Mario Cristobal is bringing in a South Florida legend to join his off-field staff.
The Hurricanes are hiring NFL Hall of Fame defensive end/linebacker Jason Taylor in an off-field role, according to multiple reports. The news was first reported by 247Sports.
Taylor could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
Taylor has never coached at the college level, but he has spent the past five years as an assistant coach at South Florida high school powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas. He spent three seasons as the team’s defensive line coach and the past two seasons as defensive coordinator. The Raiders won three consecutive championships from 2019 through 2021 with Taylor on staff.
While with St. Thomas, Taylor helped coach numerous star players, including Alabama’s Braylen Ingraham and Dallas Turner, Florida’s Tyreak Sapp and several other Division I players.
Cristobal’s staff is full of coaches with South Florida ties. Cristobal himself is a Miami native who attended Miami’s Christopher Columbus High, as did offensive line coach Alex Mirabal. Quarterbacks coach Frank Ponce played at Miami High and coached at several South Florida schools. Running backs coach Kevin Smith is a Miami native (who attended Miami Southridge) and previously coached at Florida Atlantic.
Miami’s defense struggled at times last season, finishing 84th in the nation in scoring defense and 75th in total defense. The Hurricanes did a bit better stopping the run, finishing 44th in run defense. UM had 33 sacks last season, tied for 42nd in the country.
Taylor played 15 seasons in the NFL, 13 of which were with the Dolphins.
Taylor finished his NFL career with 774 combined tackles, 139.5 sacks and 49 forced fumbles across 15 seasons with Miami, Washington and the New York Jets.
Two of Taylor’s former teammates with the Dolphins recently have been hired by the Miami Dolphins.
Former cornerbacks Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain both joined the Dolphins’ staff — Madison was named the Dolphins’ cornerbacks coach and pass-game specialist, and Surtain joined was hired as a defensive assistant.
Both Madison and Surtain have high school coaching experience: Surtain won three states titles as American Heritage’s head coach, and Madison was previously an assistant coach at St. Thomas Aquinas.
