​STARKVILLE — Kamario Taylor has a new quarterbacks coach at Mississippi State football for the 2026 season.The Bulldogs hired Oklahoma State’s Kevin Johns in December, bringing almost 30 years of coaching experience, including several jobs as an offensive coordinator and QB coach in power conferences.Johns’ priority for Taylor, the first-year sophomore starter, with preseason practice beginning Aug. 6?”The No. 1 thing is that Kamario can throw the ball through a brick wall,” Johns said Aug. 3. “He can throw it that hard. But sometimes, you have you learn how to take a little bit off those throws. We call that layering the throw, and I think him still developing that touch in certain situations to not throw the fastball probably is the No. 1 area.”Kevin Johns’ first impression of Kamario TaylorJohns has been with three teams the last four seasons. He was Duke’s offensive coordinator from 2022-23, Oklahoma’s quarterbacks coach in 2024 and Oklahoma State’s QB coach in 2025.He said he remembers watching Taylor’s high school film from Noxubee County but didn’t spend a lot of time on it because he knew Taylor wanted to play at Mississippi State. But Johns paid attention in 2025, Taylor’s freshman year, and watched the Egg Bowl, his first career start.MORE: Mississippi State QB Kamario Taylor has a new roommate. It’s his freshman brother, JayyteeHis hiring at Mississippi State was made before the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, but Johns didn’t coach in that game. He watched it though as Taylor made his second career start.”Even before we stepped on the field, my first impressions were a young man that is just a diligent, relentless worker and is willing to put in all kinds of time up here in this building studying his craft and studying the offense,” Johns said. “That’s No. 1. And then No. 2, what I learned about him is he just has this will to win that I have not seen in a lot of quarterbacks.”Why Kevin Johns thinks Kamario Taylor can handle his growing hypeAs the 2026 season has gotten closer, national hype for Taylor has grown.It started when Taylor was at the Manning Passing Academy in June. Then at SEC Media Days in July, Taylor was the talk of the team. He only has two starts and 82 pass attempts in his career, but people are beginning to catch on that Taylor could be a really special player.”I guess it’s to be seen if he can block out the noise, but if anyone can do it, Kamario can,” Johns said. “I think he’s an extremely mature young man, and I’ve been blow away since I’ve had the opportunity to start working with him just in all areas.”Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: What Mississippi State’s new QB coach wants to change about Kamario Taylor