Now with Texas A&M, former Husker Taylor still roots for NU
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BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
Zac Taylor doesn’t have to look far if he suddenly needs a Nebraska fix.
Now a member of the Texas A&M football staff, Taylor, the former Husker quarterback, works about 10 feet down the hall from the office of Randy Jordan. He’s the former Nebraska running backs coach.
Taylor is married to Sarah Sherman, who used to work for Nebraska’s sports media relations department. She’s now an assistant to Tim Cassidy, who was Nebraska’s director of football operations. Cassidy holds the same title at Texas A&M.
Dave Kennedy, Buddy Wyatt and Bill Byrne are among other Texas A&M employees who previously worked at Nebraska.
And if Taylor runs out of people to see, he can always pick up a preseason football magazine to remind him of his Husker days.
There, on the cover, is Joe Ganz.
“He’s trying to look all tough with his scar,” Taylor said. “He’s got a scar on his right arm. He got it against Nicholls State. He tried to run over some kid who’s probably 130 pounds, and the kid’s helmet rips his arm, and he’s got this big scar.
“Ganz is starting to claim it happened in the Big 12 Championship game against Oklahoma. That story’s going to get bigger and bigger, I know it is.”
Taylor, who’s working for his father-in-law, first-year Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman, is in his first year with the Aggies. He’ll be a video assistant this season, then hold a graduate assistant position the following two seasons.
He’ll be keeping a close eye on Nebraska — and Ganz — the entire time.
“I always want Nebraska to do well,” Taylor said. “I support Coach (Bo) Pelini 100 percent. I’ve only heard great things about him. I know Ron Brown, and I know (Ted) Gilmore and (Shawn) Watson, and those guys were all unbelievable guys.
“It’s hard to go against anything they’re going to do up there.”
Some Nebraska fans may wonder, though, given Taylor’s vocal support for Bill Callahan, who was fired in November.
When it became evident last season that Callahan’s job was in jeopardy, Taylor wrote a letter to the Journal Star, expressing his unwavering support for his former coach.
Taylor, after all, will always hold some clout among Husker faithful. He was among the few memorable, feel-good success stories in four years of Callahan, not counting those chapters Ganz is currently writing.
Taylor holds Nebraska’s all-time passing record, and was involved in what’s arguably the signature play of the Callahan era. It came on the very field Taylor is now coaching. Who won’t remember the lob pass to Maurice Purify in the closing seconds at Texas A&M to clinch a Big 12 North title?
“I’m always going to be able to say I played at Nebraska,” Taylor said. “Regardless of who the coach is, I’m going to feel the same way about the program.”
Taylor said he’s in regular contact with Callahan, and that Callahan and other coaches have voiced their thanks for Taylor’s support. Taylor, before joining Winnipeg of the Canadian Football League last season, worked for a brief period as a video assistant under Callahan.
Sherman was hired in December, and Taylor began his new job on Jan. 1. He works on the same floor with Sarah.
What’s it like working for your wife’s father?
“It’s not bad,” Taylor said. “It’s probably not as weird as people would think. He treats me the same as anybody else, the same responsibilities.”
Taylor said he enjoys working with another coach who has NFL experience, and that Sherman is good about seeking input from Jordan, Wyatt and even Taylor, who’ve all been around the college game more recently than Sherman.
“We’ve got a great foundation,” said Taylor, who’s responsible for breaking down film and inputting his findings into a computer. It’s a great learning tool for an aspiring coach, he said.
Taylor’s long-term goal, he said, is to be head college football coach. He’s spent time reading biographies — Wooden, Gruden, Dungy, to name a few.
“I think, deep down, I always wanted to be a coach,” said Taylor, whose father, Sherwood, spent time coaching on the college level. “As a player, a lot of people asked me if I wanted to be a coach, and I probably said no.
“But deep down, I think I knew that was probably what I was going to be doing.”
As for Ganz, Taylor said he called Nebraska’s senior quarterback and gave him a rough time about the magazine cover.
The scar’s origin may be debatable. Ganz’s stick-to-itiveness while watching Taylor and others shine before him is not.
“Fans always wrote him off because we had these big recruits coming in,” Taylor said. “But he was slowly gaining everybody’s respect, always doing the right thing. He was our smartest quarterback, every day I was on campus. He was our smartest quarterback.
“I’m excited for him, and I know he’s going to have an unbelievable senior season.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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