BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech Football head coach Brent Pry announced Monday that Travis Taylor has joined his staff as director of football operations & will report directly to assistant AD – chief of staff, Michael Hazel. Pry also indicated that Kevin Juszynski (assistant director of football operations) & Jake Schell (football operations & analytics assistant) have both accepted positions with the Virginia Tech program, bolstering overall operations.
Taylor comes to Blacksburg after serving as director of football operations at Western Kentucky for the past three seasons (2019-21). In that capacity, he played a key role in all day-to-day operations of the Hilltoppers' football program. In addition to assisting with all team travel logistics, he coordinated the team's community service efforts & onboarded new student-athletes. Taylor's duties involved assisting with camps & official visits, as well as serving as the team's liaison with university housing officials. He previously worked as the assistant director of football operations at Western Kentucky from 2014-15.
The Unadilla, Georgia native rejoined the Hilltoppers in 2019 after serving as the director of player engagement at the University of Southern California (2018). In that capacity he collaborated with the director of football operations to promote the academic & athletic success of USC's student-athletes. In addition, Taylor worked in conjunction with various support service departments including academics, housing, financial aid & admissions. He also managed community relations programming for the Trojans.
Prior to working in the private sector in 2017, Taylor served as director of football operations at Georgia Southern University in 2016. He began his professional career in football as assistant director of football operations at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2009 before being promoted to director of football operations at UAB in 2012. He stayed in that role until beginning his initial stint at Western Kentucky in January 2014. During his tenure in college football, he has been a member of five teams that have made bowl appearances. Most recently, he was part of a Western Kentucky squad that defeated Appalachian State in the 2021 Boca Raton Bowl.
A four-year letterman at Valdosta State, Taylor was a three-year starter at wide receiver & was a member of squads that won NCAA Division II national championships in 2004 & 2007. He owns a bachelor's degree in exercise physiology from Valdosta State & later added a master's degree in educational leadership.
Juszynski enters his first season as assistant director of football operations for the Hokies. He spent the past two seasons assisting Hazel at Penn State & helped the Nittany Lions earn a berth in the 2021 Outback Bowl. Juszynski will serve as the football staff's liaison to the marketing, digital strategy, creative media & strategic communications departments, as well as HokieVision. In addition to assisting Taylor with all team travel logistics, he will work with the personnel department in the execution of all recruiting visits & will help coordinate Tech's Pro Day & coaching clinics, as well as camps & other events. He will be responsible for managing the day-to-day upkeep & maintenance needs of Tech's football facilities, as well.
He gained NFL experience working as an event operations intern for the Kansas City Chiefs during their 2021 training camp at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri. He also served as part of NFL Green – the league's program that mitigates the environmental impact of the major events – at the 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville. Juszynski was raised in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. He graduated Cum Laude from Penn State earning a bachelor's degree in recreation, park & tourism management with a minor in sports studies.
Schell begins his initial year as a football operations & analytics assistant at Tech. He joins the Hokies after serving as a defensive student assistant working with Coach Pry the past three seasons at Penn State, helping the Nittany Lions earn berths in the Citrus, Cotton & Outback Bowls. He originally began his work with the PSU football program as a video manager in 2018. Schell also gained experience as a football operations intern with the Arena League's Philadelphia Soul in the summer of 2019. He also provided weekly freelance analytics reports to ESPN's Chris Fowler to assist his preparation for weekly matchups & events such as the College Football Playoff & Heisman Trophy presentation.
In his role with the Hokies, Schell will assist the football staff with roster management & practice preparation. He will also utilize research to create data-driven strategies to optimize organizational decision making & performance. In addition, Schell will assist the personnel department with numerous aspects of the recruiting process, including all on-campus visits. The Dresher, Pennsylvania native is anticipated to receive his finance degree from Penn State's Smeal College of Business in May.