EVANS CITY — He's not playing football himself anymore, but Blaise Taggart has a lot of say in who gets to play in the NFL.

Taggart, 29, a former football and baseball player at Mars, is in his sixth season as a scout for the Houston Texans.

“It's my dream job. I even got to come home,” he said.

A 2009 Mars graduate, Taggart atended the University of Cincinnati to study sports administration. That led him to doing video work for the university's football coaches.

His first year out of college, he landed a job as a coaching video assistant with the Cincinnati Bengals.

“My foot was in the door, but my goal was to become an NFL scout,” Taggart said.

He took a step toward that goal in 2014, accepting a job as a recruiting assistant with the University of Cincinnati. Through that position, he met a number of NFL scouts.

One of those acquaintances was a scout with the Baltimore Ravens, who took the job as scouting coordinator with the Texans the following year.

“I texted him my congratulations and asked if he had any openings,” Taggart said. “The Texans were looking for a college scouting assistant.

“I applied, went through the interview process and got the job.”

And with that, he relocated to Houston for two years.

Since then, Taggart was promoted to Northeast Area Scout for the Texans. That enabled him to move back to the area.

“We lived in Seven Fields for a couple of years, now Evans City,” he said. “It's good to be home.”

That is, when he's home.

Taggart's scouting area covers from Virginia Beach up the coast through the New England states. He comes as far west as Huntington, W.Va.

“This being the COVID year, not every college is allowing NFL scouts into its games,” Taggart said. “That's lessened the travel somewhat, but those restrictions are being loosened a bit now.”

Taggart has been to games at Pitt, West Virginia and Navy this season.

“We do a lot of Zoom calls now with scouts from all over the league and the entire support staff of colleges,” he said.

Under normal circumstances, Taggart spends 10 out of every 14 days on the road. He either attends college games, practices, or meets with players to put together profiles.

He flies to Houston four times a year for meetings.

“I go the NFL Combine every year,” he said. “When colleges host their Pro Days, I go to a lot of them.

“The meetings in Houston are basically preparation for setting up our draft board. We do a lot of background checks. Everything is about evaluation of players.”

Two of the Texans' 2020 draft choices — cornerback Jon Reid from Penn State and wide receiver Isaiah Coulter from Rhode Island — came from Taggart's region.

“One person doesn't take credit for that, though,” Taggart quickly pointed out. “We come to those (draft) decisions as a team. A lot of people are involved.”

He credits his wife, Alyx, for being “extremely supportive” and is thankful for the days at home he can spend with the couple's 3-year-old son.

“I feel fortunate to be home as often as I am,” Taggart said.

He said he feels his job is secure with the Texans despite the dismissal of Bill O'Brien as head coach and general manager.

While his long-range thoughts include possibly becoming a general manager himself down the road, Taggart recognizes the significance of his status in the league today.

“I'm not 30 yet and I've been part of six NFL playoff teams — once with the Bengals, five times with Houston,” he pointed out. “That's pretty good.”