Shawn Taylor was named head coach of the Sandy Badgers beach volleyball team in March 2017. He came to SHC as assistant court volleyball coach in 2015 after three seasons with the University of South Alabama (USA) Jaguars under head coach Amy Hendrichovsky where he helped develop three all-conference student-athletes including the 2013 Sun Belt Conference (SBC) Freshman of the Year Mechell Daniel. In his first season as the Beach Volleyball head coach, he led the Badgers to their first winning season in the three-year history of the program with a 17-16 record in 2017.

Before his tenure at USA, Taylor spent two seasons as the top assistant at Arkansas State University (ASU) under head coach Justin Ingram. In his two seasons in Jonesboro, the Red Wolves posted an overall record of 38-22 and a 23-9 mark in the league. The Red Wolves finished 2010 as co-champions of the SBC West Division with an 11-5 conference record and won an outright division title in 2011 with 21 overall wins and a 12-4 conference mark. While at ASU, Taylor coached four all-conference players in Cayla Fielder (2011 and 2010), Allison Kearney (2011), Ashley Tipps (2011) and Megan Baska (2010), who also won recognition as the 2010 SBC Defensive Player of the Year.

Taylor arrived at ASU from Independence (Kan.) Community College (ICC) where he served as the head coach for the 2009 season. Prior to working at ICC, he was an assistant at Valparaiso University in 2008 where he helped produce four all-conference, three all-region, two all-American selections as well as a defensive and offensive player of the year. That same season, the Crusaders led the nation in both kills per game (15.32) and assists per game (14.26).

The Topeka, Kan., native was a volunteer assistant coach at Kansas State University (KSU) during the 2004-2006 seasons where he worked with middle blockers and the back row defense. He began his coaching career at Graceland University in 2002 where he served as both the head women’s junior varsity and a men’s assistant coach until joining the KSU staff in 2004.

Taylor earned his master’s degree in college student personnel from KSU in 2006 and his bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from Graceland in 2004 where he played for the Yellowjackets from 1999-2002.

Taylor's Career Record
2017: 17-16
2018: 15-8

SHC & Overall Record: 2 seasons (2017-present): 32-24 (.571)