Saints CB Alontae Taylor talks Kellen Moore, 2025 Season, and Glorilla

Alontae Taylor sits down with Bryant McFadden and Ran Carthon at Athletes First Elite Week in Las Vegas.

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Glow though. Gorilla. Glow. She been getting a lot of attraction lately. Yeah, she f. You like gorilla? She smooth. [Music] How has everything been for you here at Elite Week? It’s been good, man. I think, you know, the past couple years has kind of been the same as far as guys coming. And I think the biggest thing is having those elite guys like Jaylen Ramsey come right first of all and then also be able to give you the knowledge. And I think uh you know, I like to admire my game a little bit after him. So picking his brain today and uh figuring out ways that I can uh put some of his skill sets into my game just kind of add that to the toolbox has been really good so far. So y’all’s uh DB room has gone through some changes at the Saints. You you trade Latimore at one point during the season then as free agent Paulson Adbo leaves goes to the Giants making you the OG in making you the you’re the OG in the room. What what is that going to transition going to be like for you? cuz you you have great leadership cuz you got the safeties, you got Honeybadger, you got those guys. How’s that transition going to be for you to be the leader in that room? I think it’s going to be simple and smooth. I think um I’m a naturalb born leader. I think it’s just something that’s just a knat for me. I think God kind of blessed me with the ability to be a vocal guy, be a guy who can also go on the field and just kind of do it. um at Tennessee kind of had ups and downs and one thing I for sure can say I did was I stayed true whenever things got bumpy with the coaching changes and things like that and and just kind of show the younger guys kind of how to do it like you said I had Marshon Latimore who showed me how to do it Paul and Debo another guy showed me how to do it and we still got Honey Badger right so I kind of call him like big bro uh he’s kind of showing me the ins and outs of being a pro on the field and off the field naturalb born leader within himself as well so I think the pieces around me has kind of been perfect and I think now like you said it’s new opportunity this new role and I’m embracing and and I’m ready to go. What’s something about Kell Moore that you now currently know about him either as a personality, his personality or coach? Like is he cool? Cuz he seemed to be kind of like a just a mild tempered guy like blah. Is he funny or is he No, no. He’s he’s he’s funny, man. I think coming into he’s a younger guy. So, I kind of felt like it was going to be more like my best friend type of head coach. But, you know, he he’s he has a serious side of him and I think that’s good to have as a head coach because uh we can we can take him serious and you know, he’s had success within the league so far and so I like I mean we do a lot of team activities which is really good to kind of build that camaraderie around with one another and um you know in the team in a team room we got a little hoop in there now. So we do a little shooting around and stuff. So, uh, he he he’s he’s he’s cool to be around and I think when we see it on the field, when we vet Min camp, a little bit of it, we can see the competitive side of him, right? And I be talking trash to coach Moore and I think he really appreciates that because he kind of sees the fire side of the defensive guys going against him every day. Yeah. Going from a DA, a Dennis Allen type system to uh Brendan Staley’s, what is there any carryover for you or or what’s the new nuances of this defense that you’re learning now? You know, coach Staley, we can kind of pass things off. So, we going to play a little bit more zone, a little bit more eyes on the quarterback. Um, I think that’s going to help a lot within our defensive uh scheme because we have a lot of guys who can run, right? Like Saints has always did good with drafting guys who have speed and things like that. And, uh, just kind of allowing guys to play in their zones will be, I think, helpful for us. Um, our backs will no longer be to the quarterback so much so we can kind of, you know, get those turnovers and things that will kind of impact the game. What’s the hidden secret about yourself that nobody know about? Oh, that’s a good question. I think I I thrive in the hate, man. I think uh you like being hated on. I don’t think nobody likes it, but I appreciate it just because um it brings something outside of me that I’m kind of starting to figure out. I kind of had it a little bit in college, but now being where I’m at, um I think it’s it’s bringing something else outside of me. I think I’m on a big mission this year and I think a lot of people will see that. You know what you should do this upcoming season with you saying that for all of us and that goes for all the beat riders in New Orleans. If you want to see him at his best, say something trash about his game. To Ran’s point, you’re the guy right now in this in the in the quarterback room, man. And they going to expect a lot of good things from you. You had what 16 PBUs a careerh high continue to evolve and they going to lean on you. You know, the versatility that he has. I don’t think people know your transition to the corner position and the amount of positions you’ve played coming from high school all the way up until this point. Walk us through that and and let the world know how long you’ve actually been playing the corner position. Yeah. So, um, high school, you know, kind of real small high school down in Manchester. Uh, you put your best player at quarterback. Yeah. So, I was quarterback, you know, RPO really didn’t throw the ball too much. Ran really ran the ball. Um, so every team was recruiting me as an athlete. Uh, the schools that did offer me was like Georgia Tech and Louisville. That’s when they had Lamar. So, a guy who can kind of run the ball. Um, and so basically, I committed to Tennessee. Um, our head coach Bush Jones got fired. decommitted. Uh almost went to Georgia after my official visit out there. And then uh Jeremy Puit gets hired at Tennessee. Don’t know anybody on the staff, but uh so I just decided to stay home. Went to Tennessee, played wide receiver. So I was getting recruited as an athlete out of high school. So I went to Tennessee in the spring early enrolled, graduated high school early. Um play receiver for three weeks. Had a team meeting. Coach say he’s going to move a couple guys for three days. You know, I’m sitting there. I ain’t I’m not getting moved. I ain’t never played nothing else but offense. And so, uh, Puit calls my name out and, um, go to his meeting room and he tells me go to corner. And I was really upset. Um, I can imagine. I was so upset cuz I never played it and I’m a competitive guy. So, we get out there, man, you know, uh, in that saving kind of system, we doing like two on twos. We only do one-on- ones for real. And so, I’m getting cooked. I’m getting cooked. And I just hated it, man. For for a long time. I just kept asking it, “Can I go back to receiver? Can I go back to receiver?” And you know, he just basically ended up telling me as long as he’s a head coach, now I’ll never play receiver. He feels like I could be a top corner. So I started playing corner my freshman year in college. And so played four years. Uh final year I played with the Josh Hyple uh team and uh get drafted and so now I’m here. So going into year four in the league, this would be my eighth year ever playing corner. Yeah. And you have guys who, you know, they have the accolades, they got the fame, they got the status, who’s been playing corner since they was five, six years old. So, I feel like for myself, you know, I’m kind of digging myself out of the hole, you know, only having eight years of experience, but no, my ceiling is still high, man. I I haven’t even reached my my best yet. I just get better every year. So, I’m looking forward to that. Back real quick. He talked to all the Georgia Techs and Georgia and Tennessee. We didn’t hear Florida or Florida State in the recruit. I understand why he didn’t say Florida, but I still Hold on. See, see, what are your expectations, man, for the for the Saints in totality? a new coaching staff. Didn’t have really a good year a year ago. No one is really expecting you guys to to be, you know, relevant, you know, but what’s your expectations and and why do you feel how you feel? You know, I’m expecting us to win to win our division. I mean, I think I’ll be selling us short to think that we can’t beat Atlanta and Carolina and Tampa. You know, those are big games for us. And so, I think that’s the first step, right? And I think we got to win a division first before we can talk about Super Bowl status. Um, but you know, we haven’t won a division in three years, I believe it is now. So, uh, that that’s priority number one and I think that we can do that. And I think first it’s going to start off by going out there playing for one another. So, building that team camaraderie, um, week in and week out. So, super excited about getting the training camp. Real quick, Ryan, he talked about division, right? The NFC South, you got Carolina, Tampa, and Atlanta. Out of those three teams, who do you hate the most? I know the answer. We don’t really rock with Atlanta, man. So, you hate Atlanta more than the other two teams? Yeah, for sure. Okay, sounds about right. Yeah, that that rivalry there. I lived it for four years working for the Falcons. That Yeah, that that extends off the field. Little fun question here. What? 2022 second round pick, right? Got a nice little signing bonus. What was your What was your first purchase when you got I got uh How much your signing bonus was? I want to see. I’m going to treat you like a Yeah. 2.6. That was before after taxes. Uh before. Okay. After is probably about 1 two 1.3 1.3 I think. 1.4. Okay. So, I went and got the uh the AMG 53 coupe. Uhhuh. The Benz. Um, that was like my first purchase. So, I’m get mom’s crib when I get the new deal. Being in New Orleans and that fan base. Talk to us about what that’s like for you being who you are cuz you’re a high-profile guy. What’s that like playing in that fan base and being in that city? The best part about it, man, is, you know, they show a lot of love. um no matter the circumstances of what’s going on as far as with our team, you know, they’re constantly giving us praise and things like that. So, appreciate that. And I think the best part, man, is whenever um I think I got to do it twice this past season. You go out there on the field, man, you throw that hand up and the team like the whole stadium gets quiet and you drop it and everybody starts screaming who that who that say they going to beat them scenes. It’s it’s live, man. And it’s probably one of the best stadiums I’ve played in other than um in Knoxville. I think I think Knoxville. Nean Stadium is probably the latest. Who’s your celebrity crush? You might be seen by a lot of people. I kind of Yeah, I kind of been I don’t know. Glo. Gorilla. Glo. She been getting a lot of attraction lately. Yeah, she f. You like Gorilla? She smooth. Yeah. Gorilla is a football fan. She like the Steelers though. She like the Steelers. She just took a picture though with on her album or her picture cover with um Legette from Carolina for that song. Y’all do. Y’all do. He in the video. And y’all got to see each other twice. Twice. So guess what? That might be for Glorilla Love. So Glorilla, ma’am, you got a fan. CB1 Alante Taylor. No doubt from Tennessee. He’s a fan of your music and he’s a fan of you. You’ve been in the gym, he said. And he want to take you tomorrow. We’re going to go to Moro Steakhouse about to We’ll get it. Put your swag on. So, you know, she come to the game, you got to put on for the city. do that every time. We’re gonna try to make that happen. Connection. Shout outside to Glow Realer, Alante Taylor. Yeah. Shout out to you, Glow.