Taylar Keene joined UCF Athletics in August 2025 as the Assistant Director, Mental Health and Performance.
A Licensed Professional Counselor and National Certified Counselor, Keene brings experience in clinical mental health, performance psychology, and student-athlete support. Prior to arriving in Orlando, Keene spent nearly two years sas the Behavioral Health Case Manager for Tulane University Athletics, where she provided direct care, crisis response, case coordination, and mental wellness programming for 450+ Division I student-athletes, leading initiatives to enhance treatment approaches through data-driven insights.
Keene has worked across multiple levels of behavioral health care, including private practice and as the Intensive Outpatient Program Director at Palmetto Addiction Recovery Center in Metairie, Louisiana. There, she specialized in treating substance use and addiction among individuals in high-stress professions—including physicians, nurses, attorneys, and dietitians—using a performance-informed, recovery-based lens.
Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and raised in Oakland, California, Keene was a competitive cheerleader for more than eight years and continued cheering through high school. She relocated back to her Louisiana roots in 2014, moving to New Orleans to attend Dillard University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in public health in 2018. She went on to earn her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Loyola University New Orleans in 2022.