The Hawaii football team’s defensive leader — weak-side linebacker Logan Taylor — has been diagnosed with a torn ACL in his left knee and will miss the rest of the season.
Taylor, a senior from Harbor City, Calif., said a surgery date has not been scheduled. He suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of the Rainbow Warriors’ 31-20 victory over Albany on Saturday.
“This one hurts a lot,” UH linebackers coach Chris Brown said. “He’s my guy. … It’s personally tough for me. We’ve been through a lot together. He’s been through a lot. He’s overcome a lot. For this to be another thing he has to go through, I feel for him.”
Because he has played in only the first three of 13 games this season, Taylor is a candidate for a medical hardship that would allow him to compete as a sixth-year senior in 2024.
“He’ll be back next year,” head coach Timmy Chang said. “We get a leader back for next year, and get more guys we can develop this year. It hurts we’re missing him now, but it’s not going to hurt when he comes back and is able to lead this team again.”
Taylor was a reserve when he moved into the starting lineup last year after weak-side linebacker Isaiah Tufaga suffered a season-ending injury. He had double-digit tackles in each of his six starts in 2022.
This year, Tufaga moved to middle linebacker, succeeding Penei Pavihi, and Taylor remained at weak-side linebacker.
In July, Taylor and center Eleki Tanuvasa represented UH at the Mountain West Media Days in Las Vegas.
Last month, teammates voted Taylor as one of the five captains. Linebacker Noah Kema described Taylor as “the heartbeat of the defense.” Taylor leads the Warriors with 21 tackles, including four backfield stops.
“The biggest thing about losing him for the season is the leadership,” Brown said. “There’s nobody like him on the team who has that vocal leadership. We’re definitely going to miss that. But Logan is going to be at every practice. He’s going to be at everything he can be with the team. He’ll still be that leader. He’ll still be a captain.”
Brown added: “This is just part of his story. It’s part of who he is and his testimony. He’s the guy who’s overcome so many different things to be successful. It’s part of his story that he’ll be able to tell people.”
Nalu Emerson, who excelled on kickoff and punt coverage in his first four UH seasons, will replace Taylor at weak-side linebacker. Emerson moved from safety near the end of the 2022 season.