Zane Taylor

Classroom

Zane Taylor is a Mountain West Conference Scholar-Athlete and a three-time academic All-MWC selection who carries above a 3.50 GPA in health education. He has been on the Dean’s List four semesters.

Character

From the small town of Moab, Utah, Taylor is one of his high school’s only players to ever receive a football scholarship to the University of Utah. He never had a car or much money growing up because he dedicated his energies to earning a football scholarship. Last year Taylor wrote two columns about his football experience for the Wall Street Journal. This season he will be doing a weekly article for the Sporting News.

Community

Taylor has been involved heavily in the community in his hometown of Moab, Utah. He volunteers for fundraisers back home several times a year. Some of the activities he has participated in include serving as the attraction in a dunk tank and officiating at a youth wrestling tournament. Taylor also volunteered for the Special Olympics in 2010 and has worked as a camp counselor with children for three summers. In addition, Taylor has participated in several speaking engagements, focusing his speeches on living without regrets. His message is that if you want to do something, do it now and take advantage of the opportunity so that you don’t have future regrets. Taylor was the keynote speaker at a 4-H retreat in 2009 and he gave the commencement speech for the Grand County High School (Moab) graduating class of 2010. He has also spoken at schools and interacted with kids in the Salt Lake City area. Other recent speaking engagements include a presentation in drugs and media literacy to an eighth grade class and first aid to a 10th-grade class.

Competition

Taylor, arguably the best center in the MWC, enters his senior season on the preseason All-MWC team. Taylor was a second-team All-MWC selection as a junior and an honorable mention pick in 2007. He has started all 26 games at center over the past two seasons.