T.C. Taylor is on the verge of taking over at his alma mater.
Multiple sources Monday tell FootballScoop that Taylor, a former star player for the Tigers and most recently the program's wide receivers coach and a key figure as Deion Sanders guided JSU's program to record heights, is expected to be formally named the Tigers' next head coach, barring any unforeseen snags.
Taylor has maintained a steady focus with JSU as the team prepares for its appearance Saturday in the Celebration Bowl, the top postseason destination in HBCU football.
On staff at Jackson State since 2019, the year before Coach Prime's arrival, Taylor briefly had a professional career -- in both the NFL and NFL Europe after his starring turn as a record-setting Tigers wideout -- before transitioning into collegiate coaching.
He's been a coach at the junior college level at Coahoma Community College in his native Mississippi, as well as working on staffs at Texas Southern and North Carolina Central.
Sources indicate to FootballScoop that Taylor and JSU officials are working to keep a number of current JSU assistants on staff to ease into the post-Prime era. Those assistants potentially could include Otis Riddley, Alan Ricard and Jeff Weeks.
During its not-altogether-unexpected search to replace Sanders, who formally accepted the University of Colorado job Dec. 3 and was introduced as the face of the Buffaloes program the next day in Boulder, Colorado, JSU has vetted numerous candidates for the post.
Though Taylor was the publicly professed choice of Sanders, who emphasized the decision neither rest with him nor solely with JSU's athletics director, multiple candidates from around college football -- including some former NFL stars of a similar profile to Sanders -- were considered for the position.