How Taylor Elgersma is powering the Golden Hawks into Yates Cup contention

Taylor Elgersma loves football. Maybe a little bit too much.

Michael Faulds, the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks head coach, often finds himself worrying if his quarterback thinks about nothing else.

"Sometimes, I have to meet with him just to tell him 'it doesn't all have to be football,'" Faulds said.

He wasn't completely joking.

Elgersma's schedule starts on Monday with a workout in the morning, a meeting with coaches on his own to review game plans in the afternoon and a walkthrough later in the day. From Tuesday to Thursday, he's hitting the weights, studying in offensive film meetings, and attending evening practices. On Friday, he'll have more meetings, another walkthrough before game day on Saturday, and game film review on Sunday.

And repeat.

Faulds calls Elgersma a "workaholic." During the last few seasons, he recalls times when the fourth-year quarterback would text coaches shortly after practice to critique plays he watched from that night's practice film.

The Laurier quarterback said it was Faulds who cultivated this mindset in him ever since he arrived on campus during the cancelled 2020 U Sports football season.

"Me and [Faulds] are wired so similar with how we compete, how much we care about football, the way that we want to lead and the way that we want to make Laurier football great," Elgersma said.

On Sept. 9, all of Canadian university football saw the fruit of his labours.

In a 60-21 blowout of the University of Guelph Gryphons, Elgersma threw for a career-best 440 yards and six touchdowns, tying Laurier's single-game touchdown pass record. If that wasn't enough, he also added a cherry on top with a goal-line rushing touchdown.