BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton announced the promotion of Travis Taylor to Chief of Football Staff and the hiring of Jarae Thurmond as Director of Player Personnel on Monday.
The 2024 season will be Taylor’s seventh with the Hilltoppers. Taylor is in his third stint with the program after returning to WKU as the team’s Director of Player Personnel in 2023 after spending the 2022 season as the Director of Football Operations at Virginia Tech.
Before leaving for Virginia Tech, Taylor was the Assistant Director of Football Operations for the Hilltoppers in 2019. He was promoted to Director of Football Operations in February 2020. Taylor had previously worked under former head coach Jeff Brohm for two seasons (2014-15) in the same capacity.
Between his first-two stints at WKU, Taylor worked at Georgia Southern as the Director of Football Operations in 2016 and two seasons at the University of Southern California as the Director of Player Engagement. Taylor came to WKU initially after five seasons at UAB, spending the final two as Director of Football Operations for the Blazers.
A native of Unadilla, Georgia, Taylor joined the Blazers’ staff from Valdosta State, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 2008 in exercise physiology and then his master’s degree in 2009 in higher education with an emphasis on educational leadership. Taylor played football at Valdosta State from 2004-07 and was a three-year starter for the Blazers at wide receiver. He was a part of the 2004 and 2007 Valdosta State teams that captured the NCAA Division II national championship. While at Valdosta State, Taylor played under head coaches Chris Hatcher and David Dean.
Thurmond comes to WKU from Georgia Southern, where he worked as the Director of Player and Recruiting Relations.
Thurmond, a native of Dacatur, Georgia, joined the Georgia Southern support staff in 2022 after medical retirement from the U.S. Navy after 12 years of honorable service. Thurmond served on board the USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60), USS Hopper (DDG 70) and Submarine Training Facility SD, where he was awarded Instructor of the Year (2020) and Sailor of the Year (2021) for his command. This was while serving as a coach at Sweetwater High School (San Diego, CA) for four years as the varsity running backs/wide receivers coach. While with the Red Devils, he coached three 1,000-yard rushers and was on staff of the first playoff winning team in over eight years at the school with back-to-back Metro Pacific League championships.