About eight years ago, Taylor Mazzone’s playing career came to an end.
He was mainly a special-teamer for East Carolina, which lost to Arkansas in the Jan. 2, 2010, Liberty Bowl. Mazzone was a midyear graduate, so it was time to move on. He planned to become a construction manager and sent out 10 e-mails to companies in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area.
About that same time, then-Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson hired Noel Mazzone, Taylor’s father, as the Sun Devils’ offensive coordinator. Noel asked Taylor if he wanted to come to the desert.