Gene Frenette: Jaguars' OC Press Taylor wants to recreate childhood memories for his kids

There are times when Press Taylor is dialing up a play for the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offense and may not be fully convinced in his mind that he made the right call.

Not so about his decision to marry Brooklyn Scheer or how many kids they talked about having after their November 2014 engagement.

The couple wanted a big family — likely four kids — the same number in the Norman, Oklahoma, household where Press grew up.

Three months ago, the Taylors reached that mark when son Billy checked into the world at 7 pounds, 4 ounces, joining sisters Teale (age 6) and Carolina Leigh (4) and brother Woods (2), so Press and Brooklyn have fulfilled their pre-nup definition of a full house.

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Just like his father, Sherwood, and mother, Julie, raising two boys and two girls.

As Press, 35, approaches his seventh Father’s Day on Sunday, it’s with a massive appreciation for two things he couldn’t fully comprehend early on during the couple’s marital journey: the daily load on Brooklyn of being an NFL coach’s wife, while himself trying to balance time away from the family and being fully present when he is home.

“It’s certainly very tough, it takes a toll on your family,” Press said in an hour-long interview. “I knew I wanted to coach football, but you don’t think about that on the far end of it. You’re not picturing what your life looks like down the road. You never worry about it.

“But as we started to have kids, you realize you’re asking a lot of your family and wife. There’s six, seven months of the year where you’re not available for them like you want to be. Brooklyn is all in, doing the best she can when I'm unavailable and being there for the kids. She's amazing at it.

"We would have been perfectly happy living in Oklahoma and having four kids, but I have a passion for football and thankfully fell in love with someone who was on board with me chasing something I wanted to achieve. This is not my career. This is our career."

For her part, Brooklyn acknowledges she didn’t foresee in 2012 when she started dating Press — then a graduate assistant at the University of Tulsa, where she served as the school’s cheerleading coach — what the time demands might be like because him becoming an NFL coach wasn’t yet reality.

Now eight years into being an NFL wife, Brooklyn — a basketball player in high school and cheerleader at Oklahoma — has comfortably settled into an existence that has tradeoffs. The family is well off financially (Press has been employed long enough to qualify for a league pension), but there are time sacrifices many people don’t fully understand without living that life.

“If the question is, would I give up the financial security for his time, the answer would be yes,” said Brooklyn, whose father is a non-denominational pastor. “But I believe God has called Press to be a football coach. We both have a peace that he’s where he’s supposed to be at.

“I’d never ask him to be anything other than what he is. Now in five years, if we see time [lost] is negatively affecting our family, then the conversation would be different. Honestly, we both chose this life and we’re enjoying it.”

Career ambition aside, Press understands he can't let the coaching part of his life supersede his role as husband/father, a perspective he feels strongly that his faith in God helps to maintain.

"Faith is the No. 1 thing in our life," said Press, whose family attends the Church of Eleven22. "Nothing is going to come before our family. As much as I want to achieve professionally, I don't want to put them in a position where they're not a priority in my life."

Adjusting to new reality

Every NFL coach and spouse understands which parts of the calendar, days or weeks, will be the most challenging, especially when it impacts multiple kids.

The toughest grind is Monday through Wednesday during the season when teams are implementing game plans. Those are often 18-20 hour days, though it can vary slightly with a staff member’s specific role.

That’s why Press and Brooklyn appreciate Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson arranging a 90-minute break on Tuesday nights during the season for all the coaches’ families to assemble at TIAA Bank Field for socializing and getting away from football.

It’s a much-needed pause for families and coaches from one of the worst parts of the NFL grind. Not every team does it and Pederson didn’t make that part of the routine during his five years as the Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach (2016-20).

After Press got his first job in Philly under head coach Chip Kelly in 2013, he and Brooklyn continued dating long distance for 18 months.

“We really took things slow,” said Brooklyn. “When he got the job [with the Eagles] and moved away, that’s when I realized I was in love with him.”

By Press’ third season as offensive quality control coach, the Taylors were married and Brooklyn quickly sensed how different their lives were becoming.

For the first time, leaving family and friends behind in her hometown of Tulsa, she didn’t have a support system nearby and didn’t know anybody in Philadelphia. They didn’t have any kids yet, but her husband’s time commitment while being on the lowest end of an NFL coaching staff was sobering.

“I knew what I was getting into when we got married with Chip Kelly as the head coach,” said Brooklyn. “At that point, he was working 100-hour weeks. Living there and being married, you realize how busy he really was. I remember the first year of being married, saying, ‘How long are we going to do this?’

“I’m a goal-oriented person. I wanted an idea how long because it’s a battle mentally. I remember Press saying, ‘Let me get to age 40 [as a coach].’ I wasn’t homesick, it’s not that. I knew enough, but living in the NFL life is a lot different.”

The Taylors got their first jolt when, five months after getting married, Kelly got fired and the Eagles hired Pederson, then the offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Fortunately, they caught a break when Pederson not only retained Press, but promoted him to assistant quarterbacks coach. It set him on a path of job stability that has been pretty solid by NFL coaching standards.

Press and Brooklyn have only moved twice — once to Indianapolis when the Colts hired him in 2021 after the Eagles fired Pederson, then when his boss got hired in 2022 by the Jaguars — in eight years.

“It’s a great situation now because the Pedersons are by far the best people we’ve ever met,” Brooklyn said of Doug and his wife, Jeannie. “Press feels like he has a lot of trust from Doug. It’s definitely a great scenario.”

'Being a 100 percent Dad'

One of the biggest reasons Press wanted at least four kids was the heartfelt memories of his own childhood. He grew up in one house on an Oklahoma cul-de-sac, with ready access to multiple games due to a high volume of kids in the neighborhood that were always available for pick-up baseball, football and basketball on a daily basis.

It was sort of a 21st century “Leave It to Beaver” life, and that’s what Press envisions for his family. He connects in a big way with his father, a former Oklahoma safety and captain who owned his own textbook sales company, Powderhorn. Sherwood also began his working career coaching under Barry Switzer at OU and later at Kansas State, then coached his two sons in flag football and basketball.

“I would love to be able to duplicate the childhood I had for my kids as well,” Press said. “The opportunities we had, the things we got to do. I can’t say enough great things about my childhood. I strive to be the father my Dad was for us.”

With two kids still in a crib and two others just starting full-time school, Press relies heavily on Brooklyn to be the home coordinator, though he will have the next month before Jaguars training camp to be a 24/7 Dad.

“Fatherhood is more fun and more challenging than I ever imagined,” said Press. “It’s been described to me as the highest highs and lowest lows and they can sometimes be within 10 seconds of each other. It’s truly the greatest honor I’ve ever had. I won a Super Bowl [with the Eagles in 2017] and achieved a lot professionally, but being a Dad with my wife is the coolest thing I’ll ever do.

“Seeing our kids experience life, just their curiosity, the way they develop day to day. You hope you’re taking the best aspects of yourself and your wife and passing it on. Seeing your kids become friends and buddies is a cool part of it.”

Brooklyn, 34, has watched her husband balancing NFL work and home life long enough now. She likes how Press can separate the two without letting how the Jaguars are doing impact his role as a father.

“I think he excels in it. It’s amazing how on he is at work and then at home,” said Brooklyn. “He’s a prime example of what a man does when he comes home and finds a whole new rhythm. He could run our household 10 times better than I can, partly because he was raised by a Dad who’s that way as well.

“Press is not moody, he’s not emotional. He’s consistent in the way he approaches everything. It doesn’t matter when he gets home whether the team got blown out or won. He’s super steady. He’s such a good example of walking through the door and being a 100 percent Dad. He has a perfect personality and work ethic for the job.”

A Teale vs. teal memory

It all happened in one day, two moments that will go down among the most glorious memories for Press as both a father and coach.

On the morning of Jan. 7 — about 12 hours before the Jaguars rallied to beat the Tennessee Titans 20-16 to win the AFC South title — he went to a Ponte Vedra YMCA basketball game to watch daughter Teale perform.

It was only her second organized game, with 5-year-old girls struggling to make shots at 8-foot baskets.

“Teale was lucky to hit the net in pregame [warmups],” Press said. “There was no sign this was coming.”

Due to the Jaguars having a walkthrough that morning, Taylor couldn’t stay for Teale’s whole game, but he stayed long enough to watch his oldest child score her first basket. Unfortunately, he had to go and missed the second one.

“I was there for 20 minutes and got to witness her first basket,” said Press. “That was huge, a memory I’ll never forget. I have a video of all of us yelling after she made it. We try to film everything because we know their voices aren’t going to sound the same very long. We’re trying to soak up every moment of the kids being little.”

Brooklyn lights up talking about the basketball game because both sets of grandparents were also in attendance, as well as aunts.

“The first thing Teale did after making the basket is look at all of us,” said Brooklyn. “When she hit the shot, we all erupted like we had won the Super Bowl. Then we won the Tennessee game that night.

“In terms of highs, we had a tie between Teale hitting her first basket and the Jaguars making it to the playoffs.”

Not that he plays favorites, but Teale has a special place in her Daddy’s heart by virtue of her place in the family order. Being the oldest makes her a de facto team captain.

“The beauty of the first-born being a girl is she’s very Type A [personality],” said Press. “Teale gets everybody to fall in line with what she wants.”

Another reminder of Teale’s place on the family tree is evident in one of Press’ favorite pictures. It hangs among a dozen family photos in the dining room at their Glen Kernan home.

At 11-months-old, Teale is with her parents and the Super Bowl trophy on a podium at U.S. Bank Field in Minneapolis, following the Eagles’ 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots.

“That was the coolest picture,” Press said. “Some day, [the other kids] are going to realize they’re not in it. I’d say it increases the pressure [to win another Super Bowl].”

Learning from brother Zac

When Press became a father, he already had an ideal advisor for juggling a hectic NFL work schedule with being a first-time parent.

His older brother Zac, entering his fifth season as head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, already had three of his four kids (also two boys, two girls) by the time Press joined him in fatherhood.

Regular conversations between the brothers aren’t always about game-planning or offensive schemes. It’s often about their personal lives.

“I can pick up the phone and get an answer from another head coach in the league,” said Press. I’m taking notes on everything [related to football]. But there’s another cool aspect of sharing this profession with my brother. He’s always been a step ahead of what I’m going to be going through [as a father].

“His kids are 12, 11, 7 and 5. As much as I love the way we grew up, each family is built their own way and has a different dynamic. I take as much good advice as I can get.”

As nomadic as the NFL coaching profession can be — Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach and former Jaguars offensive coordinator Greg Olson (2015-16) has moved eight times since 2012 — the Taylors are in a good spot.

They love living in Jacksonville, with the Jaguars ascending under quarterback Trevor Lawrence. It’s also a chance for Press to raise his own coaching stock in the next couple years if the Jaguars continue winning, maybe join his brother as a future NFL head coach.

Brooklyn admits as every NFL season draws to a close, she thinks about various hypothetical job-changing scenarios for Press — good or bad — and how that could impact the family.

“Being part of this family, where the potential to move is quite a bit more, that’s the opposite of our childhood where we stayed in one place and our parents were deeply rooted there,” said Brooklyn. “We don’t need to cross that bridge right now. So far, the sacrifices have been worth it because the toll hasn’t been that bad.”

Enjoying age of innocence

The Taylors came to Jacksonville at a perfect time. Pederson has turned the franchise around, with the Jaguars being talked about as a preseason Super Bowl contender for the first time in decades.

Being near the Atlantic ocean, with a backyard swimming pool, it’s an idyllic lifestyle for a father of four kids who aren’t old enough to fully understand the pressures of Dad being an NFL coordinator or possible future head coach.

Press treasures this age of innocence, knowing his four offspring are insulated from how the outside world views Daddy’s job performance or the Jaguars. For now, they blissfully know nothing about social media or other information outlets.

It’s a great time for Press to be a father. In another 5-10 years, things might feel quite different, especially if he follows in his brother’s footsteps and becomes a head coach. As the kids' lives change, fatherhood and its challenges will be viewed from a different vantage point.

“Right now, the biggest fight between the sisters is who gets the unicorn cup,” Brooklyn said. “Who knows what that’s going to look like as they get older and there are hormonal arguments.”

Press is in no rush for that time to arrive. One of Trevor Lawrence’s most trusted advisors just wants to soak in another Father’s Day at the beach or pool with kids whose father is, in Brooklyn’s words, “magnetic to them.”

Sherwood “Press” Taylor is having a grand time being a Dad. Maybe it’s because he is just starting to see what it means to live the best part of his father’s life.

Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540  

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Fatherhood bigger deal for Jaguars' OC Press Taylor than Super Bowl win