After Years With Carson Wentz, Press Taylor Turns Focus to Developing Trevor Lawrence
2021 was a unique season for new Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor. After eight years with the Philadelphia Eagles, he found himself in a new world with a familiar face with the Indianapolis Colts and quarterback Carson Wentz.
And in Week 18, Taylor got a chance to see something few coaches get to see: two of their star pupils on the same field, clashing as opponents.
Taylor didn't know then that he would be named Trevor Lawrence's offensive coordinator over a month after Lawrence shredded the Colts in a 26-11 upset. But he did know that the No. 1 overall pick was a player with serious talent.
"I was -- whether fortunate or unfortunate, I was on the opposite sideline the last game of the year with a chance to get to the playoffs and Trevor comes out, he's like 20 of 25 in the very first half, 9 of 11 on 3rd down, kind of lit us up and kept us out of the playoffs," Taylor said on Friday after being introduced as the Jaguars' offensive coordinator.
"I definitely remember that. At the time had a bad taste in my mouth, but now on this side of it, that was very encouraging, very exciting to see."
The regret from that loss is now gone, replaced instead by Taylor's determined focus to make Lawrence the next young quarterback he will tie himself at the hip to. Taylor was a key part of Wentz's development with the Eagles, and the same will now be true with Lawrence in Jacksonville.
The assistant quarterbacks coach for Wentz's first two seasons, Taylor was promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2018 and held the role for the next three seasons. From that point on, Taylor was one of the biggest influences in all of Philadelphia when it came to Wentz's development, a development that eventually ended with Wentz traded to the Colts and Pederson fired.
Taylor has undoubtedly learned since the Wentz era with the Eagles, even during their one year together outside of Philadelphia and Pederson's offense in 2021. Among the key lessons learned is how important it is to cater a coaching style and process to each player and their strengths.
"Yeah, it's hard to say I'd do this or that differently. I think it's catered to the person, their personality, how you can reach them best," Taylor said. "I think as coaches that's our job to find a way to reach that individual best and put them in position to maximize his abilities.
"All these guys are really talented or they wouldn't be at this level, and it's on us to build their confidence to the opportunity where they can go out and succeed at whatever we ask them to do, but at the same time we should be finding what it is they do well, and those are the things we're asking them to do at a high level. So that's kind of the art of coaching I guess I'd say, where you reach everybody a little differently."
And when it comes to Lawrence, Taylor is excited about the individual he is set to coach and help mold. Taylor has long known about Lawrence the talent, remarking on Friday that Lawrence's name came up every time the topic of the Jaguars came up. That is for good reason, too, considering his pedigree as a No. 1 overall pick and the talent he flashed as a rookie.
Taylor got to know Lawrence the person a bit last year as well, even though he had yet to even meet the rookie passer. As Taylor explained, a part of his job with the Colts was to watch opposing press conferences. With Lawrence's, he likely saw over and over a 22-year-old quarterback who was instantly asked to be the most mature, credible and respected person in the organization.
"Again, not knowing him personally and really just watching him from afar and kind of gathering information from people, I think he is well ahead of what you would expect from a 22 year old, but that kind of -- every single person, again, like you talked about, it's a coach finding a way to reach each person is different," Taylor said.
"That is the character is a huge aspect to the success of a lot of people, I feel like particularly the quarterback. That's just my opinion of it. There's probably been guys that are jerks that are great quarterbacks and it is what it is. But I think it definitely goes a long way in terms of winning over a locker room, just the way you handle things, you handle life, you handle success, adversity on the football field, off the football field. I think that matters."
After years of being in Wentz's corner, Taylor is now in Lawrence's. And the hope in Jacksonville is that their partnership will produce as many wins and as much production -- if not more -- than Taylor's last partnership.
