CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Taylor West has joined the Illinois football staff as Director of On-Campus Recruiting. West will work with the Illini recruiting and operations staffs as well as handles administrative and scheduling duties for head coach Bret Bielema.
"I'm extremely honored to work for Coach Bielema and to join the Illinois football program," said West. "I look forward to serving our coaches, student-athletes, and the University of Illinois. I-L-L!"
"We are excited to add Taylor to our Illinois football famILLy working with recruiting, operations, and an administrative role," said Bielema. "She has gathered great work experiences and brings a personality and perspective to our building that will help us to continue building relationships in the Champaign-Urbana community."
West spent the summer of 2021 as the director of on-campus recruiting at Eastern Kentucky before making the move to Champaign. She previously served as a compliance and football recruiting graduate assistant at Missouri State from August 2019 to May 2021.
At Missouri State, West served assisted the recruiting coordinator with day-to-day operations, schedules and itineraries. She also assisted with the planning and execution of on-campus and virtual recruiting visits. West provided creative direction for social media campaigns and supervised projects with graphic design interns. She assisted the director for compliance by evaluating recruits' transcripts and making academic recommendations according to NCAA eligibility requirements, tracking student-athlete academic progress, and certifying athletic eligibility prior to each term.
From June 2018 to January 2019, West was a recruiting operations intern at Stanford. She assisted with hosting camps, women's clinics, junior days and unofficial/official visits.
West has also served as the men's and women's cross country and track and field manager and an equipment summer intern at Iowa.
West earned a bachelor's degree in sport and recreation management at the University of Iowa in 2019. She earned a master's degree in student affairs in higher education from Missouri State in 2021.
