Kyeon Taylor, Destined for Professional Football

By Kervin Coleman | Published February 10, 2023

Some people have hidden talents’ some people have undeniable gifts; and some people are born to become great football players. Senior Cornerback Kyeon Taylor epitomizes the essence of all three statements.

Taylor is one of the football program’s most prominent and illustrious players. His accolades go as follows. 2019: New Jersey Athletic Conference Honorable Mention, 2021: All-Eastern College Athletic Conference Team…D3football.com All-American Fourth Team…Associated Press All-American Second Team… American Football Coaches Association All-American Second Team…College Football Playoff Network All-American Second Team…All-NJAC First Team Defense, 2022: All-NJAC First Team, All- ECAC Second Team, Participant in the Football Championship Subdivision National and Tropical Bowl. 

Now, Taylor has a contract offer from the Ottawa Redblacks, an opportunity that came as a shock to him. 

“The CFL contract was a surprise to me too,” Taylor said. “A scout from Redblacks followed me on Twitter and so I assumed they were interested in me. They had emailed Kean to get access to my game film because they wanted to see how I move in a whole game film. The scout hit me up on Twitter to get more information on me and he gave me an opportunity to come play for them this season coming up.”

Most Division III athletes play for the love of the sport while getting their education. Still, unlike Division I and Division II higher divisions of collegiate sports, Division III doesn’t offer athletic scholarships. 

That never stopped Taylor, if anything, it made his grind harder. In the classroom, the Criminal Justice major maintained a 3.1 GPA while accomplishing heights on the field that many players haven’t seen.

With all his success, people might think Taylor had years of experience doing what he does. That statement couldn’t be further from reality, as Taylor’s football journey didn’t begin until his senior year of high school at Rancocas Valley. 

The journey wasn’t always a smooth ride. Taylor often had times of self-doubt within his optimism. 

“Only playing one year of football in high school, I thought football was over for me until I got the opportunity to play at Kean,” Taylor said. “I knew I wanted to be great since freshman year at Kean because it felt like a fresh clean start.” 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, sports at Kean, like the world itself, saw a rigorous change. In the Spring 2021 semester, the NJAC decided to continue on and have a season in the wake of the canceled 2020 football season. Many teams in the NJAC didn’t partake, but Kean decided to participate, at least momentarily. The Cougars played one game against the Montclair State Red Hawks and that day Taylor faced his largest defeat as an individual competitor. 

“I had doubts that Covid year because there was some high expectations for me and that one Montclair game was the worse I ever played in my life,” Taylor said. “My biggest thing is that I did not want to let anyone down and I felt like I did. That game had me thinking that I was not reliable to be a leader or a great player here at Kean. That’s when the doubt came in and had me not [feel] like myself.”

The Cougars had to close down for the remainder of the spring 2021 season because of the roster number depleting along with recurring injuries, and overall unsafe conditions to play through. This gave Taylor no redemption arc, at least until the fall 2021 season came around. Taylor trained rigorously for the remainder of that time until he reported back to football camp in August. 

“He overcame a lot of adversity in a very short period of time, and fought through the doubt,” Coach Matthew Krieder, Kean’s defensive coordinator said. “He refused to be a victim of circumstance. He dusted himself off and used that energy to motivate him to come back better than ever. After five months of training – that refocus led him to become the statistical NCAA champion for interceptions.”

In the 2021 campaign, Taylor recorded 32 tackles, including 22 solos and 10 assisted, 16 passes defended, 8 interceptions, and 3.5 tackles for loss. Taylor crossed over into the status of being one of the best collegiate players in the country as well as putting up arguably one of the best statistical seasons at Kean. 

This drew major attention from scouts and critics from NFL teams such as the Buffalo Bills, New York Giants, Washington Commanders, and the Philadelphia Eagles, given his ability and prototypical NFL defensive back size. 

Then, on Dec. 26, Taylor decided to stamp his name into pro football contention by etching his name into the NFL Draft. 

Coach Kreider credited Taylor with preparedness and a willingness to study his opponents. He also said Taylor has confidence and good instincts. Taylor, for instance, has changed his workout regimen to train his body to be ready for the competitive field of draft season.

“I’ve been eating and drinking better than before and have been training at Adrenaline five times a week for two hours,” Taylor said. “It’s been rough some days but it’s great work for me and I can feel the progress.” 

Senior cornerback Nasir Neal spent every step of the way with Taylor, playing alongside him for the entirety of their college career. They’ve studied film, worked out, and took plenty of parts from each other’s games over the course of five years.

“We’ve always told each other what needed to be heard rather than what was wanted, since the beginning,” Neal said.  “We’ve held each other to a certain standard and when one of us didn’t meet the standard we reinforced it.”

He recalled that in Freshman year at Kean, Taylor was out of commission with a full-body cramp while freshmen were learning a new technique. Taylor returned four days later and was using the technique as if he was there the whole time, he said.

“It’s because he was still taking notes although he couldn’t practice,” Neal said.

That standard earned Taylor the moniker and nickname “KT Island” based after his initials as well as his ability to play textbook defense and eliminate a complete side of the field. 

“The people that made me KT were definitely my Kean family,” Taylor said. “Just being that person that anyone can talk to or ask questions to just holds more value to me.” 

Another person he attributes to molding the moniker of “KT” is fellow NFL draft recruit Kyle Sapp. Sapp is a former teammate of Taylor at Rancocas Valley and played collegiate football at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. 

“Kyle Sapp, as we speak now, me and Kyle are grinding together and working hard to achieve this pro dream,” Taylor said. “He motivates me when I don’t feel like doing things and vice versa. Those hard-working summers started with us so I have to give my boy a lot of credit for that.”

Those hardworking days and nights cultivated plenty of success and stature for Taylor. 

Taylor was thrown into the fire but persevered and it opened doors that he never thought were imaginable. Although he never expected to be great at first, he was willing to put in the time, effort, and dedication to separate himself from others. 

For many aspiring football players, the journey begins at a young age. Taylor’s trajectory had to move at an accelerated pace starting later in life than the typical football player. 

Taylor’s success is just at its beginning and he has the potential to play professionally for a craft he didn’t start the journey to until his senior year of high school. One thing is for certain, the name Kyeon Taylor is forever engraved in Kean University football history. 

Disclaimer: Kervin Coleman is a teammate of Kyeon Taylor.

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