The NCAA Division I Council just approved the removal of limits on coaching staffs, both in terms of the number of coaches who can provide on-field instruction and in terms of allowing analysts and lower-tier staffers to be able to provide direct coaching. At USC, this is a huge story for a number of reasons. One is that this unshackles Taylor Mays, who has been a defensive analyst but has not been a position coach except for his interim role with the secondary in the Holiday Bowl before Doug Belk took over. Taylor Mays now gets to coach the secondary much more directly under Belk. That’s a big boost for USC and should instantly upgrade the secondary. We wrote about Mays earlier this year:
“USC needed to add good defensive coaches to replace defensive coordinator Alex Grinch and assistant coach Donte Williams, who coached cornerbacks. There’s no question that USC made a significant upgrade with D’Anton Lynn replacing Grinch and Doug Belk replacing Williams as the main teacher of the secondary. However, even without those quality additions, USC had already improved its staff simply by cutting loose Grinch and Williams.
“Taylor Mays was substantially involved in preparing the USC defense for the Holiday Bowl on a skeleton staff. Mays was able to spend a lot of time teaching the players.”
Everyone at USC should be excited about Taylor Mays having an increased role on the coaching staff.
Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire. Follow our newest sites, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.
Check out more NFL draft coverage with the USA TODAY Sports NFL Draft Hub.