Brock Taylor doesn’t fit the old football punchline about kickers not being “real athletes.” At Vanderbilt, he’s the guy who can launch kicks that clear the uprights with room to spare and also the former high school standout who could flip, dunk and, by his own account, still one-step into a ball and throw down if you hand him a basketball.
That athletic profile helped make Taylor a Commodore in the first place. He said after Vanderbilt’s Thursday practice that coach Clark Lea and general manager Barton Simmons made it clear they wanted athletic players, even if he doesn’t exactly scream it at first glance.
“For me-like, if you look at me I don’t necessarily pass the eye test. I’m like 6-2, 165 (pounds),” Taylor said.
He then explained what the staff saw beyond the frame. During his visit, he asked if he could show them a back flip, and he says the rest of his skill set backed up the idea that he could handle more than just kicking duties.
“I can do a bunch of flips and I can still dunk. In high school I used to (bounce the ball) off the back board and I used to be able to windmill (dunk) and stuff.
I have gotten heavier, so I’m thankful about that. But I can still, if you give me a ball, I can one-step into it and dunk.”
That burst shows up every time Taylor drives through a football. Special teams coach Jeff LePak said the range is basically whatever Taylor can make it.
“His range? That’s a great question,” LePak said. “You know, Brock can kick it just about as far as you want him to kick it.”
The production has matched the tools. Over two full seasons, Taylor has made 31 of 35 field goals and 99 of 101 extra points.
He’s aiming this season for the Lou Groza award, and he has the numbers to make that a real possibility. Even so, he has been left off nearly every preseason All-Southeastern Conference team, in part because Vanderbilt scored efficiently last year and didn’t need him as often.
He had only 14 field-goal tries in 2023, making 13.
Taylor is fine with that. He says the team’s success matters more than his own counting stats.
“That puts me in a funny spot because obviously, we prepare like every game’s the same,” he says. “Expect 10 field goals or zero field goals. … And so, all I do in those situations is just support and know that like the coaches know if we need a field goal, I’ll be there prepared.
“But end of the day, whatever helps us win the most is what I truthfully do want for the team.”
His road to Vanderbilt had a very different feel at the start. Taylor grew up wanting to stay home and play for Tennessee, but the recruiting picture changed when the Jeremy Pruitt scandal put the Vols on probation. Tennessee didn’t offer him under those circumstances, and Taylor said the school was talking about a preferred walk-on spot.
Vanderbilt made a different pitch.
“Tennessee was big in recruiting me,” Taylor recalls. “They obviously were going through a lot of staff changes throughout that time that I was in high school.
… They were in that awkward spot of still facing the scholarship penalty from years prior. And that left me in a weird spot where there were talks of a preferred walk-on.
“And you know, truthfully, Vanderbilt stepped in and said, like, ‘You’re not a walk-on. You’re going to come here and be our guy for the next four years, and we’re going to place that bet on you.
We need you to fill your part.’ And I mean, that’s all I needed to hear.
I already loved the staff and everything. I wanted to go to a better school than Tennessee, and Vanderbilt is that.
“And, truthfully, I knew that they had trust in me. … I still love playing for the coaches that I get to play for every day.
I get to come here. Feels like a blessing.”
Last season gave him a chance to enjoy that decision in a very specific way. Vanderbilt beat Tennessee 45-24 in Knoxville, and Taylor contributed a field goal and all six extra points. That was three years after the first matchup after his commitment, a game Tennessee won 56-0.
“Oh, (last year) was special for me,” Taylor says. “I talked about it with (Vanderbilt assistant) Jamal Richardson on my official visit in high school.
(He said), You know, we’re going to go to Knoxville and win that game while you’re here. And just back then, if you would have said that to someone, people would have laughed.
… And also, it’s it’s personal, truthfully. I mean, I grew up thinking I was going to be involved whenever I was young, freshman year of high school. you know, you’re a good football player in Knoxville.
You assume you’re going to go play for Tennessee. That didn’t end up happen for me.
“And obviously, I’m proud of the side that I’m on. I’d pick this side 10 times over if I go back to my senior year.
But … that means a lot to me. You get a lot of texts that week of, you know, good luck to everybody on that field.
You know, hopefully you play good, but that’s it. And like, you know, I’m not going to use any foul language, but to me that’s like a diss in my opinion.
You know, no matter who it’s coming from, it could be my uncle for like or anything. And I mean, for me, I want to win that game every time we play them.
“And yeah, being in Knoxville getting some field goals there was it was really special. That that one felt amazing.”
For all the big kicks and the bragging rights, Taylor’s one real issue has been closing out tight moments. He missed the final-play kick against Virginia Tech in his freshman year, though Vanderbilt still won in overtime, and he also missed later in overtime against Missouri.
Now heading into his senior year, he says his routine is built to keep him steady. He takes a walk every morning, finds some quiet time, and listens to music while walking the field before kickoff. He says he’s more internal on game day, and he appreciates that the staff understands that side of him.
“So, they kind of let me be... it’s like that intense, happy medium of laser focus. But also like coach (Tim) Corbin, our baseball coach-(he) says this a lot-and he always talks about like stay in the middle. Don’t get too high, don’t get too low.”
Taylor says that approach has him in the best place he’s been since arriving on campus.
“I definitely feel like the most mindful and healthy and present than I have throughout my four years here so far,” he says.
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