WINTHROP – Despite missing nearly the entirety of the 2024 football season with an injury, Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop senior Easton Taylor still got plenty of attention for his football skills and will be joining Southwest Minnesota State University for the 2025 season.

Taylor said he would have attended SMSU regardless of if they offered him a spot on the football team, but was happy that he was able to continue his career with them.

“The school is nice and affordable, the team, there’s nothing like it there,” he said. “A brotherhood. They just make everybody feel like family, and the chemistry is not what I’m used to.

“I’ve been in contact with Marshall before the injury. I was unsure if they would have kept speaking with me, but regardless of me being hurt or not, I was planning on going to Marshall.”

Taylor was recruited as a linebacker for SMSU but hopes to contribute mostly on special teams for his freshman year.

“As of right now, I don’t know how much I’ll actually play at [linebacker],” Taylor said. “So I’m going to try my hardest at practice and try to get onto special teams. That will show the coaches that I’m determined and dedicated to the team and willing to do the dirty work. Start at the bottom of the totem just like I did in high school. Along with that, the players there know I want to be there and I want to show up and work.”

SMSU runs a multiple 3-4 defensive scheme, with linebackers often being asked to rush the passer. Taylor said that his versatility in that regard was a big part of the reason why the Mustangs recruited him.

“They play a three-front and they switch it with a 3-4 and 3-5,” Taylor said. “After taking my official visit, they said I’d be both the edge and the inside. I had a year or two at outside [in high school] and then a year and the one and less than a quarter games this year, I was at inside.”

Taylor racked up 134 tackles with five interceptions in his career, despite missing the majority of his senior season. Taylor also played running back for the Thunderbirds but said he prefers playing on the defensive side of the ball.

“I think that would be really awesome to play both positions, but I think I’ll be predominantly at linebacker,” Taylor said. “Running back is fun, but I enjoy playing linebacker a lot more than running back. Offensive injuries are more frequent, I feel, and at linebacker you have more freedom of movement. And a little personal note, I like hitting people.”

Taylor’s older brother and 2022 GFW grad, Treay, is also a member of the SMSU football team.

Taylor will also be studying exercise science at SMSU.