Lance Taylor
Lance Taylor went 25–21 as a head coach, 2023–2026, at Western Michigan. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 4–2); by them his record is 24–21. Share
- Record
- 25–21 career
- Seasons
- 4
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Jul 17, 1981
- Best season
- 2025 10–4
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Western Michigan | 4–8 | T–4th (West) | |||
| 2024 | Western Michigan | 6–7 | 5th | Salute to Veterans Bowl L | ||
| 2025 | Western Michigan | 10–4 | 1st | Myrtle Beach Bowl W | ||
| 2026 | Western Michigan | 5–2 (Wikipedia: 4–2) |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Addison WestConsensus All‑American, 2024
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 4 | 0–4 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 9 | 7–2 | 78% |
| Conference games | 27 | 18–9 | 67% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 15 | 9–6 | 60% |
| At home | 19 | 14–5 | 74% |
| On the road | 24 | 9–15 | 38% |
| At neutral sites | 3 | 2–1 | 67% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 24 | 19–5 | 79% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 22 | 6–16 | 27% |
His own 46 games on file, 2023–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Creighton 2023–2025 | 3–0 | Eastern Michigan | 3 | |
| Chuck Martin 2023–2025 | 1–2 | Miami (OH) | 3 | |
| Thomas Hammock 2023–2025 | 1–2 | Northern Illinois | 3 |
Lance Taylor’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Central Michiganseries | 4 | 3–1 |
| Ball Stateseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| Eastern Michiganseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| Miami (OH)series | 3 | 1–2 |
| Northern Illinoisseries | 3 | 1–2 |
| Buffaloseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Kent Stateseries | 2 | 2–0 |
| Ohioseries | 2 | 1–1 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | Alabama | Graduate assistant | |
| 2009 | Appalachian State | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2010 | New York Jets NFL | Intern | |
| 2011 | New York Jets NFL | Quality control coach | |
| 2012 | New York Jets NFL | Quality control coach and assistant tight ends | |
| 2013 | Carolina Panthers NFL | Assistant wide receivers | |
| 2014–16 | Stanford | Running backs coach | |
| 2017–18 | Carolina Panthers NFL | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2019–20 | Notre Dame | Running backs coach | |
| 2021 | Notre Dame | Running backs coach and running game coordinator | |
| 2022 | Louisville | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2023–present | Western Michigan | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Nick SabanAlabama
- Jerry MooreApp State
- Rex RyanNew York Jets
- David ShawStanford
- Brian KellyNotre Dame
- Marcus FreemanNotre Dame
- Deion BranchLouisville
- Scott SatterfieldLouisville
Assistants who became head coaches
- Billy CoshStony Brook
- Lou EspositoSaint Joseph’s (IN), Davenport
- Gerard WilcherMorehouse
- Scott PowerCentral Washington
- Walt BellMassachusetts
Worked under (8)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Saban | Alabama | 2007–08 | Graduate assistant | |
| Jerry Moore | App State | 2009 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Rex Ryan | New York Jets NFL | 2010–12 | 2010: intern; 2011: quality control coach; 2012: quality control coach and assistant tight ends | |
| David Shaw | Stanford | 2014–16 | Running backs coach | |
| Brian Kelly | Notre Dame | 2019–21 | 2019–20: running backs coach; 2021: running backs coach and running game coordinator | |
| Marcus Freeman | Notre Dame | 2021 | Running backs coach and running game coordinator | |
| Deion Branch | Louisville | 2022 | Offensive coordinator | |
| Scott Satterfield | Louisville | 2022 | Offensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (5)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Cosh | Western Michigan, 2023: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Stony Brook | |
| Lou Esposito | Western Michigan, 2023: defensive coordinator and defensive line coach | Saint Joseph’s (IN), Davenport | |
| Gerard Wilcher | Western Michigan, 2024: offensive analyst | Morehouse | |
| Scott Power | Western Michigan, 2024: defensive coordinator and safeties coach | Central Washington | |
| Walt Bell | Western Michigan, 2024–26: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Massachusetts |
Other assistants under him (4)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Cosh | Western Michigan, 2023: analyst | |
| Chris O’Leary | Western Michigan, 2025: defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Duane Vaughn | Western Michigan, 2026: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Greer Martini | Western Michigan, 2026: defensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Taylor’s teams went for it on 31% of fourth downs and on 55% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 42% of plays and took 27.4 seconds a play, 2023–2026.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 12 g | 38 of 112 34% | 59% | 48% | 24.3 | −0.01 | |
| 2024 12 g | 28 of 90 31% | 50% | 45% | 27.4 | +0.10 | |
| 2025 14 g | 32 of 109 29% | 60% | 36% | 28.6 | +0.02 | |
| 2026 7 g | 12 of 46 26% | 39% | 40% | 30.5 | +0.05 | |
| All 45 g | 110 of 357 31% | 55% | 42% | 27.4 | +0.04 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.