Brandon Taylor - Football Coach - Mercer University Athletics

Brandon Taylor

Title:
Special Teams Coordinator / Linebackers
Alma Mater:
Florida International, 2016
Office Phone:
(478) 301-2713
Email:
taylor_b@mercer.edu

A 10-year coaching veteran with previous stops at seven other collegiate institutions, including stints with two Southeastern Conference teams, Brandon Taylor begins his first season at Mercer in 2026-27, as well as his third year alongside head coach Joel Taylor, as the special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach for the Bears. Taylor spent the 2025 season in the same role at West Georgia.

Taylor was pivotal in West Georgia’s success over the last two seasons, especially with his knack for engineering key special teams units. The Wolves showcased what would have been (UWG was amid transition to NCAA Division I; not eligible for statistics ranking) the nation’s 32^nd-best punt return defense (6.13 yards/return) amid an 8-win season in 2025, while also boasting one of the best net punting averages (38.71) among the 127 FCS squads as well. That followed a 2024 campaign in which the Wolves averaged 9.48 yards per punt return, while also boasting one of the nation’s most electric return specialists.

Taylor made the move to Carrollton, Ga., from the Sunshine State where he helped guide Florida to 11 victories across two seasons (2022-23) under head coach Billy Napier as the GameChanger (special teams) graduate assistant. The Gators boasted the nation’s fourth-ranked net punting squad during both the 2022 (43.39) and 2023 (43.26) campaigns, while also tallying FBS’s sixth-ranked kickoff return defense (15.07 yards allowed/return) during the latter season as well. Florida was ranked as high as No. 12 amid the 2012 season on the way to an appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl.

The Slidell, La., native transitioned into the coaching world in 2016 as an offensive assistant (offensive line, tight ends) at Southern, before making the short trek northwest in 2017 to take on a role as the assistant linebackers coach at Louisiana Tech. He returned to his alma mater for the 2018 season to mentor Florida International’s linebackers as a graduate assistant, and spent the 2019 campaign as a defensive analyst at Jacksonville State.

Prior to making the move to Gainesville, Fla., Taylor served two seasons (2020-21) as a graduate assistant special teams coach for LSU under the direction of head coach Ed Orgeron. The Tigers toted the nation’s 10^th-ranked net punting (41.97 yards/punt) and were ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, and then registered six victories on the way to an appearance in the Texas Bowl in 2021.

Taylor played in 35 games as a long snapper at Florida International from 2011-15. He earned his bachelor’s degree in liberal arts with a concentration in law, business and society from FIU in 2016, and picked up a master’s degree in liberal arts at LSU in 2022.

THE TAYLOR FILE
Coaching Experience
2016	Southern (Offensive Assistant/Offensive Line, Tight Ends)
2017	Louisiana Tech (Defensive Assistant/Linebackers)
2018	Florida International (Graduate Assistant/Linebackers)
2019	Jacksonville State (Defensive Analyst)
2020-21	LSU (Graduate Assistant/Special Teams)
2022-23	Florida (Graduate Assistant/Special Teams)
2024-25	West Georgia (Assistant Coach/Special Teams Coordinator, Outside Linebackers)
2026-Present	Mercer (Assistant Coach/Special Teams Coordinator, Outside Linebackers)

Playing Experience
Played in 35 games as a long snapper at Florida International (2011-15).

Education
Bachelor's degree in liberal arts (FIU, 2016). Master's degree in liberal arts (LSU, 2022).