Iowa star punter Tory Taylor reflects on Hawkeye career, LeVar Woods’ care for his players

INDIANAPOLIS — Tory Taylor was in for an “eye-opening” experience when the Australian punter made his college football debut in 2020 as an Iowa Hawkeye.

Phil Parker — Iowa’s highly-respected defensive coordinator with a colorful vocabulary — was “literally mother-effing one of these refs” during the season opener at Purdue that year, Taylor recalled while talking at the NFL Combine last week.

“I didn’t know that you could curse or swear at referees,” Taylor said. “Back home in Australia, if you’re playing Australian football and you swear at a referee or anything like that, you probably getting like I’m going to say a $30— $40,000 fine. It’s really strict, so no one ever does it.”

Almost four years after first acclimating to American football, Taylor has been preparing for the NFL Draft in San Diego. He has the potential to be one of the highest-drafted punters in recent history. But first, he shared some other Hawkeye memories while at the NFL Combine:

LeVar Woods went above and beyond to support Taylor

It’s no secret Taylor has been especially close with special teams coordinator LeVar Woods during his four years at Iowa. Taylor shared a story that “not many people really know about,” though, that shows just how far Woods is willing to go to help his players.

Taylor was supposed to fly back to Australia after the 2022 Citrus Bowl — the 20-17 loss to Kentucky that capped off a 10-4 season in 2021 — but he first needed to take a COVID-19 test before entering his home country.

“I remember the doctor rang me later that night at like 9:30,” Taylor said. “And the fact that he was ringing — I was like, ‘Oh, God.’”

As Taylor feared, he tested positive for COVID-19 and therefore had to stay in Orlando for an extra five days.

“They needed someone else as well (to stay with me),” Taylor said. “Coach Woods ended up staying down there as well.”

The selfless act symbolizes “really just Coach Woods as a person,” Taylor said.

“One thing that really resonated with me is he’s always wanted the best for his players, and he’s always wanted to make sure that they’re all good,“ Taylor said.

Taylor’s strict game-week routine

Taylor averaged a career-best 48.2 yards per punt in 2023 on his way to being a unanimous All-American and the first Hawkeye to receive the Ray Guy Award. Taylor attributed some of his success to his routine.

“I know it sounds a little bit cliche, but I was really, really strict with my routine,” Taylor said. “If I didn’t get in the cold tub at 4:45 a.m. on a Monday and Wednesday morning, I knew that week was like, ‘Man, I might not play well this week.’”

Taylor “actually enjoyed” the early routine, which was “never really a chore.”

“I didn’t fly halfway across the world to kind of just sit on my backside and do nothing,” Taylor said.

Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Ashton Kutcher and... Tory Taylor

When Iowa women’s basketball superstar Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA women’s basketball scoring record last month, Big Ten Network posted a video with congratulatory messages from an A-list of celebrities, broadcasters and former teammates.

Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning Brittney Griner, Ashton Kutcher, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti were all among the people to congratulate Clark. Oh, and Tory Taylor.

“Big Ten actually reached out to me, and I thought, ‘Yeah, I’ll do that. That’s pretty cool,’” Taylor said.

When Taylor watched the finished product and saw his message next to all the others, he thought “this is pretty sweet.”

“I’d say I’m more famous than Tom Brady, so I don’t know if that was really that big of a deal,” the humorous Taylor said.

Kutcher, the actor and Cedar Rapids native, particularly stood out for Taylor. They met before one of Iowa’s games at Iowa State.

“You could tell he was having a good time before the game,” Taylor said. “He came and dapped us all up during warmups. So that was pretty cool.”

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