Ben Taylor will be in his ninth year as head coach of the Drury men’s soccer program in 2025.
In 2024, Taylor led the Panthers to the GLVC Quarterfinals with an overall record of 8-6-4 and a 6-5-3 mark in GLVC play. The team most notably tied McKendree 1-1, who ended the season ranked fourth nationally, and beat Truman State at home 4-1. Carson Morgan, a junior defender, led the team in goals with seven and earned NCAA-II All-Region first team and All-GLVC first team honors.
Taylor guided the Panthers to a postseason in 2023 as they rallied to a spot in the GLVC Tournament finishing 4-6-3 in the conference. Drury was 4-9-3 overall and featured All-GLVC selection John Clout.
In 2022, Taylor led the Panthers to a 7-3-7 record and a 5-1-6 mark in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Drury featured three All-GLVC selections and All-Region pick Kaelan Debbage.
Drury went 7-3-4 (on the field) in the GLVC in 2021 and reached semifinals of the league tournament, their deepest GLVC postseason run since 2014. Drury ended the year 8-7-4 overall and featured three all-conference performers.
In 2020-21, the season saw games pushed to the spring semester due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the Panthers finished the year (on the field) 7-7. Jayd Hamdaoua became the first player in program history to be named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Freshman of the Year as he completed the year with seven goals, two assists, and 16 points in 14 games.
In 2019, Taylor led the Panthers back to the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament for the first time in three years. Drury went 9-8-2, 7-6-2 in the GLVC to finish tied for sixth in the league and an improvement of six spots in the conference standings. The Panthers took 24
th-ranked McKendree to overtime in the opening round of the GLVC playoffs, falling 3-2. Jamie O'Brien scored 11 goals in 15 games and was named a 2nd team all-conference performer.
The 2018 team featured a young roster that lost twice in overtime and fell by a single goal six times. The Panthers featured all-conference selection Jamie O'Brien, who was named to the All-GLVC squad in his freshman season.
Taylor returned to his alma mater in 2017 and led the Panthers to a 7-7-2 record and a 6-6-2 mark in the conference. That team featured two all-GLVC performers, including Charles Guelly, who was named to the first team, and Ben Bruce, a third-team selection.
In eight seasons, Taylor owns a 52-59-27 record at Drury and is 44-43-22 in conference play*. He has coached 15 players that have been named All-GLVC, including one Freshman of the Year in the league, and has had two All-Region selections.
Taylor came back to Drury after spending six seasons as the head coach at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa. His teams went 76-36-8 during his tenure and were ranked in the NJCAA top 20 in four of his six seasons, with one of his teams ranked as high as second nationally. He also coached three NJCAA All-Americans during his time at ICCC. In addition, Taylor served as an assistant coach for the Des Moines Menace in the Premier Developmental League and helped the franchise to a 12-1-1 record in 2014.
As a Drury player from 2007-10, Taylor was a Second Team All-American selection, a two-time First Team All-GLVC pick, and was named to the All-Region first-team three times. He finished his playing career ranked second all-time in assists at Drury with 23. Taylor helped the Panthers to the GLVC title in his junior year in 2009 with a team that went 21-2 and advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA-II national tournament. He was a four-year starter, a team captain for three seasons, and also a member of the GLVC All-Academic Team.
Taylor graduated from Drury in 2011 with a degree in Speech Communication and a Master’s Degree in Secondary Education in 2022. Taylor holds a United Soccer Coaches Premier Diploma, UEFA A, and UEFA B license.
In December of 2020, Ben married Mel (Jaeger) Taylor, and the couple resides in Springfield.
(The NCAA vacated 7 wins from 2020-21 and 8 wins from 2021, resulting in his official record of 29-43-21 and 23-39-17).
Ben Taylor Year-by-Year at Drury
| Year |
Rec. |
GLVC |
Postseason |
| 2024 |
8-6-4 |
6-5-3 |
GLVC Quarterfinals |
| 2023 |
4-9-5 |
4-6-3 |
GLVC Quarterfinals |
| 2022 |
7-3-7 |
5-1-6 |
GLVC Quarterfinals |
| 2021 |
8-7-4
0-7-4 (official) |
7-3-4
0-3-4 (official) |
GLVC Semifinals |
| 2020-21 |
7-7
0-7 (official) |
7-7
0-7 (official) |
COVID season played in the spring |
| 2019 |
9-8-2 |
7-6-2 |
GLVC Quarterfinals |
| 2018 |
2-12-3 |
2-9-2 |
|
| 2017 |
7-7-2 |
6-6-2 |
|
| TOTALS |
52-59-27 |
44-43-22 |
Four GLVC Tournaments |
| officially |
37-53-21 |
30-39-17 |
|
