Blue White Illustrated

I t's been a hectic couple of years for future Penn State cornerback Garrett Taylor. Since emerging during his sophomore season as one of Virginia's elite players, the consensus four-star prospect from Richmond has experienced plenty of ups and downs. He backed away from his orig- inal commitment to Michigan when it be- gan to appear likely that the program would soon be looking for a new coaching sta6, and he missed his senior season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his le7 knee. The good news for Penn State is that the turbulence has only strength- ened his resolve. "It has been a roller coaster at times, but that's OK," Taylor said. "You learn through di6erent experiences, and I'm grateful for being in the position I'm in. But now, I'm just totally focused on the future. That's what I really care about." For the immediate future, Taylor is fo- cused on making sure he comes back stronger than ever from his knee injury, which occurred last August during the 5rst week of two-a-days at St. Christo- pher's School. He was released from phys- ical therapy about a month ago, and he's nearly back to full health, but there's still some work to do before he puts the pads back on. "I got the green light to begin li7ing again, which is great," he said. "Right now, we're just focused on strengthening all the muscles around my knee, just to get that stabilization back. "I'm pretty much 100 percent now, and looking ahead. I'm working with my speed guy, and slowly we're getting my agility and speed back. We're really working hard on those kinds of drills and stabilization drills. I don't want to have to go through this again. I want to make sure I'm not only comfortable come the season, but I also want my knee to be stronger than ever." If there was one good thing to come out of the injury, it's that he was able to devote considerable time and attention to his re- cruitment last fall. He had committed to the Wolverines in March 2014 and didn't plan on taking many visits during the sea- son, but once it became clear that head coach Brady Hoke and his sta6 would likely be shown the door, he decided to open up his recruitment and see a few schools, most notably LSU and Ohio State. Both of those programs, as well as Vir- ginia Tech, ended up making a strong push for Taylor in October and November, but no coaching sta6 showed more interest than James Franklin and his assistants. "I was fortunate to have some pretty good schools a7er me," Taylor said, re- ferring to Ohio State and LSU, both of which he visited in early November. "But one thing I'll say is that I never felt like those schools wanted me as much as Penn State. I felt like Penn State really wanted me from the very beginning, and even a7er the injury, I could tell they still really, really wanted me. It's not like LSU or Ohio State didn't want me, but I just had to reach out to them a little bit more, while Penn State was contacting me every chance they got. That really stood out to me. That meant a lot. "Another deal-breaker was that I always wanted to come into a program where I could have an impact early and help build something. With all the sanctions and stu6, they kind of took a small step back, but I feel like a7er this last class, plus the classes Coach Franklin and his guys are going to bring in, we should be able to get this team right back to where Penn State always was." With roughly three months to go before he enrolls at Penn State in June, the 6- foot-0, 196-pound Taylor admits that he's still not exactly sure how the sta6 plans to use him this year. Coming o6 the injury, a redshirt season seems probable, but Taylor plans to be ready to go, re- gardless of what the coaching sta6 ulti- mately decides. "I haven't talked to them about it a ton, but I have talked to them about it a little bit. Right now, they fully expect me to come in and work," he said. "They think I can contribute early if I'm back to 100 percent, but I know we're also not going to push it if we don't have to. "I feel con5dent that I'll be ready to go, but also, I de5nitely don't want to have to waste a season if I'm not going to be playing much and I don't think the coaches want to do that, either. So we'll just have to see where I'm at then. I know we're not going to burn a year if we don't have to." ■ THE TAYLOR FILE STATS Totaled 24 tackles and four interceptions as a sophomore... Had 35 tackles and one interception in his junior year, which was his final high school season HONORS Named a four-star recruit, as well as the na- tion's No. 108 overall prospect and the third-best player in Virginia by Rivals.com... Named to the Under Armour All-America game but did not play... Claimed All-Confer- ence, All-Metro and All-State honors following his sophomore and junior years CLICK HERE to see video of Taylor in action. Roller coaster ride delivers Taylor to PSU | U P C L O S E & P E R S O N A L

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