Taylor Kolste '20
Major: Kinesiology
Taylor Kolste '20 knows how to break it down – football plays, that is. He has been analyzing film of college and NFL teams since he was in high school. That's when he set two goals for himself: to play college football and to coach the sport for his career. (He's already met his first goal – Kolste is a wide receiver for the Pirates.)
"If you want to be the best you can be at anything," he says, "you really have to commit yourself to that one thing."
Kolste dedicates at least a few hours each day to his coaching endeavors. This has yielded significant expertise, which he has leveraged into starting a business and making a name for himself among coaches. He sells videos online that break down offensive plays, and he co-runs a website that features his writing about football schemes and strategies.
After the Los Angeles Rams played in Super Bowl LII, Kolste released his first book, a 392-page analysis of the 2018 team's offense, culture and head coach.
Kolste says his kinesiology major is preparing him well for his career.
"A lot of the classes within kinesiology are guided toward teaching, and I believe that teaching and coaching are synonymous," he says. "My classes also provide opportunities to teach/coach the class, which is valuable, since I believe that the best way to learn something is by actually doing it."
Kolste wants to coach football not only because he loves the game, but also because he wants to positively influence others.
"Coaches can have a huge influence on young people if they work to be the best they can be at their job and do it for the benefit of their players," he says. "It's a really cool profession."
Taylor's story appears in the spring 2019 issue of Whitworth Today magazine.
