South Alabama will play Saturday’s IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl in its home state, but the game is also a homecoming for Western Michigan head coach Lance Taylor.
The 43-year-old Taylor grew up in the Mobile County community of Mount Vernon, and starred at Citronelle High School. The son of 1970s-era Alabama running back James Taylor, he later enjoyed success with the Crimson Tide as a walk-on wide receiver and special teams ace in the early 2000s, then began his coaching career as a graduate assistant on Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide staff in 2007.
Voisin twins playing together for final time at South Alabama in Salute to Veterans Bowl
“It’s really special for me,” Taylor said of coaching in his home state. “One, a lot of our family and friends don’t get to make it to Kalamazoo, Mich., to watch us play, so for us to be able to come back home and them support and rally around us, the outpouring of love since we got invited and accepted the invitation has just been phenomenal. We’ve got a lot of people coming to represent the Broncos, which is special.”
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Taylor’s Broncos are 6-6 in his second season, having improved by two games over a 4-8 record in his 2023 debut. Western Michigan beat archrival Eastern Michigan 26-18 in its final regular-season game to become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2021.
When Taylor takes his team onto the field on Saturday night at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, he’ll do so with an old friend and coaching colleague on the other sideline. South Alabama’s Major Applewhite — whose team is also 6-6 this season — was Alabama’s offensive coordinator in 2007 when Taylor was hired as a GA.
“I have a lot of respect for what Lance has done up there,” Applewhite said. “I obviously know him all the way back from the days at Alabama. … He’s done a great job, in his first year — last year — and then getting his team bowl-eligible Year 2. And looking at their roster, it’s a lot of juniors and seniors. I know the (running) back is an underclassman, but most everybody that’s a starter is a junior or senior. So it’s a testament to him putting his team together, keeping his team together, and the improvement from Year 1 to Year 2.”
Lance Taylor was a special teams standout during his Alabama playing career, with a touchdown off a blocked punt vs. Oklahoma in 2002 one of his highlights. (Birmingham News file photo by Mark Almond)bn
As with many young coaches throughout the college game, it was Saban who helped get the ball rolling on Taylor’s career. He was back in Tuscaloosa rehabbing an injury suffered playing indoor football when Geoff Collins — Alabama’s director of player personnel at the time — told him Saban had an opening for a graduate assistant.
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Taylor got the job, thus beginning a nearly two-decade coaching career that has also taken him to Appalachian State (2009), Stanford (2014-16), Notre Dame (2019-21) and Louisville (2022), in addition to stints in the NFL with the New York Jets (2010-12) and Carolina Panthers (2013, 2017-18). He was Louisville’s offensive coordinator when he was hired at Western Michigan, but said he owes it all to Saban taking a chance on him some 17 years ago.
“It was perfect for me,” Taylor said of his time as an Alabama GA. “As a first-time coach, really learning what it takes to be successful. I soaked up every minute of it. I was a young guy, didn’t have a family, didn’t have kids, so every minute I spent at the building, I wanted to because I wanted to be successful as a coach.
“I wanted to know what it took to be great. I also wanted to prove that I could do it. For me at that time, it was the perfect match. It really showed me my calling.”
Applewhite left Alabama to join the staff at Texas (where he had played quarterback from 1998-2001) following the 2007 season, but said he has continued to admire his former colleague from afar. Applewhite returned to Saban’s staff as an analyst in 2019, helping the Crimson Tide to a national championship in 2020 before joining the South Alabama staff as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach the following year.
“(Taylor) carried himself with class, worked hard, was honest — all the great virtues you want,” Applewhite said. “Did what he said he was gonna do, worked hard. Was a good football coach too, knows football, all those things. But just more of personal traits than football traits, was just how he carried himself, just a classy individual who worked hard, was honest. I think those are some of the best things people can say about you.”
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South Alabama head coach Major Applewhite was part of Nick Saban’s original Alabama staff in 2007. Applewhite was offensive coordinator, while Western Michigan’s Lance Taylor was a graduate assistant. (Scott Donaldson/al.com)Scott Donaldson/al.com
Taylor had equally effusive things to say about Applewhite, who took over as South Alabama’s head coach when Kane Wommack left this past January to become Alabama’s defensive coordinator. Taylor and Applewhite worked together only briefly, but that time clearly made an impact on the younger coach.
“One, Major is borderline brilliant, the way he sees the game, play-calling and game-planning,” Taylor said. “And for me, I was transitioning from a player to coaching and it was an amazing first year to learn under him. He was great for me because it wasn’t, ‘hey, I need these things done because you’re the GA.’ He really helped me grow and learn the hows and whys, what it takes to be a really good coach. We’ve kept in touch ever since then. It was amazing just being on the ground, that first year, watching Coach Saban build it from the ground up. And then Major being a huge part of that.
“There’s a lot of what we do in our program now that goes back to those original first days there at Alabama in 2007-08. One, how we’ve modeled the program from watching Coach Saban, but also what we do offensively from being around Major.”
The Salute to Veterans Bowl kicks off at 8 p.m. Saturday, with television coverage on ESPN.
The Philadelphia 76ers selected Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr. with the 22nd overall pick of the 2026 NBA draft Tuesday night.
Philon is the first pick of the Mike Gansey era after he replaced Daryl Morey as the team’s president of basketball operations.
Who is Labaron Philon Jr.?
Philon, 20, led the Crimson Tide in scoring last season, averaging 22.0 points on nearly 40% shooting on 3-pointers. He was the focal point of one of the nation’s most potent offenses, as Alabama led the country in points per game in the 2025-26 season. The Crimson Tide (No. 16) finished the season with a 25-10 record and went 13-5 against conference opponents.
Philon, who helped lead Alabama to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament, earned Third-Team All-American and First-Team All-SEC honors in his sophomore season.
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In 33 games last season for Alabama, Philon scored 725 total points, which is ranked third-most by a player in a single season in program history.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver shakes hands with Labaron Philon Jr. after he is drafted twenty-second overall by the Philadelphia 76ers during Round One of the 2026 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 23, 2026 in New York City.
Arturo Holmes / Getty Images
Philon was the 34th-ranked basketball recruit in the country entering his freshman season at Alabama, according to 247sports. The four-star guard initially committed to playing at Auburn, but decommitted. He then signed a letter of intent to play at Kansas, but didn’t play there, either. He then committed to the Crimson Tide in April 2024.
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Philon impressed as a freshman at Alabama and averaged 10.6 points in 37 games. He declared for the 2025 NBA draft but then withdrew and returned for his sophomore season, where he saw his scoring average jump more than 10 points.
Philon is a Mobile, Alabama, native and played at Baker High School in Mobile County, where he scored 2,334 points in three seasons. He was named the Class 7A Player of the Year twice.
As a junior, he averaged 35 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists and was named Alabama Mr. Basketball, which is given to the best high school boys’ basketball player in the state. Philon transferred to Link Academy, a boarding school in Missouri, for his senior year of high school.
Philon now joins a backcourt headlined by Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe heading into the 2026-27 season. Quentin Grimes could return to Philadelphia next season and add even more depth, but he’s an unrestricted free agent.
The pick the Sixers used to pick Philon was acquired in the deal that sent Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the trade deadline.
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Labaron Philon Jr. scouting report
CBS Sports had Philon ranked as the 14th-best prospect in the 2026 NBA draft.
Here are his strengths and weaknesses, according to CBS Sports:
Strengths
On-ball creator who made an extreme leap as a sophomore, ranking in the 99th percentile in isolations (was 24th percentile as a freshman) and 94th as a pick-and-roll handler (was 32nd percentile as a freshman). Combines smooth attack with sudden change of speed and direction, dexterity, and finishing craft in the lane.
Shot-maker who can make tough shots off both the catch (36% on contested catch-and-shoot 3-pointers), dribble (38% from deep), and has extreme gravity when he’s spacing the floor (46% on unguarded catch-and-shoot 3-pointers).
Shown pliability to thrive in different roles over the years and is a similarly versatile creator, because he’s a scoring threat at multiple levels and also an accurate, and somewhat creative, passer with both hands off the dribble.
Weaknesses
Inconsistent defensive approach. Showed more engagement and potential as a freshman, but couldn’t maintain that as a sophomore when taking on a bigger offensive role.
Lacks overwhelming physicality or highest level explosiveness, and didn’t add any notable muscle mass between his freshman and sophomore seasons (175 pounds at 2025 combine and 176 at 2026 combine).
Unclear how well his creation scales to the NBA level when he will have less usage and volume coupled by more physicality in opposing defenders.
Alabama football hosted a hometown kid for an official visit last weekend when it got Jeremiah Beverley on campus for an official visit.
Beverley attends Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and ESPN currently has him rated as a four-star recruit. He is considering Alabama, Cincinnati, Wake Forest and others.
The Crimson Tide offered Beverley earlier this month and got him on campus for an official visit last weekend. The Alabama target told Touchdown Alabama he used the visit to learn what the Tide has planned for him if he commits.
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“I’m truly happy that I went on that official visit,” Beverley said. “Blessed for that. All I was talking about was the next step, what I got to do? So, just knowing what they have planned for me, knowing what they have set for me.”
At 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds, Beverley makes plays for Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa as a defensive end. Alabama has plans to use him similarly at the next level.
“They’re going to have me at wolf mostly,” Beverley said. “I know coach (Kane) Wommack and coach (Christian) Robinson, I think they see me at other positions, but I know it is guaranteed they’re going to see me at Wolf and me working my way up on special teams, and they expect that out of me.”
Beverley is expected to announce a commitment decision on Friday.
Watch Jeremiah Beverley’s Highlights Below:
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Justin Smith is the Managing Editor and Lead Writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine with over 10 years of writing experience & expertise. Smith has consistently delivered high quality, extensively researched information on the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team that fans can trust. Smith is official credentialed media with the University of Alabama under Touchdown Alabama Magazine. He is also the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Enterprises, specializing in scouting and analyzing high school recruits around the nation, specifically focusing on recruits within the state of Alabama.
Alabama football is hiring Noah Fisher to be its assistant tight ends coach, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.
Fisher spent two seasons as a graduate assistant working with the offensive line and tight ends at Louisville before joining the Tide’s staff. He played three years on the offensive line at South Alabama and spent one season with Tulane. The Jaguars started Fisher along its offensive line when he was a player for multiple games.
The Crimson Tide appear to want to use their tight ends in multiple ways in the future including as extra blockers along the line of scrimmage. Fisher looks as if he can assist the Tide with this mission.
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Justin Smith is the Managing Editor and Lead Writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine with over 10 years of writing experience & expertise. Smith has consistently delivered high quality, extensively researched information on the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide football team that fans can trust. Smith is official credentialed media with the University of Alabama under Touchdown Alabama Magazine. He is also the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Enterprises, specializing in scouting and analyzing high school recruits around the nation, specifically focusing on recruits within the state of Alabama.
