Troy Taylor Went From Eighth-String QB To Star, To Now Coaching Against His Alma Mater

Stanford head coach Troy Taylor is quite familiar with Cal

Despite being major rivals, Stanford and Cal have had a handful of crossovers throughout the years with coaches that attended one school coaching at the other.

This year alone we saw the hire of former Stanford star Mark Madsen to coach their basketball team, while Stanford went out and hired Troy Taylor who starred as a quarterback for the Golden Bears back in the late 80s. However, it wasn't an immediate hit-the-ground-running situation for Taylor who revealed to the media on Tuesday that he was initially so far down on the depth chart he thought he was redshirting.

"I think I was the eighth quarterback when I got to Cal actually, I thought I was redshirting until Tuesday of the Oregon State game." 

Taylor did alright for himself, as he went on to be quite the gun-slinger for Cal. In 1989, Taylor led the Pac-10 in total offense, recording around 253 yards per game. He also threw the most touchdowns (51) in school history over his career until that mark was surpassed in 1996. He had a brief stint in the NFL, but got into coaching in 1994 and never looked back.

On Saturday, he will be leading his new team, the Stanford Cardinal against his old team. Taylor was hired to be the leading man for Stanford after David Shaw stepped down, and is in the process of rebuilding what was once a dominant force of a program. 

Both teams are on the struggle bus this year, with Cal sitting at 4-6 and Stanford at 3-7. Now granted their struggles hail from different reasons as Cal continues to flatline under Justin Wilcox, while Taylor inherited a roster that returned the least amount of production in the Power 5.

The Big Game will be in Palo Alto this year, as Stanford not only looks to win their first home game under Taylor but also end Cal's two-game winning streak over them as the Golden Bears have won the last couple meetings. According to ESPN, Cal is favored by 6.5 and has a 76.4% chance of winning. Stanford is also hoping to win their third game in their last six games, while Cal is looking to win their second in their last six.

Cal also has to win out to make a bowl game, so Taylor has a chance to beat his alma mater, biggest rival, end their win streak, and end their bowl game aspirations all in one week.