Before he came up with the "Philly Special" in Super Bowl 52, current Philadelphia Eagles quarterback coach Press Taylor was a coach at the University of Tulsa.
Taylor's story starts in Norman - where he was the starting quarterback at Norman High School.
After graduating high school, he played two years at Butler Community College in Kansas.
He transferred and ended his playing career at Marshall University in West Virginia.
But for Taylor, he didn't want to step away from the game he loved, so he turned his sights on coaching.
"I knew then head coach Bill Blankenship through his work as the head coach at Union High School," Taylor said. "He succeeded all expectations I had. It was great working for him."
Blankenship said he followed Taylor's career out of Norman and was friends with his dad, but didn't know more than that when he received an email from Taylor.
"I got an email from him and he said he was thinking about being a Graduate Assistant," Blankenship said. "I kind of ignored it and moved on. I then got a second email from him but told him we were full. He then emailed me a third time and say there were no GA jobs and I would just like to come volunteer."
Taylor was in Blankenship's office the very next day.
After spending two years with TU, Taylor got a job with the Eagles.
It was during their Super Bowl 52 game against the New England Patriots that Taylor's name became synonymous with the Philly Special.
"Our Offensive Coordinator Frank Wright came to me before the playoffs and told me to give him my best five trick plays that coach was looking to implement," Taylor said. "It is a very common play, which we saw the Chicago Bears do to the Minnesota Vikings in 2016. We liked the formation and a lot of things fit, so we ran it the exact same way."
The Eagles went on to win their first-ever Super Bowl title after defeating the Patriots 41-33.
"We see the ball hit the ground and we get to hugging and high-fiving and then quickly realize we need to get down to the field," Taylor said. "We go running down the hallway and trying to figure out how to get down to the field. It's just an experience I will never forget."
Philly opens their 2018 season against the Atlanta Falcons tonight at 7 p.m. on NBC.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
Download our free app for Apple and Android and Kindle devices.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines and Daily Forecasts.
