On October 12, 2011, Taylor was signed to the practice squad for the San Francisco 49ers. He was released six days later on October 18.

Minnesota Vikings

Taylor was signed to the practice squad Minnesota Vikings on October 26 after receiver Stephen Burton was signed to the 53-man roster.

New England Patriots

After being waived by the Vikings, Taylor was claimed by the New England Patriots on August 27, 2012.

Arizona Cardinals

He was promoted to the active roster from the practice squad by the Arizona Cardinals on December 26, 2012. [6]

Jacksonville Jaguars

On November 4, 2013, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Taylor off the Cardinals practice squad.[7] He scored his first NFL touchdown on December 29 in a game against the Indianapolis Colts on a 14-yard pass from quarterback Chad Henne.

He was released on August 30, 2014 and signed to the team's practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on September 20. He was released on September 23 and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was waived from the practice squad on October 7.

Dallas Cowboys

On October 9, 2014, the Dallas Cowboys signed Taylor to their practice squad. He was released on November 30 to make room for WR Chris Boyd.

Denver Broncos

On January 15, 2015, the Denver Broncos signed Taylor to a reserve/future contract for the 2015 season. He was waived on April 23, 2015.[9]

Coaching

Chandler High School

Directly following his retiring from the NFL, Taylor joined the football coaching staff at Chandler High School in Chandler, Arizona for only the 2015 season where his brother Kolby Taylor was a junior wide receiver.[10]

Salt River High School

Taylor's first high school head coaching position was at Salt River High School in Scottsdale, Arizona, a member school of the Canyon Athletic Association (CAA) which is a sister organization to the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA). He would dually work at Phoenix College as passing game coordinator.[11]

Arcadia High School

In 2018, Taylor first head coaching of an AIA member school was at Arcadia High School in Phoenix, Arizona, in the 4A conference. The team, which was on a 16-game losing streak was guided to a 5-game winning streak to start the season and finishing with a 6-4 season.[12] After a controversial two week termination, Taylor returned to Arcadia for another 6-4 season then resigning with a 12-8 record overall.[13]

Termination Controversy

On May 31, 2019, 30 minutes before Arcadia's spring practices,[14] Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) abruptly cancelled Taylor's contract as head football coach and teacher.[15] The AIA reported potential violations to Arcadia's athletic director which is required by the AIA to self police their programs including investigating all potential violations. Allegedly Taylor had stated, "If you're not playing other sports, I expect you to be there." a violation of the off-season mandatory practices additionally, several student athletes transferred in from surrounding schools.[16] Taylor posted on Twitter a signed letter, "A player reached out about coming to Arcadia. We informed him he needed to talk to his athletic director. That player went to the school and said he was going to Arcadia. The administration decided to get out in front of it. Other schools are upset because players want to leave and come here. But we didn't do anything wrong."[16][17]

Community pressure mounted after the high profile termination of Taylor, and further complicated by an ongoing investigation into alleged racial bias on Arcadia's basketball program,[17][18][19] SUSD offered a contract extension on June 10th and was accepted the following day.[20] The superintendent and principal issued a public apology and terminated the athletic director who investigated the unfounded allegation leading to Taylor termination.[19] Since no wrong doing was substantiated, the AIA issued a compulsory warning to Taylor and Arcadia which will lift in May 2020.[16]

San Tan Charter School

Announced in April 2020, Taylor returned as a high school head coaching taking the back-to-back CAA Charter League champions, San Tan Charter School in Gilbert, Arizona, into the more competitive AIA 2A conference.[21] With the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, he was unable to meet the team until on-campus workouts starting June 1.[22][23]

References
  1. "Colin Parker - Football". Arizona State University Athletics. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  2. Siuta, Kristian. "ASU Football: Former Player Undresses the Current State of Sun Devil Football". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  3. Denny, Brad (2012-03-16). "ASU Football Pro Day Notebook & Observations". House of Sparky. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  4. "Kerry Taylor - Football". Arizona State University Athletics. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  5. Siuta, Kristian. "ASU Football: Former Player Undresses the Current State of Sun Devil Football". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  6. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/08/27/patriots-cut-jabar-gaffney-among-moves-to-get-to-75
  7. http://espn.go.com/blog/jacksonville-jaguars/post/_/id/1850/jags-add-wr-to-replace-blackmon
  8. http://www.nfl.com/player/kerrytaylor/2530738/gamelogs
  9. Wilkening, Mike. "Broncos waive WR Kerry Taylor". Pro Football Talk. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  10. Obert, Richard (2017-01-19). "Ex-ASU WR Kerry Taylor reunites with brother Kolby at Oregon State". USA TODAY High School Sports. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  11. Obert, Richard. "Ex-ASU, NFL WR Kerry Taylor to coach Salt River football". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  12. Obert, Richard. "Ex-Hamilton, ASU, NFL WR Kerry Taylor named Arcadia football coach". azcentral. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  13. Editor, Zach Alvira, Tribune Sports. "Kerry Taylor hired as head football coach at San Tan Charter". East Valley Tribune. Retrieved 2020-10-28.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  14. "Reinstated: Arcadia rehires Kerry Taylor as head football coach". Your Valley. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  15. Sorenson, Eric (2019-06-01). "Arcadia Fires Kerry Taylor". Sports 360 AZ. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  16. Obert, Richard. "AIA gives Arcadia football warning for alleged recruiting, out-of-season mandatory practices". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  17. Blake, Spencer. "Parents, players respond to firing of Arcadia HS football coach at meeting". AZFamily. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  18. Blake, Spencer. "Parents, players respond to firing of Arcadia HS football coach at meeting". AZFamily. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  19. Martinez, Josh (June 6, 2019). "Rally cry: Arcadia football community expresses overwhelming support for fired coach". Your Valley. The Daily Independent. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  20. Obert, Richard. "Kerry Taylor will return as Arcadia head football coach nearly two weeks after firing". azcentral. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  21. Editor, Zach Alvira, GSN Sports. "Kerry Taylor to lead San Tan Charter football program". gilbertsunnews.com. Retrieved 2020-10-30.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  22. Editor, Zach Alvira, Tribune Sports. "Kerry Taylor hired as head football coach at San Tan Charter". East Valley Tribune. Retrieved 2020-10-29.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  23. Obert, Richard. "San Tan Charter becomes 1st AIA school to announce on-campus summer sports workouts to begin June 1". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
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