Bee article on Sac State coach Taylor and the prospects of him leaving. A couple of interesting points:

1) He took a massive salary cut to leave the OC job at Utah and take the head coaching job at Sac. From a base pay of $525K to $242K.

2) Don't rely on Cal to recruit him soon. Cal HC Justin Wilcox just signed a contract extension through 2027 with an annual salary of $3M. Can't see Cal coming up with that kind of money to buy him out even if this year's team continues to stumble.



Sac State’s biggest fear is losing coach Troy Taylor, but he has ‘no intention of leaving’

BY JOE DAVIDSON
UPDATED NOVEMBER 11, 2022 11:37 AM

It happens to any coach who has immediate success, who elevates programs, who gets players to respond, and who makes it all look easier than it really is.

Winning turns heads. It draws attention. It intrigues deep-pocketed boosters and donors. This is especially true in college football, and the aura of speculation has hovered over the Sacramento State program like storm clouds. Have the Hornets become so historically good in remarkably short order that they could lose the man primarily responsible for their success?

Sacramento State is ranked second nationally in the FCS, and the No. 1 talking point after Sacramento State wins games is how can the Hornets possibly keep coach Troy Taylor in place? How can they outbid suitors who want to tap into his genius? Or this: How fast does he want to pack the moving trucks and bolt?

First of all, Taylor isn’t packing. The house isn’t for sale. The kids aren’t getting yanked from school any time soon. He isn’t leaving this week or next month. He may not leave at all.

Taylor is in the fourth year of a seven-year contract, and for all his achievements here, there’s more work to be done. The Hornets are closing in on a Big Sky Conference championship three-peat and then getting rid of the bitter taste of opening-round FCS playoff losses in 2019 and 2021.

Taylor craves to compete. His job isn’t finished here.

“I have no intention of leaving here,” Taylor told The Sacramento Bee. “I’m having a great time. I love where we live. I love our football program, love our players, our coaches. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know I’m really happy here. I love this university and the city of Sacramento.”
Typical coach speak? Taylor doesn’t mislead. He doesn’t yank chains. He’s not in this gig to chase a paycheck or to pad his ego. He’s in it to coach in a comfort zone.

Taylor took a pay cut when he left Folsom High School and a record run of success as co-head coach following the 2015 season to be the play caller at Eastern Washington of the Big Sky Conference. He didn’t seek out that job. It sought him out. Taylor sacked out on a mattress in a rented house in Cheney, Washington, snow up to your ankles outside. He slept in the dining room, the bed strategically placed near the light switch so he could tap it after breaking down plays until fatigue won out.

After one season with Eastern Washington, Taylor accepted the offensive coordinator post at Utah of the Pac-12, a natural climb in the coaching ladder. It was a massive pay increase from Eastern Washington and Folsom High, a base salary of $525,000. Taylor could have done that gig for years. Sacramento State president Robert S. Nelsen and athletic director Mark Orr reached out to Taylor before the 2019 season, and though they couldn’t offer Utah money, they offered job security and the chance to head a program in his hometown. Taylor jumped at it.

Taylor’s base salary when he signed with Sacramento State was $242,000, with bonuses sprinkled in to increase it. That Taylor’s name still comes up regularly when there are coaching changes on the FBS landscape is a credit to his impact. The FBS is where $15 million buyouts are the norm.

Orr said his greatest concern is losing Taylor. Will Taylor be plucked by Cal, where he set passing records as a four-year starting quarterback in the late 1980s? Who knows, but Cal extended coach Justin Wilcox through the 2027 season. Do the Bears have the finances to buy him out of his annual salary of $3.05 million? Too much speculation makes one dizzy. It’s wasted energy.

Taylor’s gifts include focusing on the immediate. The only thing the Hornets are talking about this week is their next opponent, Portland State, and then it’ll be UC Davis for the annual Causeway Classic. Sacramento State was winless in the Big Sky in 2018 and Taylor has promptly gone 21-2 in the Big Sky ever since. The Hornets’ regular-season winning streak is a program-record 17. Sacramento State dropped a hammer at Colorado State 41-10 earlier this season, and Orr said he made sure to collect the $400,000 payout to even play the game.

But for all of that gloss, the Hornets are 0-2 in the FCS playoffs under Taylor and staff. That drives everyone on the roster. Should Sacramento State win its final two Big Sky games, the Hornets would secure the No. 1 or 2 national FCS seed. That means the Hornets could host up to three playoff games, if they win them. The opportunity to bring a national championship to Sacramento is right there for the taking, and if an FBS program plucks Taylor for that achievement, so be it. But Taylor isn’t spending late nights wondering where his next gig will be.

Or maybe Taylor and his staff ride out the contract and keep on winning here. Maybe it all leads to upgraded facilities, higher salaries, better recruits. Who knows? Taylor doesn’t even know.

“I know Troy and his staff want to win in the playoffs, and we all do,” said Orr, the athletic director, earlier this fall. “We hope to keep Troy here for a long time, but we know other schools will want him. Who wouldn’t want a great coach?”

Taylor has said he would coach for a sack lunch and a cold bottle of water. That’s pretty much what he earned while leading Folsom to record success. Money talks but not everyone walks.

“I’m doing the same thing I did at Folsom, only this pays more,” Taylor said with a laugh.

When Taylor was at Folsom, he drove a beater of a Toyota Camry, with years-old french fries wedged between the seats and melted crayons marking the beige carpets, the bonus of hauling your own kids around.

“It’s a miracle we get paid to do this, to coach,” Taylor said. “I’ve got a better car now. The Camry is somewhere, in a junkyard, crayons and all. I’m very happy here.”

This story was originally published November 11, 2022 5:00 AM.
https://www.sacbee.com/sports/article268532647.html