Beyond the Bags with taylor stone of wtf cornhole

This was a fun one. Mr. Stone of WTF bags in a real down to earth guy. He is first and foremost a cornhole player before he is a bag maker. This guy's passion for the game is intense and you can feel it when you talk to him. You also get to see that he is still just like the rest of us that love this crazy game. Let's get to know him a little better.....

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how all this came about?

Sure, I made my first cornhole bags, for my wedding. I went to a music festival, Larry Joe Taylor fest, that's when I was introduced to cornhole. The next year I was getting married, so I decided to make my own cornhole bags, and boards, for my wedding, because we loved it. I had no idea about competitive cornhole at the time. I made the bags and years went on, 5 years or so, and then we figured out that there is a competitive cornhole. A buddy of mine asked me to go play at a local TCL event, there are two things I remember from that, getting our butts kicked by two women, everybody thinks the same, they are going to go in and dominate, NOPE. Two women who I don't even remember their names, humbled us that day! I don't even think they play cornhole anymore. The second thing I remember was seeing these competitive bags, with plastic resin, that blew my mind even more. So after that, we bought our first set of bags, slide rites, back then you could buy two sets of slide rites, for like $45, something ridiculous compared to what it is now. With my background in sports, I knew that you wear out equipment, and I thought it was crazy to be spending $45 on a set of slide rites, I thought I would wear them out practicing, so I said, "I'm going to make my own, and practice with them." Not having to have anything to do with selling them, and that's what I did.  I made them and played with them. It got to the point where other people started seeing these bags or hearing about them,  and asking about them. I could make them, but I had no idea really, I didn't know about sublimation or any of these many places to get fill from.  I just found fill on West Georgia's site and just bought 20 pounds of it, to make me a few sets and move on. After that people started asking about me making bags, so I said I'd look into it. So I bought everything, sewing machine, presses, and I had all of it for over a year, and I never did anything with it. I set aside and said, I didn't have time. I really wanted to be part of ACL bags back even before killshots. With our stitch and  everything, I didn't though. I guess you could say I was nervous, I didn't know what to expect, so I didn't do it. I regret that, I don't regret much in my life, but I do regret not doing it a year prior.  What comes a year after that? Covid. Covid is what made me start making bags to sell, what else were we going to do? We couldn't go anywhere. It was all shut down. I had all the stuff I needed already, so I decided to try it and see what happens. So I talked to my mom, and told her I wanted to make bags to sell, my mom thought I was crazy. She's the one who is the sewer, where I get that from, she thought I was crazy, but she said, "You are my son and I'll support you." Well low and behold, it takes off quick, and spawns into where we are at now. That's kind of how it all got started.

The bags that you made at the beginning, did they have the world famous Stone stitch around the edge? 

Yes they did. We wanted something different, to stand out, and we ran with it. I still have that set of bags somewhere intact in storage.

And that all came from mom?

Yes, that stitch just spawned out of my mom's head as a "what if." Now it is actually a patent pending stitch that we filled for. (News drop!)

So what's the adult beverage of choice?

My go to cornhole drink is Dos Equis with lime. There is something about it, it may be the lime more than anything! 

Can you tell us about the WTF brand, how that name came about?

My mother and I were trying to come up with something different, a name that would stand out, that's always been our biggest thing, same thing with the stitch. How do we stand out in a crowd of hundreds? 1 was the stitch and 2 was we wanted a catchy name. She asked, "why don't we use the phonetic language?"  I looked at it, and of course thought that everybody knows the saying, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, and I was like what about WTF cornhole, and we will call our bags, Whiskey, Tango, and Foxtrot as our first 3 bags? She was like,"Well what will people think!?" And I said, "Well we don't have to say anything, we will never write that on the bags, or say that is what it is." SO the Brand is literally just the letters WTF. There is no other official meaning. We do play with that though. Our bags do some crazy things, and we believe that is a feature of the stitch, they kind of like to drip in the hole where other carpet bags don't.  The make em' say phrase didn't really come in until after the bags were out for a while, from people seeing them do crazy things, like when they just slowly keep leaking into the hole after people think they have stopped. 

So your bags do tend to do crazy impressive things, you really credit that to the stitch?

I don't know what else it could be? Honestly if it wasn't for the stitch, what would be the difference between it and other bags?

So you come up with the name WTF with your mom, and moms on board, she must be pretty cool right?

Well she wasn't on board at first.  She was like, "I know what this means!" and she was worried about it. I told her that she needs to know the cornhole crowd, and they will love it! I told her it's all about business, and she thought about it, and the next day, she was in.  

You use that name to create a connection to each bag name correct? 

Yea I take a lot of pride in how I think it should be run, in fairness, and downhome, not necessarily country boy, but as a good person and as a good company. Done the right way, and run the right way, and not screw anyone over. It's the way I like to live my life, the way I was raised and the way I raise my kids. 

You are one of those guys that is constantly out there at events with your community aren't you?

Yes, and that' not really to go out and advertise or drum up business. It's because I love to play. I want to play to win, but I don't have enough time to practice, to compete with the Grant Upchurch's, or the Brandon Gregor's or the other pros in TCL that have been there, like Ernest Monarca, or Bobby Fink, I just don't have  that amount of time or space to throw like they do.  So, unfortunately I'm in the middle area where I am not great, but I am not terrible. It's hard for me to win, but it's about going out and having a good time, and hanging out with my buddies that I have met through cornhole. I have met some really great friends through cornhole. So that's what it is about for me. It's not just making bags, it's having a good time at these events. I get stopped a lot, by people I don't recognize or even know their names. It happens all over the place, and I always talk to anybody. That was an odd thing at first to get used to, and not be awkward about it. It's gotten easier to talk to people. 

Bag makers have had a hard time getting fill lately, are you having to change anything up too? 

We are changing fill in the Whiskey and X-ray. 

Is it because you are trying to improve the bag, or because of procurement? 

I do think it improves tha bags, but that's not why it started. The fill we had been using was great, but it has lacked consistency lately. Before covid, we never had an issue, or in the beginning of it. But then the fill was different from time to time. But most people don't understand that "fill" is not actually made for cornhole bags. That plastic resin is normally turned into gatorade bottles, and caps, or medical equipment, or IV lines, and things for hospitals, and they buy millions of pounds a year of it, compared to us bag makers that buy maybe 50,000 pounds of it. So the main buys don't care if there is a little deviation to the resin. For us, it makes a big difference. So now we switched to make the bags more consistent and always have the same "greatness." I feel the whiskey and X ray are going to be a major hit and people are going to like them. It's going to take a little bit of time, but once people get them in their hands, they are going to fall in love. 

Not too long ago, Tango was one of the most desired bags on the market. The bag market is always changing, and has moved in a different way.  Based on that, as a company, is the goal to drop that next new "it" bag, or is it more just to be the most consistent and quality bags?

Well, a little bit of both. The first bag I made was the Tango, that bag was for me, it was exactly how I thought a carpet bag should throw. Before that I threw Reynolds, and I thought there should have been some changes, in that bag for how I played, and what I wanted in a carpet bag, so the Tango is based on what I like best.  Before this year, it was all based on what I thought, I didn't have pros to bounce things off of.  I got people's opinions, but they weren't pros.  Going forward it is a little bit of both now, I do have pros, they get to throw bags a lot more than me. So I get a lot of feedback from them.  I do put a lot of time into making what they like. I want my pros to be happy. They are an extension of my company, me, and my mother.  So we go after people who are like minded to us. And I trust them.  The bag market has changed tremendously, partly from the economy and partly from saturation. Things have slowed down.

So you have 7 ACL pros now? And you have picked some guys that weren't household names, but that is quickly changing.

Yes 7. I had a little chip on my shoulder, I knew how good of a product I had, I just had to get them into the right hands. So I played more of a moneyball game getting into it. I got some pretty amazing players. So I got Dillion Turpin, Ricky Gee. Michael Lucas Jr. Michael Dinges, Ernest Monarca, Caleb Franklin, and Ernest Hererra. Both of the Ernest are local and have always thrown my brand and supported me, that was a no brainer. Caleb Franklin has been  throwing really really good. Can't say I didn't see it coming.  He got onto my radar at a TCL event. I watch cornhole all the time on FB. Caleb Franklin showed up, and I watched because he was playing Tony Smith, and he won. 

Your whole team has been on fire lately. 

Yes they have. They have all been putting in the work. At the same time, they are all getting really comfortable with the bags. Dillion, Ricky, and Mike and Mike all had to switch this year. Dillion won his first bracket at national #1, and I think he is throwing better now. They are all ballin 'out right now. 

Is it a tight knit family group?

Oh yea, we just all went out to Salt Lake CIty together, stayed in the same airbnb, we had a good time. We have a group chat going, there is a lot of podium picks, but a lot of time it's just crap talking one another, or sending stupid pictures, or just having a good time, at each others expense. I'm pretty sure I was the first one to be made fun of in that group, by Mr. Gee himself.

So the ACL has come out with some new policies for bag makers this year, are you planning on continuing down that path with them?

Yes, definitely.  We are working on new bags for next year right now. I wish we had more time for prototypes and what not though. We are going to stick with them. I would probably do things a little differently, but it's not my company. If we want to play in their ball park, we have to follow their rules. 

What is the endgame for WTF, you want to be the biggest bag maker, or maybe have the best team? 

I want to be the top dog. I want to have the best bags out there. As far as pros go, I don't necessarily want top dogs, I want people that want to throw my bags, and that represent my brand well, as an extension of how I think the brand should be seen. Like the pros we have now. I want those pros to win with my bags. I want the players and the bags to be a team and succeed together, even more so than they already have. I want people to grow with our brand into the best of best together, and next year we may see one of them be the next Jamie Graham. 

So do you want to be going after players, or do you want them coming to you because you have the bags they want to throw?

Hundred percent the second. I want somebody who already throws my bags. That is the number one thing in finding sponsored players for me. Even Mike and Mike have been previously throwing side GC's before this, now they are asking me if i can make something slower than a Tango. 

So WTFreaks is a fan page started by a couple guys, are you on there paying attention to what's going on?

Yes, I am always going to notice the posts of people on the podium with my bags especially. I'm usually going to at least like it. I'm trying to be more interactive online. I try to be more involved and respond faster and let people know that I am paying attention and I care about it. 

Who do you want to shout out or say some thanks to?

First is my wife of course. I wouldn't have had time to do this with our little kids, if it wasn't for her, making dinners and getting them in showers, and making sure teeth get brushed. She is there night in and night out. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be able to do this. My wife is a huge part and super supportive. Next would be my mom, she took a crazy chance on us trying to make these bags and helped with the patent pending stitch, and the name, and everything. I run things by my wife, my mom, my dad, and other people all the time to try and get things done right the first time. And those 3 opinions are valued more than most. After that, Chuck Cordell and Kyle Butler, I probably wouldn't be where I am without them promoting! Kyle just started promoting the brand like crazy for no reason, I'd never met him, never given him anything, never talked to him, he bought the bags and promoted them. So when CHuck started the Freaks, I told him that I thought he would need somebody to help him, we both immediately said Kyle Butler. We didn't even know the guy. We just thought he was the best guy to represent the brand. IT paid off, Kyle is a close friend of mine, I can say now. If it wasn't for  Kyle and Chuck, we wouldn't have grown as fast as we had. The last one, the guy that got me to make ACL bags, Mr. Rich Chamness, from BG. He saw my bags before they were ACL stamped and told me I should look into making ACL bags. I said " I don't know man, the deadline is in like 2 weeks." He told me "If you can get in, it will be worth it." Nobody knows that except him and I, if he even remembers that. But, he was the one that gave me that big push to go ACL.  Of course I want to thank all the players and pros and anybody that supported us along the way. It's been an awesome ride, there are some not fun things about it, but that's business. The most enjoyable part about this, probably creating bags, I do all the creations myself, all the designs, all the customs, unless somebody sends me the artwork.  It's not outsourced, I really take pride in that part. And again, everybody that supported us from the very beginning and before our ACL bags hit the market. 

One more quick question before we go, Are you playing better pre or post the new hair cut?

 So I didn't cut my hair for 18 months after covid, it got like 7 inches long. So I think I am the opposite of Samson, I got better after the haircut! 

This was a super fun time with Mr. Stone and we greatly appreciate his time! Show WTF and his team some love!

-Nick