Taylor Kolste: Discussing the Ins and Outs of Coaching
Taylor Kolste is the author of two books, founding member of the Cascade Coaching Association, and a burgeoning young coach. He’s also still playing college football. I recently got to spend some time with Taylor, picking his brain on all things football and how he’s been able to accomplish so much before even finishing his undergraduate degree. I’m sure you’ll enjoy learning about his coaching philosophy, what he thinks about scheme and culture, how he became an author, and much more. Enjoy!
Taylor Kolste, senior football player at Whitworth University
SFW: Tell me a little about your football background. When did you start playing? Where are you currently?
TK: I started playing football when I was 7 years old. My older brother started playing when he was 7 and I was 4 and that got me hooked on the sport. I've always loved football. As a kid, we would watch the NFL Network all the time. Currently, I'm a senior at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington where I play wide receiver.
SFW: Several prominent coaches started off their career in Europe (Mike Leach coached for the Pori Bears in Finland, Joe Moorhead played/coached for the Munich Cowboys in Germany, Mark Helfrich played/coached for the Vienna Vikings in Austria). Europe is known to be a place where you can test theories and demonstrate your creativity and innovative approach. Your older brother even played a season in Germany with the Kirchdorf Wildcats in 2018. Have you considered playing abroad after your college career is over?
TK: I've given some thought to it, but have decided that I would rather pursue coaching in the states after I'm finished playing at Whitworth.
SFW: What's your primary goal in football? Do you want to coach at the highest level? Be a scout? Work in the front office of a professional team?
TK: I definitely want to coach, and I would like to pursue it at the highest level. I think coaching gives you the closest connection with the players and gives you the biggest platform to have an impact on people. Small college football has been a really cool experience, and I'm glad I came here (to Whitworth), but I would like to pursue it at a higher level. Ultimately, the goal for me would be to coach at the NFL level. It is the highest level of competition and I believe it gives you the biggest platform to have an impact on the most amount of people.
SFW: You've written articles for USA Football and have researched for X&O Labs. How did those opportunities come about?
TK: I started a website with my friend, Noah Riley, a few years ago. We came into college together and became close friends. He was the only guy I knew that was as into football as I was, so we started this website and began writing football articles on things we were studying. I was able to connect with Ted Nguyen, who was a writer for USA Football at the time, and he got me set up with USA Football. Eventually Mike Kuchar from X&O Labs reached out and asked if I'd be interested doing some work with them as well.
SFW: How important has networking/connections been to you?
TK: It's huge. A big reason why I started getting active on social media was so that I could connect with other coaches. I've tried to make sure that I have some opportunities to get started in coaching after I graduate from Whitworth, and those are impossible to come by if you don't know anyone. Going to clinics and the AFCA Convention in recent years has been huge for me. There's no better way to meet people and learn.
SFW: You've also published two books, breaking down the offenses of the Los Angeles Rams and the Kansas City Chiefs. Where can we find those? And can you talk a little bit about writing a book as a college student, publishing it, getting it on Amazon, and just what that process looked like?
TK: Both books are on Amazon (paperback and Kindle). Amazon makes it pretty easy to self-publish. You just have to design your book cover and upload your manuscript, and then they'll get it up on the site for you. I first got the idea for the book from Bobby Peters, who I met through USA Football. I decided that I would start working on a book after the 2018 season. I ended up getting injured early in the season and medically redshirted, giving me some extra time to get started early on the project. The process was very similar to the articles that I wrote, just more expansive as it went over the entire offense.
SFW: Sean McVay or Andy Reid?
TK: They are both great coaches. Last season (2019), we saw everyone copy the front the Patriots used to stop the Rams Wide Zone running game. The Rams seemed a little hesitant to adapt their schemes and it hurt them. But I do like the overall structure of the system. The Wide Zone, play-action, bootlegs, screens - it all fits together really well. There's a lot of cool ideas I've taken from the Chiefs, but I don't like the overall structure of their scheme as much as the Rams. They use a lot of great schemes but I don't think it fits together as a whole as well as the Rams' system.
SFW: I have this crazy 'Masters Thesis' idea I've thought about for years. And the idea is that if you went to MIT and found a group of graduate students studying mathematics who had never before seen football, and you explained to them the rules of the game and asked them to create an offense based solely on the rules alone, how would they design an offense? Only knowing the rules and never having really seen or studied it, how do you think they would create an offensive philosophy?
TK: Hmm. That's really interesting. I think there's a lot of variables that would go into that, but I would say holding onto the ball, not turning it over would be a priority. Advancing the ball, not giving it away to the other team. But it really depends on the personnel you have, so it's tough to say. I think we would see them try to attack the whole field and make the defense defend everything, but I could also see some option principles using misdirection.
SFW: If you could only choose one: Culture or Scheme?
TK: I don't view them as two exclusive things. They're always kind of working together. How you develop your strategy contributes to your culture. I was fortunate enough to spend a week visiting the Philadelphia Eagles last summer and they had a motto: "Everything Matters." They don't necessarily have meetings and talk for half an hour why everything matters, but it shows through everything they do and the way they coach every single little detail. They don't talk about it, but they are about it. If everything matters, then every little detail in the scheme matters, too.
SFW: What is Taylor Kolste's culture? What are the core building blocks of how you think a program should be run?
TK: Two big things for me are vision and process. I would start with that. Henry Ford has a quote that says, "Whether you think you can or can't, you're right." You have to figure out what you want your future to look like and believe in that vision. Once you have that figured out, you need to shift your focus to the process of doing what you need to do each day to reach that vision. I believe in the phrase Oregon used to use of "Win The Day." The way you create huge success is by focusing on getting better and being the best you can be each individual day. After that, I think of discipline and humility. To be disciplined is to consistently follow the process to reach your vision, regardless of how you feel. Humility allows you to acknowledge your weaknesses and enables you to constantly improve.
SFW: What is Taylor Kolste's scheme? If you were an NFL head coach and could draft players to fit your scheme, what scheme would you run? Bread and butter run/pass concepts?
TK: I think first of all, you have to adjust to your players and put them in positions to do what they do best. With that thinking in my mind, the scheme needs to constantly change to fit the changing circumstances. However, if I had the choice of the types of players I want, I would like to have smaller, athletic lineman who can move. I like the Shanahan and McVay system and think the Wide Zone is a great foundational play. With athletic lineman who can master the Wide Zone, it allows you to focus on that scheme with everything else designed to protect it. In the passing game, I'm a big fan of the Patriots and how they structure and teach their passing game. I love how they create matchups for their slot receivers to run underneath option routes against linebackers, by lining up players in unorthodox spots, like using empty out of 21 personnel for example.
SFW: Here's a semi-nonrealistic hypothetical question. Let's say you have the ball at midfield and have ten plays to run against a defense. And after every play the defense's memory is completely wiped out so there's no recollection of the play run before (as if you're playing Madden). In this scenario, would you rather have ten plays run out of one formation, or only one play run out of ten different formations? What play/formation?
TK: Man, good question. That's tough. In this scenario, I think I would like to run the same play (likely Wide Zone) out of multiple looks. This would allow you to master the techniques involved with the scheme.
SFW: I always ask people what books they're reading. What are some of your favorite books you've read? Do you have a Top 3?
TK: An author I really like is Jim Collins (Good to Great, Built to Last, Great by Choice). "The Flywheel Effect" is a concept developed in the book Good to Great and I love how that relates to football and life. Extreme Ownership and The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin are also great. Anything by Bill Walsh or John Wooden is also awesome.
SFW: Last question. You're young. A college student who has, as we already discussed, contributed a lot to the game of football already. What advice would you give to a high school or college student who feels like they have something to say but maybe not a voice to be heard? Because it's rare for someone your age to have already accomplished quite a bit by the time you graduate college. I think there's a lot of young players coming up that know their playing career will only take them so far but would like to write, research, coach, etc. What's your advice to them?
TK: I would say if you know you want to do something, go out and study the heck out of it and study everyday. Not worrying what people think or worrying if you fail. If you're passionate about something, it doesn't really feel like work. If you love something, it doesn't feel like work. Find your passion and go after it.