Stanford's Troy Taylor Will Always Support Sacramento State 'Just not on Saturday'

The former Sacramento State head coach is now at Stanford and looking to beat his former prorgam

One of the more important yet under-the-radar hires of the past offseason was Stanford's hiring of Troy Taylor.

They were able to pry him away from a program in Sacramento State which he revitalized, while also turning into an FCS power. However, when making the Hornets' schedule a while back, Taylor figured scheduling a matchup against Stanford would be a perfect decision for his program not realizing what his future held in store for him.  

“I was like, ‘Yeah, we’ll play Stanford,’” Taylor said. “They’re right up the street. Let’s go do it.”

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Now, Taylor will be tasked with attempting to take down the monster he created on Saturday. A team full of players he recruited, and a coaching staff mostly made up of coaches he hired. When speaking to the media on Tuesday, Taylor expressed that he is still close with and cares about everyone on the opposite sideline, but this is the one week he will not be pulling for them.

“Obviously those are all people that are really important to me on the staff and good guys and really good coaches, and we’ll wish them the best,” Taylor said. “Just not on Saturday.”

Stanford is in the midst of a rebuilding stage following the past four years that saw them go 14-28, and Taylor is also tasked with navigating a jump to the ACC. He inherited a roster ravished by the transfer portal and NFL Draft departures and is essentially starting from ground zero.

Even with all of this in mind, the optimism is high around Palo Alto. 

The only unfortunate thing for Taylor is that his past self didn't consider where his future self could end up, and is now tasked with facing a very well-coached and talented team that he is all too familiar with. 

Stanford and Taylor welcome Sac State on Saturday for their first home game of the season and for the first home game of the Taylor era.