Forgive Trooper Taylor if he's not his usual energetic self. The Tennessee assistant coach has much more than football on his mind.

"The neighbor that we lived next to lost their daughter," said Taylor, whose family resided in the New Orleans area when he coached at Tulane from 1999-2003. "She was at our house almost every day when we were living down there. It has been very tough."

Taylor said the 23 year old, who was once the Taylor's babysitter, was involved in a car accident caused by Hurricane Katrina. Unable to evacuate, she couldn't escape when the levee broke Monday.

"They weren't able to get to her," Taylor said. "My heart goes out to her and her family."

Katrina has made New Orleans nearly unrecognizable. However, Taylor knows the area well.

"We drove on those streets," Taylor said. "My wife worked there. The neighborhood that we lived in is completely underwater. It was in the old Metairie area where the levee broke."

Taylor wasn't the only member of UT's football team affected by Katrina. Sophomore tight end Chris Brown's home was damaged in the storm.

Freshman tailback Ja'Kouri Williams has heard from most of his family in Plaquemine, which is an hour west of New Orleans.

However, he's still waiting to hear from his 25-year-old cousin and her 2-year-old daughter. The two were in New Orleans when the storm hit. As of Wednesday evening, the two have not been heard from.

"We're real confident that their OK but the power's out in New Orleans so there's no way you can get in touch with them right now," Williams said. "The phone lines are down so we don't know much."

Williams said he will travel to Louisiana next week if UT's off-week schedule will allow it.

Taylor said most of his information has come from television coverage. He said the contact with his former neighbors has been "very minimal." Most of the communication has come from friends who fled to Houston or Dallas.

"It's been really tough," Taylor said. "We've been taking phone calls and e-mails and just trying to stay in contact with people."

Taylor said he feels fortunate he's no longer living in the area with his wife and two children.

"You feel guilty that the friends you left behind are still there," Taylor said. "I've been able to talk to a couple of kids on the Tulane football team. They were fortunate that school hadn't started yet so they closed school down and let the kids go back to their homes."

Taylor is hosting some friends this weekend who have fled the area. They'll stay with the Taylors and attend Saturday's game against UAB; it's an escape that Taylor wishes more New Orleans residents could have made.

"My heart goes out to those people," he said. "We've been praying, not just for the friends and family that we've left behind, but for all the people there in that area. It's a tough situation."

Taylor said his Christian upbringing will help him get through UT's first game week as he tries to focus on a football game that suddenly seems much less important.

"God has a plan and purpose for everything he does," Taylor said. "We don't have the right to judge that. "We're trying to stay focused and trying to do things that we need to do, but it's with a heavy heart."