With the school’s own goal of naming a new head coach Thursday, Western Michigan’s coaching search is once again narrowing its focus.
And it appears the search for the Broncos’ next head coach is further dialed in on former top Notre Dame assistant and current Louisville offensive coordinator Lance Taylor. Sources indicated to FootballScoop that Taylor was expected to be offered the job and could accept his first-ever head coaching position within the next 24 hours.
Sources tell FootballScoop that WMU officials are optimistic of having a deal completed and being in position to introduce their program’s next head coach by Thursday; no later than Friday, barring any unforeseen snags in the process.
Taylor’s carved a steadily climbing career arc, including coaching Christian McCaffrey during Taylor’s time tutoring the Cardinal’s running backs and coaching multiple future NFL Draft picks on his years at Notre Dame under head coach Brian Kelly and for well-regarded offensive coordinators Chip Long and Tommy Rees.
Taylor, a personable coach with a reputation for relating well to his players and also being a force recruiting, really grew in his career arc the past couple of seasons, taking on added responsibilities in his final campaigns at Notre Dame before ascending to become Scott Satterfield’s offensive coordinator for Louisville’s bounce-back 2022 season.
Satterfield earlier this week accepted the Cincinnati job, and while sources indicated to FootballScoop that Taylor likely could have had a home on Satterfield’s Bearcats’ staff or been a holdover-piece at Louisville, as well as served as the team’s interim head coach for its bowl preparations later this month, he emerged by the first of this week as among the very top choices for the Broncos.
Western Michigan parted ways late last month with Tim Lester after a 5-7 campaign and just one year removed from Lester having guided the Broncos to an eight-win season.
In addition to its regular conference slate in 2023, Western Michigan is slated for a trio of high-profile non-conference contests against programs from the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten and Southeastern conferences. The Broncos are scheduled to visit Syracuse on Sept. 9, 2023, and go to Iowa one week later. They are slated to conclude the non-conference portion of their schedule Oct. 7 at Mississippi State.
A University of Alabama legacy player, Taylor, whose father played for Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant and who played for multiple Tide coaches from 1999-2003, carved out the start of his coaching career as a graduate assistant coach for Nick Saban. Taylor also brings with him NFL coaching experience from stints with both the Carolina Panthers and New York Jets.
Offensive coordinators Gino Guidugli, of Cincinnati, and Graham Harrell, of West Virginia, had been among the other candidates that WMU officials spoke with this week, sources with knowledge of the proceedings told FootballScoop.