Jason Taylor’s son is a key starter for Aquinas, but he’s wondering where scholarships are
St. Thomas Aquinas will go for its 12th state title on Saturday against Orlando Edgewater, and safety Isaiah Taylor is hoping to play a key role in the Class 7A final.
NFL Hall of Fame defensive end Jason Taylor calls it “mind boggling” and “baffling.”
At issue is the fact that his son, senior safety
Isaiah Taylor — who broke into St. Thomas Aquinas’ starting lineup as a sophomore and has been a key performer the past twoplus years — has no Power Five scholarship offers and limited overall interest from college coaches.
Aquinas (7-1) will go for its 12th state title at 7 p.m. Saturday in Tallahassee against 8-2 Orlando Edgewater, the same school St. Thomas defeated 28-23 in last year’s Class 7A final.
Taylor, meanwhile, is part of an Aquinas defense that features no fewer than five players who have committed to schools in Power Five conferences: defensive ends Dallas Turner (Alabama) and Tyreak Sapp (Florida); linebacker Jaydon Hood (Michigan); and cornerbacks Tyson Russell (Vanderbilt); and Ja’den
McBurrows (Michigan). Yet Taylor, a 5-11, 185pounder with a 3.8 grade-point average and dreams of playing in the SEC or ACC, waits for offers that have yet to materialize.
Taylor, who wants to major in business or finance, has interest from Ivy League schools — Princeton and Yale — and military academies. But Taylor said his experience
with FIU was emblematic of his situation. Taylor said FIU made him an offer, but when he wanted to commit, he found out that the supposed scholarship pledge was less than solid. Repeated efforts to contact FIU were unsuccessful, but it is against NCAA rules for colleges to comment on unsigned prospects.
“It’s a little frustrating,” said Taylor, who was 5-8 and 170 pounds before a
growth spurt in the past year. “But you have to push through whatever you face.”
Aquinas coach Roger Harriott said the reason for the lack of offers is COVID-19. Because of the pandemic, spring practice was canceled, and that is traditionally a time when 30 to 50 college head coaches and coordinators make the trip to Aquinas’ campus to evaluate players.
Also because of the pandemic, Taylor — and many other recruits across the country — couldn’t go to camps, and scouts have been unable to come to Aquinas’ games, either.
“On film, it’s difficult for coaches to see how explosive Isaiah is,” Harriott said. “He’s football fast. He takes great angles, and it’s hard to see that if you’re not there in person.”
Taylor said he hasn’t been timed in a 40-yard dash. But aside from the speed issue, he has the grades, enough size (Pro Bowl safety Tyrann Mathieu is 5-9, 190) and a proven ability to find the football (three interceptions and two fumble recoveries this year alone).
“Isaiah moves well and is instinctive,” Harriott said. “He’s constantly making plays.”
That playmaking ability was never more evident than Dec. 4, when Aquinas defeated Venice
29-8 in a regional final. In the third quarter of that game, Russell tipped a pass along the left sideline, and Taylor, situated in the middle of the end zone, raced over, grabbed the interception and went 102 yards for the only touchdown of his varsity career.
“I was dead tired after running so far,” Taylor said.
In the stands, at about the 40yard line, there were several of Taylor’s family members, including his mother (Katina), younger sister (Zoe) and uncle (Zach Thomas, the seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker). Jason Taylor, Thomas’ former Dolphins teammate, was on the field, serving as Aquinas’ defensive coordinator.
Katina Taylor, who was taping the action with her phone, said she tried her best to remain calm so she could get the video.
“I saw Russell breaking up the pass, and my 15-year-old daughter [Zoe] was going nutso with her air horn,” Katina said. “I got the video, but tears were dropping down my mask because this was Isaiah’s last home game. It was awesome to see him get a chance to show his athleticism.”
Taylor believes he has improved his “game speed” over the past year, and part of the credit goes to his family for converting its garage into a home gym back in 2019, for Christmas. That came in handy during the pandemic as Isaiah, his younger brother Mason and some Aquinas teammates trained in what was formerly the Taylor garage in Plantation.
Isaiah, who enjoys playing in the box and making tackles, lacks anything close to the size of Mason, a 6-4, 225-pound junior tight end at Aquinas.
But Katina sees a correlation between Isaiah and her brother, Zach Thomas. Both of them stand 5-foot-11, and both of them know what it’s like to be underrated.
For Thomas, that happened as far back as high school in Texas, when he transferred from a Class 1A school (White Deer) to 4A (Pampa).
“A newspaper guy wrote a story wondering if Zach could compete at the 4A level,” Katina said. “Is he too short? Is he too slow?”
Later, after a brilliant collegiate career at Texas Tech, Thomas was overlooked again, lasting until the fifth round of the NFL Draft.
“Zach played with a chip on his shoulder that drove him his whole life,” Katina said. “Mason [Isaiah’s brother] is already getting offers. If Isaiah had his height, he’d be a five-star recruit.”
Jason Taylor, who only had one offer out of high school — to his alma mater, Akron — and used that as a springboard to the NFL, said Isaiah is way ahead of him at the same point in their lives.
“Schools want measurables [size, speed],” Taylor said. “But you can’t measure heart.
“I never have to get Isaiah out of bed. I never pushed football on him or on Mason, but they both want it really bad.”