Joel Taylor joined The Citadel as safeties coach and defensive passing game coordinator in 2014 and enters his fifth season with the Bulldogs in 2018. In his five seasons on staff with the Bulldogs, Rucker has been a key part of one of the most successful stretches of football in Citadel history. The Bulldogs have captured a pair of SoCon titles – including 2016’s unbeaten conference run – and back-to-back FCS Playoff appearances.
In 2018, Taylor directed a defensive secondary that saw junior Aron Spann III land among the national leaders for interceptions for much of the season and Kailik Williams earn Defensive Player of the Year honors in the preseason. Spann III would finished third in the SoCon in interceptions, earning First Team All-SoCon honors and October Player of the Month recognition after intercepting three passes in two weeks, including the game-sealing pick in a 20-14 win over Chattanooga on Oct. 21.
Taylor helped lead The Citadel to a number of achievements in 2016. The Bulldogs earned a program-record 10-game winning streak, a single-season school-record six road victories, only the seventh 8-0 conference record in 84 years of SoCon football, a second consecutive conference championship, a No. 6 national seed in the FCS Playoffs and the first home playoff game in 24 years.
The Bulldogs ranked seventh in FCS in pass defense and eighth in the country in total defense, improving by more than 50 yards from the previous season to allow only 302.7 yards of total offense per game. The Bulldogs also ranked first in the Southern Conference with 30 touchdowns allowed in 12 games, an average of 2.5 per game, and were second in the SoCon with 28 sacks, tied for the third-highest single-season total in school history.
Taylor oversaw the development of Kailik Williams, who was named Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year after a season in which he dominated all aspects of the game. Williams finished the season with 103 tackles, tied for the third-highest single-season total in program history, 10.0 tackles for loss, two interceptions, five pass breakups and one forced fumble. He was a first-team All-Southern Conference selection, the conference’s September Defensive Player of the Month and the Defensive Player of the Week after his “Pitch Six” in the win at Wofford. Williams wasn’t the only Taylor pupil to earn recognition as Khafari Buffalo was named to the All-Southern Conference Freshman Team after appearing in all 12 contests.
In 2015, The Citadel earned a co-Southern Conference championship behind a then-school-record-tying six SoCon wins and finished 9-4 overall after advancing to the second round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs for only the second time in school history. The Bulldogs, who finished the season with a conference-best +117 scoring margin that included a +100 margin in SoCon play, earned the program’s first road playoff win with a 41-38 victory at Coastal Carolina in the first round of the playoffs.
The Bulldogs’ physical defense showed remarkable improvement from 2014, lowering its points-per-game allowed average nearly seven points and allowing 86 less yards per game while forcing 19 more turnovers. In 2015, the Bulldogs ranked first in FCS with a school-record 515 interception return yards and five interception return touchdowns. The Citadel also led the Southern Conference and ranked third in FCS with 20 interceptions, the third-highest single-season total in program history, and with 31 turnovers forced. The Bulldogs also topped the SoCon with 10 passing touchdowns allowed, 11 fumble recoveries, holding opponents to a .365 third-down percentage and averaging 6.5 tackles for loss per game. The Bulldogs ranked second in the conference in scoring defense, total defense, rushing defense, sacks and pass efficiency defense.
Individually, Kailik Williams was a second-team All-Southern Conference selection after tying for first in the conference with two fumble recoveries and tying for fifth in the SoCon with nine passes defended, including his first collegiate interception in the first round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs. Malik Diggs ranked third among Bulldogs with 86 tackles, and Nick Willis finished his career with 195 tackles to rank 13th on The Citadel’s all-time list.
In his first year, Taylor helped develop Diggs into one of the top safeties in the league by the end of the season as the sophomore ranked third on the team with 67 tackles and was the SoCon Defensive Player of the Week following the VMI game. Willis was also a top performer for the Bulldogs, placing fifth on the team with 59 tackles.
In 2013, Taylor helped South Carolina State earn a share of the MEAC championship, marking his third title with the Bulldogs. That squad was led by a dominant defense that led the country in total defense, rushing defense and defensive pass efficiency and ranked second against the pass.
That group was led by All-MEAC safety Kimario McFadden, who signed a free agent deal with the Falcons in 2014, marking the eighth S.C. State defensive back in five years to make an NFL roster. He joined draft picks Christian Thompson, who was selected in the fourth round by the Ravens and Phillip Adams, a seventh-round pick by the 49ers and free agents Rafael Bush, Jakar Hamilton, Marshall McFadden, Dominique Ellis and Semaj Moody.
In 2011 the S.C. State secondary, led by All-MEAC defensive backs Thompson and Ellis, finished 10th in the nation in defensive pass efficiency. The previous season, Taylor took a unit of four first-year starters in the secondary and helped lead them to a No. 1 ranking in pass defense and No. 2 in pass efficiency in the nation. Additionally, the defense finished tops in the nation in total defense and 17th in interceptions, spearheaded by Ellis and Moody.
Taylor also coached at S.C. State from 2004-08 and was the outside linebackers coach at Lenoir-Rhyne in 2009.
Taylor lettered all four seasons as a defensive back at S.C. State from 2001-04. He was named team captain and defensive MVP during his senior campaign when he helped lead the team to the MEAC championship. As a junior, Taylor was a member of a squad that led the nation in defensive pass efficiency.
A Brooklyn, New York, native, Taylor grew up in Irmo, South Carolina. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science at S.C. State in 2004 and a master’s in rehabilitation counseling in 2008. He is married to the former Mechelle Robertson.
