Trooper Taylor said he never felt like a serious candidate to be Tennessee’s next offensive coordinator.

Poor timing, Taylor claimed, was why he decided it was best to resign his position as receivers coach and accept the co-offensive coordinator position at Oklahoma State on Wednesday.

Taylor said he saw no imminent decision from UT coach Phillip Fulmer as the Vols look to replace David Cutcliffe, who resigned last week to become head coach at Duke.

“The timing just didn’t work out for me,” Taylor said. “Now, would I have liked for him (Fulmer) to feel that I could have done it here? Yeah.

“But Phillip’s going to always meticulously go through all the searches to make sure he’s got the best staff together because Tennessee’s home for him.”

Knoxville will no longer be home for Taylor. After four years with the Vols, he’s leaving for Stillwater for a big raise — his UT salary was $175,000 — and the promise to call plays.

“It basically came down to me trying to improve myself,” Taylor said. “I will be able to call plays. That was one of the things we talked about. That made the decision easier.”

Taylor, who has also coached at New Mexico and Tulane, maintains that he didn’t demand Fulmer to promote him to offensive coordinator.

“I didn’t go to Phillip and tell him to give me a title of any sort,” the 37-year-old Taylor said.

Taylor had already obtained one of those. Assistant Head Coach for Player Development was added to his business card after the 2004 season when Texas came calling to hire Taylor away from the Vols. Taylor also pulled his name out of Howard’s head coaching search last January.

Baylor appeared to be the destination for Taylor when he interviewed at his alma mater Sunday. Baylor quickly offered Taylor a co-coordinator position and the opportunity to return home. Taylor was married on the Bears’ football field and both of his children were born in Waco.

Then, Oklahoma State swooped in, offering Taylor a co-coordinator position on Tuesday. A deal was struck on Wednesday.

“I had a friend in this business who called and said, ‘You know Trooper is out there,’ ” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy told The Oklahoman. “I really hadn’t even thought about it because I wasn’t going to do this until after the bowl.”

Gundy and Taylor coached together at Baylor in 1996.

“I had already experienced being at Baylor before. I wanted to see something different and meet new people and expand the resume,” Taylor said.

Although it never read on Taylor’s resume, he is widely thought of as UT’s top recruiter, having been named to Rivals.com Top 25 recruiters two of the last three years.

“It never takes one person to recruit,” Taylor said. “It takes a whole staff to get it done. I don’t see Tennessee falling off. Obviously, the timing of all this is bad and I feel bad about that.”

National Signing Day is Feb. 6. UT has 12 commitments and is expected to sign about 20-24 players. Taylor said UT doesn’t have to worry that he’ll try to pull UT prospects to Oklahoma State.

“That’s not going to happen,” he said. “One thing I will never do is step on my morals and my values. If they (OSU) expect me to do that, then they’ve hired the wrong guy.”

Taylor, who will coach the Vols through their Jan. 1 Outback Bowl against Wisconsin, said he’d refuse to even travel to visit prospects he recruited at UT. Taylor said he’d only speak to such recruits if they were previously recruited by Oklahoma State.

According to UT athletic director Mike Hamilton there’s nothing contractually that would prevent Taylor from trying to turn Vol prospects into Cowboys.

“I think coaches have to decide the ethics of a such a question unless given specific instructions to the contrary by our coach,” Hamilton said in an e-mail Wednesday night.

Hamilton also said that Taylor will not be subject to any financial penalties for leaving UT. Assistant coaches’ contracts stipulate that leaving for a lateral move will result in a six-month loss in pay. Taylor’s move from position coach to coordinator is not considered such a move.

“They offered him a heck of an opportunity at Oklahoma State to be a coordinator, a significant amount of money,” Fulmer said. “… It’s a positive thing. We have people that people want.

“Trooper did a great job for us. I love him to death, his family and everybody concerned. We wish him nothing but great things.”

Taylor, in turn, seemed empathetic to Fulmer’s plight.

“I think it’s taken a toll on him some,” Taylor said of the recent coaching changes, “because it is a big hire for him.”

Taylor, who became emotional when he spoke of UT fans and the Knoxville community, said he sought advice from numerous people before making what he called the toughest professional decision in his life.

Taylor even went so far as to seek counsel from UT defensive coordinator John Chavis, who many perceived as a rival because of their seemingly opposite personalities.

“People always tried to make like there was some riff between me and Chief,” Taylor said of Chavis. “Me and Chief were just both competitors. That’s what you want.”

When Taylor turned down other job offers, he repeatedly said he wouldn’t leave UT until he won a championship. But with such an offer from Oklahoma State, he couldn’t live up to that promise. He does, however, feel that UT is close to achieving that goal.

“They have what it takes to win a championship here,” Taylor said. “They were close this year. I think they’re beating the door down. That’s going to be hard to be somewhere else watching those guys play.

“You know I’ll be glued to that TV.”

Taylor was glued to another sport Wednesday night. After telling all of his receivers that he was leaving, he invited the group to watch his son, Blaise, play junior basketball.

“I’m going to have as much fun as I possibly can to get my mind off of it,” Taylor said. “That’s the only way you get through tough times — is surround yourself with good people.”

Drew Edwards contributed to this report.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.