Ron Taylor (c. 1940 – March 6, 2014) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and player. As the starting

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

, he led the Tigers to back-to-back

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

appearances during

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

and

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

seasons. Raised in

Chillicothe, Illinois Chillicothe is a city on the Illinois River in Peoria County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,097 at the 2010 census. Chillicothe is just north of the city of Peoria, Illinois, Peoria and is part of the Peoria metropolitan area, Peor ...

, Taylor played quarterback for the Chillicothe Township Grey Ghosts. His father George coached both Ron and his younger brother Tim in high school. He completed a B.S. degree in education at the University of Missouri in 1962. Taylor began his coaching career as the head coach of

Joplin High School Joplin High School is a public high school located in Joplin, Missouri, United States, founded in 1885. The school serves students in grades 9 through 12 and is the only traditional high school in the Joplin School District. History In 1885, Jop ...

Joplin, Missouri Joplin is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, Jasper and Newton County, Missouri, Newton counties in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. The bulk of the city is in Jasper County, while the southern portion is in Newton County. J ...

from 1964 to 1966, where he led the Eagles to a 17–12–2 record. In 1975, Taylor became the head football coach at

Truman State University Truman State University (TSU or Truman) is a public university in Kirksville, Missouri. It had 4,225 enrolled students in the fall of 2021 pursuing degrees in 52 undergraduate and 11 graduate programs. The university is named for U.S. Presiden ...

where he led the Bulldogs to a 26–14–2 record over four seasons. During his time at Truman, he coached future NFL head coach

Gregg Williams Gregg Williams (born July 15, 1958) is an American football coach. He most recently served as the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) from 2019 to 2020. Previously, he was head coach of the Buff ...

. From 1988 to 1990, Taylor served as the head coach at Scotland County R-I High School in

Memphis, Missouri Memphis is a city in and the county seat of Scotland County, Missouri, Scotland County, on the northern border of Missouri, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 1,731. U.S. Route 136, U.S. Highway 13 ...

. Taylor served as the head coach at

Quincy University Quincy University (formerly known as St. Francis Solanus College, and today abbreviated as QU) is a private Franciscan university in Quincy, Illinois. It was founded in 1860 and enrolls about 1,100 students. History A small group of Franciscan ...

Quincy, Illinois Quincy ( ), known as Illinois's "Gem City", is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States, located on the Mississippi River. The 2020 census counted a population of 39,463 in the city itself, down from 40,633 in 2010. ...

from 1993 to 1996 after serving as the team's offensive coordinator from 1991 to 1992. He compiled a record of 22–15 as the head coach of the Hawks. He led the program to two Illini-Badger Football Conference titles in 1993 and 1994.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Ron Year of birth missing 1940s births 2014 deaths Place of birth missing People from Chillicothe, Illinois American football quarterbacks Missouri Tigers football players High school football coaches in Missouri Quincy Hawks football coaches Truman Bulldogs football coaches Deaths from lung cancer