Taylor Tharp (born September 20, 1984) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He signed with the Carolina Panthers as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

following the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

. Tharp also played Arena football and in

Italian Football League Italian Football League (IFL) is the top level American football league in Italy established in 1980. History In the 1970's teams formed and played in Italy. In 1980 the first official American football league in Italy was established and crow ...

(IFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

. He is known for designing the

Statue of Liberty play The Statue of Liberty is a trick play in American football named after the Statue of Liberty. Execution of the play Although many variations of the play exist, the most common involves the quarterback taking the snap from the center, dropping back ...

, which gave Boise State the win in overtime of the

2007 Fiesta Bowl The 2007 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game played as part of the 2006–2007 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) of the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The game was played on January 1, 2007, at its new venue, the Universi ...

College

As the Broncos' starting quarterback in 2007, Tharp finished his senior season ranked seventh-nationally in passing efficiency (152.85) en route to second-team All-

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

honors, completing 289-of-423 passes for 3,340 yards and 30 touchdowns. At the time, his completion total was Boise State's single-season record.

Professional career

Upon graduating from

with a degree in communications in 2007, Tharp signed a free agent contract with the

of the

. Tharp then played two years in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

- starting at quarterback for the Boise Burn in 2009 and for the

Utah Blaze The Utah Blaze was a professional arena football team based in Salt Lake City, Utah and competed in the West Division (AFL), West Division of the Arena Football League. Home games were played at the EnergySolutions Arena. In 2013, the team did ...

in 2010. Tharp went on to serve as an offensive intern

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

for the

Arizona Rattlers The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League ...

of the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

in 2010.

Tharp played two seasons 2011-2012 for the Parma Panthers of the

. He served as the team's quarterback and quarterbacks coach, leading the Panthers to two IFL championships.

Coaching

In 2012-2013, Tharp was a graduate

assistant coach A sports coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''coach'' is that of a Coach (carriage), horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultima ...

at Longhorns, Tharp broke down game film, compiled scouting reports, coached the defensive scout team and assisted with offensive game plans. Tharp also served as Texas' summer football camps coordinator. Taylor Tharp is currently the Director of Player Personnel at

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

, a position which he has held since 2014.

External links

Boise State Broncos bioCarolina Panthers bioParma Panthers Football RosterArena Football Statistics
1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Boulder, Colorado American football quarterbacks Boise State Broncos football players Carolina Panthers players Boise Burn players Utah Blaze players Texas Longhorns football coaches Boise State Broncos football coaches American expatriate sportspeople in Italy American expatriate players of American football {{quarterback-1980s-stub