Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer today announced former Tulane assistant Trooper Taylor as the newest member of his football coaching staff. Taylor replaces Woody McCorvey, who resigned Dec. 9 to take the offensive coordinator's position at Mississippi State.

"We're very excited to have Trooper with us," Fulmer said. "We're looking forward to getting his energy and enthusiasm, along with the expertise he brings to the football field and recruiting."

Taylor, who turns 34 next month, just completed his fifth coaching season at Tulane. He has mentored the wide receivers under head coach Chris Scelfo since 1999 and brings a successful resume to Knoxville.

"I'm definitely excited about being a part of the Volunteer family," Taylor said. "I'm looking forward to being a part of a new system and that Volunteer tradition, which is winning. It's exciting both for my family and me.

"For me, it's a step up being able to coach and recruit in the SEC--obviously a coach's dream," Taylor added. "You want to be at the highest level. Everybody talks about it being the No. 1 conference in the country

and you want to be a part of that."

The Cuero, Texas, native coached four Tulane receivers into the National Football League during his tenure in New Orleans. He had the nation's top receiving trio in 2001 in Adrian Burnette, Kerwin Cook and Terrell Harris, who combined to lead the country with 2,384 receiving yards on 185 catches.

In 1999, Burnett and JaJuan Dawson were the only Division I-A receiving pair to each gain more than 1,000 yards.

A 1992 Baylor graduate, Taylor finished his playing career as the school's career leader in kickoff returns (53) and return yardage (1,063). After helping the Bears to the 1991 Copper Bowl and completing his degree, Baylor joined the coaching staff at his alma mater. He spent two seasons as a graduate assistant before being named wide receivers coach in 1994. He then coached Baylor's secondary for two years before returning to the wide receivers for one year.

Before signing on at Tulane, Taylor spent the 1998 season as running backs coach at New Mexico.

Taylor is married to the former Evi Crosby of Harbor City, Calif. He and his wife, who was a track and field scholarship athlete at Baylor, were wed in 1992 on the football playing field at Floyd Casey Stadium. They have a son, Blaise, 7, and a daughter, Starr, 4.