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| Chip Taylor has run the Hamline defense for three seasons. Hamline athletics photo |
Hamline has announced Chip Taylor, Jr. as the Pipers’ new head football coach. Taylor has already led the Pipers to success as the defensive coordinator for the past three seasons. He replaced Chad Rogosheske, who accepted a position as head coach at Capital.
“Chip's professionalism and work ethic over the last three years made him an immediate candidate for the vacant head football coach position. After a thorough review of candidates and an assessment of what's in the best interest of our immediate and future needs, Chip is unquestionably the best fit to lead our program,” Hamline athletic director Jason Verdugo said.
Taylor came to Hamline in 2013 when Rogosheske was named the head coach. The pair had worked together for three seasons as assistant coaches at Division I Bucknell. Taylor, a New Jersey native, also coached at Valparaiso for six seasons and spent one season at Rose-Hulman. In addition to his college resume, Taylor, who played collegiately at Illinois State, has participated in summer internships with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs.
"I am thrilled that Coach Taylor accepted the position of head coach of the football program at Hamline. He knows our mission and vision, and is committed to excellence in the classroom and on the field for all of our players,” Hamline president Fayneese Miller said. “I have no doubt that, under his leadership and with the assistance of an impressive coaching staff, our football program will continue to move in a positive direction."
Under Taylor’s leadership, the Piper defensive numbers have improved each season. In 2015, Hamline ranked third in the league in interceptions and fumble recoveries, and fourth in sacks. In 2014, that defense helped Hamline regain possession of a pair of traveling trophies – the Paint Bucket (against Macalester) and the Hammer (for an OT win over Augsburg) – for the first time since 2009. The Hamline Pipers retained the Paint Bucket in 2015 as well.
“I would like to first thank President Miller and Jason for giving me the opportunity to lead the Hamline University football team. Coach Rogosheske did a remarkable job of getting the football program back on track now it is my job to lead us in the right direction,” Taylor said. “We have a group of motivated scholar athletes here at Hamline that I am looking forward to coaching. It is going to be important to surround our young people with coaches who are good people, great recruiters, and outstanding teachers."
Taylor didn’t look far for an offensive coordinator, either. He merely glanced across the river and found a guy with two D-III national championships on his resume.
Jim Zebrowski, who served as the quarterbacks coach at the University of Minnesota for the past five years, has been named assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. “Jim is a guy who knows offensive football as well as anybody,” Taylor said. “We are thrilled to have him on our staff. Moreover, he has been part of several successful D-III programs. He knows what it takes to be successful at this level.”
Zebowski was a member of a Gopher staff that went to three consecutive bowl games. The Ohio native, who played his college ball at Mount Union, has been a football coach for a quarter century. He spent six years as an offensive coordinator at two Ohio Schools before moving to Southern Illinois as a graduate assistant. Later, he was moved to a fulltime role at SIU, where he coached the tight ends, wide receivers and quarterbacks.
He has a decade of experience coaching at the D-III level. Zebrowski served as the offensive coordinator at Millikin from 2000-03. In 2004, he became the head coach at Lakeland. The Muskies went 28-12 overall in his four years at the helm, won a pair of conference titles and advanced to the NCAA D-III playoffs for the first time in school history.
Zebrowski then moved to UW-Whitewater. In three seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, the Warhawks went 42-3 and advanced to the NCAA D-III title game every season, winning two titles and finishing second once. Zebrowski was named the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year and the FootballScoop.com Division III Coordinator of the Year in 2009.
In 2010, Zebrowski joined the staff at Northern Illinois as the quarterbacks coach, before moving to the University of Minnesota.