Jackson State is back on the football field for spring football, under new head coach TC Taylor for the first time.
Taylor met with the media following the initial practice – his first official one as a head coach – as he looks to keep Jackson State on top of the SWAC and make another Celebration Bowl appearance to end the season.
TC Taylor on running practice as a head coach
“It feels good. I said talk about the players you know, chomping at the bit, but I’ve been chomping at the bit also. So to finally get out there and be able to run the whole show and direct the show, it feels good. You know, we’re going to make a few adjustments. I kind of feel like it was a long practice, but I’m not going to lie to you.
I miss the coaching part too. You know, usually I got me a group out there, but not in the position. I mean, I got to oversee it all, you know, And I thought the players, the coaches did a good job of going out there and doing their deal. But it was a great deal for me to be out there as the head coach today.”
Quarterback battle standouts
Record-setting quarterback Shedeur Sanders is long gone, as he followed his father Deion Sanders to Colorado. That leaves a big hole to fill at Jackson State. The three-leading candidates are Jason Brown, Zy McDonald and Phillip Short.
“You’ve got new coordinators, new coaches and everything in here. So I just wanted to see them first of all, break the huddle. And I thought they did an excellent job of that, getting other ten guys lined up and Jason, Zy and Philip, all three did some good stuff out there, made some big time throws for us today.
So I’m very excited about that. They competed. We told all three – this is a wide open job right now. It’s a job auditions for all three of you guys and all of them stepped up and played pretty good today. We still got a lot to go on. It’s just practice one. We’ve got 14 more practices to go, but very excited about what those guys brought out there today.”
Transfer additions
Jackson State experienced a mass exodus of players after Deion Sanders announced his move to Colorado. But it has also brought in an influx of new talent via the transfer portal as well.
I mean, that’s the that’s the business now. You know, it’s like NFL free agency, right now. So I think when you bring that many guys in here, it’s important in my position, how quick can I get these guys to gel and play together and trust one another? That’s what we really emphasize out there. Trust in each other, you know, because they’re still learning each other how each other moves. Can you make the calls? Do you trust this guy making the calls? You know, we got different people making those calls. But that’s the nature of the business with this transfer portal. For the most part, they did a good job of it.
Everybody wants to prove a point. With coaches, players and stuff. Everybody wants to prove a point. And it goes back to the earlier question. You know, you’ve gotten a lot of new guys. “They come in here and do a lot of talking, but the talk is cheap When it’s time to play football.I thought for the most part, again, the ones we expected to step up stepped up.