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.”

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.”

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.

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.”

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.