Lance Taylor Hire Needs To Pay Immediate Dividends For Notre Dame

Notre Dame has made it official, former Carolina Panthers assistant coach Lance Taylor will become the new running backs coach for the Irish.

Taylor last coached in college back in 2016, the last of a three-year stint with Stanford where he oversaw the brilliant career of Heisman Trophy runner up and first round draft pick Christian McCaffrey. Taylor also recruited Bryce Love and coached him during his first two years in a Cardinal uniform. Love became a Heisman finalist the season after Taylor departed.

Taylor comes to Notre Dame with an outstanding pedigree that goes beyond just the names of the programs he has been a part of. He spent six seasons coaching in the NFL, three seasons at Stanford (2014-16), a season at Appalachian State (2009) and two seasons at Alabama (2007-08) as a graduate assistant.

A wide receiver at Alabama, Taylor spent his first two years as a student-athlete playing for then receivers coach Dabo Swinney. His first two years in the coaching profession were as a graduate assistant under Nick Saban. Taylor's first full-time coaching job was at Appalachian State, where he served under Hall of Fame head coach Jerry Moore. Taylor spent three years working for Stanford coach David Shaw.