LAS VEGAS >> How to explain Hawaii linebacker Logan Taylor?

Head coach Timmy Chang said Taylor is a snarling, boisterous, heat-seeking hunter of ball-carriers. And yet …

“He’s the nicest guy,” Chang added. “He’s our vocal leader.”

“That’s the greatest thing about football,” Taylor said. “All that aggression, we can take it out on the field. After that, I’m different. That’s how it is. Football is not my identity. My identity is I’m a child of God. Football has changed my life. I’ve learned life lessons through this. I found my faith through football.”

Each day, Taylor takes a knee in prayer.

He prays for his mother, who made the most with the least.

“We weren’t starving,” Taylor said. “My mom was a single mom. My dad was in prison. She took care of me and my two brothers. She took extra jobs to keep food on the table. Whenever we needed the newest gear for football and every sport, she did everything she could to get it for us.”

He prays for his recently released father, a man he tried to ignore for most of his wonder years.

“Throughout my life, he used to call, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to talk to him,’” Taylor recalled. It was his Christian faith that opened the way to a relationship.

“I used to be bitter, but you have to forgive to be forgiven,” he said. “I was like: Who am I? If I put myself in his shoes, what if I messed up that one time? As sorry as I wanted, I can’t change that. One mistake put him (in prison). But we forgave each other. We have a good healthy relationship now. We communicate frequently. It’s good.”

And he gives thanks to Victor Santa Cruz, a former UH assistant coach who helped Taylor regain his faith.

Taylor said he grew up in a Christian household, attended church every Sunday, and then “life got in the way. My mom was working, so I was out late. I got totally caught up in the world.”

After a standout high school career, Taylor signed with Southern Utah. He lasted only a season. “I was immature,” he said. “I would have liked it if I were more mature.”

He transferred to El Camino College, where he caught the attention of UH coaches. But the speedy defensive back lost a step as a first-year Warrior in 2020. “I used to be called ‘Slow-gan,’” Taylor recalled.

It turned out he was playing with a broken toe. “I had no range of motion,” said Taylor, who was moved to linebacker.

After playing in four games in 2021, he underwent surgery to alleviate the pain in his foot. Last year, he was a force on special teams but was used sparingly at linebacker. Unlike in the past, Taylor was not discouraged.

“I used to be the guy who would pout and be the fellowship of the miserable,” Taylor said. “The closer I got with God, I realized, I can’t let circumstances steal my joy. Whatever I do, I needed to do for the Lord. That’s when you have no shame. That’s when stuff starts to get fun. That’s when it’s less mental, and this game is mostly mental.”

Filling in when weak-side linebacker Isaiah Tufaga was injured, Taylor amassed 85 tackles to become the team leader despite starting only the second half of the 2022 season.

Taylor and his wife, Theresa, have two sons, Kobe King and Vader Ali‘i. This week, Taylor represented the Warriors at the Mountain West Football Media Days in Las Vegas.

“It’s crazy,” he said. “Sometimes I have to sit down because I’m in awe of this opportunity. I’m grateful and I’m blessed.”