Assistant Coach - 2026 will be 4th Season at Florida
Taylor Black completed his third year on the Florida coaching staff in 2024-25 after being announced as an assistant coach by Head Coach
Kevin O'Sullivan on June 13, 2022. The Gators have reached the College World Series in Omaha in two of Black's three seasons while advancing to the NCAA Tournament every year.
Black and company played an irreplaceable role in the Gators' midseason SEC turaround. In the team's final 18 conference games, the offense slashed .296/.406/.500 with 26 homers and 32 stolen bases. Much of the early struggles were due to the fact that the Gators saw 10 key players go down with an injury during the season. Despite this, Florida delivered a .639 winning percentage highlighted by a .704 mark in the last 27 games (19-8). The Gators simply refused to quit, boasting 15 come-from-behind victories, nine of which occurred in the last 27 games.
Thanks to Black, shortstop Colby Shelton and catcher/designated hitter Brody Donay both enjoyed career years at the plate. Shelton reached base in 44 of 45 games before suffering a season-ending hamate injury, hitting .377/.458/.606 with seven home runs, 19 doubles, 40 runs, 35 RBI and six stolen bases. The Brooks Wallace Award Semifinalist recorded 23 multi-hit games despite seeing limited action. Meanwhile, Donay slugged a career-high 18 home runs while slashing .303/.418/.646 for a 1.064. The junior finished with two triples, 10 doubles, 45 runs, 41 RBI and eight steals.
On top of that, Black helped get career years out of transfer third baseman Bobby Boser and catcher Luke Heyman. As a semifinalist for the 2025 Buster Posey Award and a First Team All-SEC honoree, Heyman was arguably the nation's top catcher prior to going down with an injury vs. Alabama on May 15. Heyman batted .301/.397/.578 across 49 games backed by 13 homers, one triple, seven doubles, 44 RBI and 37 runs scored. He slashed an even better .317/.403/.673 in 28 SEC contests.
As for Boser, the lone Gator to play all 61 games led Florida in at bats (238), hits (80), runs (72), RBI (67), total bases (146), home runs (18), stolen bases (19) and on-base percentage (.437). Finishing with a robust .336/.437/.613 batting line, Boser nearly became the second 20-homer/20-steal player in team history (Brad Wilkerson, 1998). His 21 multi-RBI games equated to over one-third of UF's contests while his six three-hit showings and 25 multi-hit games also paced the squad. The UF third baseman took home All-SEC Defensive Team honors while ranking top-10 in the SEC in runs (second), steals (fourth), RBI (sixth), hits (eighth), at bats (eighth) and total bases (eighth) during the regular season.
In the 2024 offseason, Black again spearheaded an elite transfer portal effort to supplement an exciting group of freshmen arriving in Gainesville. Alongside O'Sullivan, Black helped bring in top-100 transfers Blake Cyr (Miami - No. 10), Bobby Boser (USF - No. 48) and Billy Barlow (Clemson - No. 96) to campus in addition to Freshman All-American Kyle Jones (Stetson). In just two recruiting cycles at UF, Black leveraged his heavy scouting background to reinvigorate Florida's recruiting and talent evaluation.
Although Black's second campaign in Gainesville revealed a different script, Florida again advanced deep into the postseason and showed unparalleled levels of resiliency. After delivering 22 comeback wins one year ago, Florida delivered 21 victories in come-from-behind fashion in 2024 featuring 12 in SEC play alone. Florida trailed in six of its playoff wins and claimed five-straight NCAA Tournament elimination games to keep its season alive. Dating back to 2023, Florida went 9-1 across a span of 10 postseason elimination matchups.
As the Gators reached the NCAA Tournament for the 16th straight season, Florida ranked among the top-four teams in the country in fielding percentage (third - .982) and home runs (fourth - 136). The Gators also posted the top fielding percentage in the SEC, committing just 42 errors across 2,350 chances in 66 games.
For the first time since the 1998 season, Florida had seven different hitters with double-digit home runs in 2024: first baseman Jac Caglianone (35), shortstop Colby Shelton (20), catcher Luke Heyman (16), infielder/outfielder Tyler Shelnut (16), second baseman Cade Kurland (14), catcher/designated hitter Brody Donay (14) and outfielder Ty Evans (13). Those seven Gators accounted for 128 of Florida’s 136 home runs (94.1%).
In Black's first season with the team, the Gators won a program-record 54 games while claiming an SEC Championship and making a trip to the College World Series Finals in Omaha, Neb. Aided by Black, seven different Gators collected All-American honors featuring two Unanimous First Team hitters in Wyatt Langford and Jac Caglianone. That was on top of Florida’s league-high seven All-SEC selections.
Black's addition provided an instant jolt to UF's recruiting prowess, leading to the impactful 2022-23 offseason additions of right-hander Hurston Waldrep, infielder Dale Thomas and outfielder Richie Schiekofer. Black and the Gators struck gold again in the 2023-24 offseason, securing transfer commitments from Alabama's Colby Shelton, Virginia Tech's Brody Donay and Coastal Carolina's Tanner Garrison. Florida's incoming 2023 recruiting class was ranked among the top-six nationally by every major publication.
Prior to UF, Black came equipped with Power Five college baseball coaching experience at NC State, although his most-recent stop was a four-plus year stint in the Detroit Tigers organization. After joining the Tigers as a scout in November 2017, Black transitioned into the role of East Coast Crosschecker in September 2019.
Before his work with the Tigers, Black served as an assistant coach at NC State from 2014-17. During his three seasons on staff, the Wolfpack went to three-straight NCAA Tournaments while turning in a 110-70 record. NC State batted .303 as a team in 2016 thanks to Black's contributions while hitting .271 or higher all three seasons. Black's presence also had a positive impact on the Wolfpack defensively, as evidenced by a combined .973 fielding percentage across his tenure.
Black also coached for the Wilmington Sharks of the Coastal Plain League in 2014, which serves as a developmental summer league for various college players. That followed a three-year professional career, as Black played for the Philadelphia Phillies' Single-A affiliate, the Williamsport Crosscutters, in 2011 before going on to compete for the independent Evansville Otters from 2012-13.
As a 16th round MLB Draft pick out of the University of Kentucky in 2011, Black started 110 of a possible 111 games for the Wildcats during his two years in Lexington from 2010-11. Across those two seasons, Black served as the team's starting shortstop while batting .297 with 15 home runs, two triples, 22 doubles, 87 runs, 75 RBI and 24 stolen bases.
THE TAYLOR BLACK FILE
Birthdate: Feb. 17, 1989
Hometown: Easley, S.C.
High School: Easley HS (Easley, S.C.)
Education: University of Kentucky, Bachelor of Science, Kinesiology and Exercise Science - 2014
Coaching Career:
Assistant Coach, NC State University, 2014-17
Coach, Wilmington Sharks, 2014
USA Baseball Tournament of Stars
Prospect Development Pipeline League
Collegiate Playing Career:
University of Kentucky, 2010-11
Spartanburg Methodist College, 2009
Charleston Southern University, 2008
Professional Playing Career:
Philadelphia Phillies Organization (Selected in 16th round of 2011 MLB Draft)
- Williamsport Crosscutters (Low-A – New York-Pennsylvania League), 2011
Independent League
- Evansville Otters (Frontier League), 2012-13
