Rutgers has its long snapper for the next four seasons in Parsippany Hills (NJ) product Zack Taylor.
The last name Taylor will certainly ring a bell for the Scarlet Knight faithful as Zack’s older brother, Billy, is the team’s current long snapper. The 6-foot, 220-pounder ranks as the No. 1 long snapper in the Northeast and the 16th best in the nation, per Rubio Long Snapping.
Taylor recently spoke with The Knight Report about what it means to fill his brother’s shoes in Piscataway in years ahead.
“It’s definitely awesome to have the opportunity to represent my state school,” he told TKR earlier in the week. “I think my brother has set a good foundation at Rutgers because he has had success there. Having the chance to continue that lineage is a cool thing.”
The phone call from head coach Greg Schiano came as a surprise for the entire family. Billy was of course happy for his younger brother, but Zack enjoys being the one of the two to get the offer out of high school.
“None of us really expected it because Billy got a preferred walk-on offer coming out of high school,” he said. “He had to earn his scholarship when he got to Rutgers. It’s funny since he’s a little jealous that I did something that he never got to do.”
A figure who has supported him along the way is none other than Scarlet Knights punter Adam Korsak. Taylor touched on how he thinks that relationship helped make his journey to Rutgers possible.
“Adam is obviously a great friend of my brother, so it’s good to get out and get some live work with him sometimes,” he said. “Working with him definitely helps me out because it shows that I’m friendly with a key player on the team. It also shows I’m acclimated with the program a bit.”
Rutgers 2021 athlete commit Jordan Thompson is Taylor’s teammate and has been so for quite some time.
The two often talked about playing alongside each other at the next level. Now it's a reality.
“Jordan and I talk pretty much every day about Rutgers,” he said. “He texts me all the time saying how excited he is for us to work together. I’ve played with him for 13 years now and to be able to add another four on top of that is something special.”
Taylor had been in talks with Boston College, Lafayette, Minnesota, Mississippi State and a few smaller schools before closing his recruitment.
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