Shawn Taylor enters his third season at South Alabama after joining the Jaguar volleyball coaching staff in February 2012. Taylor is in charge of recruiting, team travel and training at USA.
Taylor came to South Alabama after spending the past two seasons as the top assistant at fellow Sun Belt Conference member Arkansas State under Justin Ingram. In his two seasons in Jonesboro, the Red Wolves posted an overall record of 38-22 and a 23-9 mark in the league.
After tying with North Texas for the West Division title in 2010 with an 11-5 conference record, the Red Wolves finished 2011 with 21 wins and a 12-4 mark in the SBC to capture the division crown outright. While at ASU, Taylor coached four all-conference players in Cayla Fielder (2011 and 2010), Allison Kearney (2011), Ashley Tipps (2011) and Megan Baska (2010). Baska was also the league’s defensive player of the year that same season.
Taylor arrived at Arkansas State from Independence Community College in Independence, Kan., where he served as the head coach for the 2009 season. Prior to working at ICC, he was an assistant at Valparaiso (2008) and helped produce four all-conference, three all-region, two All-American selections and both a defensive and offensive player of the year. That same season, the Crusaders led the nation in both kills (15.32) and assists (14.26).
The Topeka, Kan., native was a volunteer assistant coach for three seasons at Kansas State University (2004-06) where he worked with middle blockers and the back row defense. He began his coaching career at Graceland University, where he served as both the head women’s junior varsity and a men’s assistant coach from 2002-2004.
Taylor earned his master’s degree in college student personnel from Kansas State in December 2006 and his bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from Graceland in December 2004. He played for the Yellow Jackets from 1999-2002.
