Virginia Tech's offensive coordinator search may be in the closing stretch especially after The Athletic's Bruce Feldman reported that the Hokies were targeting Buffalo Bills assistant Christian Taylor as their next offensive coordinator.
Taylor's name has been milled about in the industry as a potential rising star who is under 40 and seems bound to be a Power 4 coordinator sooner rather than later. However, making a jump from being a FCS coordinator with a brief analyst stint in the NFL to being a Power 4 coordinator is a major jump nonetheless.
Taylor was someone I mentioned in the 'NFL section' of my potential candidates for the offensive coordinator opening given his similar coaching profile to VT's new defensive coordinator Sam Siefkes.
So with that in mind, let's dive into the positives and concerns that come with Christian Taylor.
Positives
Successful as an Offensive Coordinator at Lower Levels
One of the biggest positives for Taylor is the fact that he has successful offensive coordinator experience from his stops at Illinois Wesleyan (2014-15), San Diego (2018-19), and William & Mary (2020-23).
At Illinois Wesleyan, he saw his team improve from 4-6 to 7-3 from 2014 to 2015 while also leading the DIII College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin in scoring offense during the 2015 season.
In both seasons when he was at least a co-OC at San Diego including when he was the offensive coordinator in 2019, the Toreros averaged at least 37 points per game, 470 yards of offense, and seven yards per play. That is the complete package of a dominant offense that helped San Diego, a non-scholarship program in FCS, go 9-3 both seasons including a perfect 8-0 in the Pioneer League, winning the conference title outright both times.
His William & Mary tenure wasn't necessarily as good as his San Diego tenure, but the peak of it was quite strong in 2022 when William & Mary went 11-2 and the Tribe averaged 33.5 points and 448.8 yards per game along with 7.0 yards per play. There was also a positive progression during his first three seasons from an offense that struggled mightily during the spring 2021 season to the high-powered attack that made W&M a top 10 team in the fall of 2022.
