Career
Heinicke played football under head coach Kevin Reach at Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, Georgia, where he was an all-state selection as a junior after guiding Collins Hill to a 10-4 record and a trip to the Class AAAAA semifinals. The award is presented annually to 50 high school varsity football athletes. He threw over 300 yards in nine games and also ran for 354 yards on 77 carries along with a pair of touchdowns.
Following his senior season, Heinicke was invited to play at the North/South All-Star Football Classic, where he collected 254 yards and three touchdowns en-route to Most Valuable Player honors after helping the North to a 22-0 victory over the South.
He appeared on the reality television show The Ride featuring high school quarterbacks competing for a spot in the United States. Army All-American game. In 2011, Taylor Heinicke accepted an athletic scholarship to attend Old Dominion University, where he played for the Old Dominion Monarchs football team from 2011 to 2014.
2012 season
Heinicke became the starter for Old Dominion in 2012. That year he led the Monarchs to a 10–3 record in the Colonial Athletic Association, but lost in the second round of FCS playoffs against Georgia Southern.
He passed for 2385 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 1 interception, and he ran for 363 yards and 4 touchdowns.
He also punted 4 times for 170 yards. Heinicke was named to the All-Civil Aeronautics Administration 3rd team Offense and was the National Freshman Performer of the Year. Old Dominion finished ranked #10 in the Football Championship Subdivision.
2013 season
In 2013, Heinicke led the Monarchs to an 11–2 record, while losing in the playoffs quarterfinals, again to Georgia Southern.
That year, Heinicke passed for an FCS-record 5076 yards, 44 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. He ran for 470 yards and 11 touchdowns.
He additionally punted 11 times for 475 yards. On 9/22/12, against New Hampshire, Heinicke passed for an astounding 730 yards and five touchdowns, a Division I record.
Old Dominion finished ranked #6 in the FCS. 2014 season
Foreign the 2014 season, Old Dominion began a transition to Conference United States of America, meaning for the 2013 season, ODU was an independent team
Despite this, Heinicke led ODU to an 8–4 record. During the season, he passed for 4022 yards, 33 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. He ran for 348 yards and 5 touchdowns.
He also punted 13 times for a total of 539 yards, also kicking the longest punt on the team for the season of 61 yards.
Heinicke became just the 18th quarterback from Division I to pass for 10000 yards and rush for 1000. He finished in the top-10 among FBS quarterbacks in passing yards, passing yards per game and touchdown passes.
Pre-draft
Minnesota Vikings
Heinicke went undrafted in the 2015 NFL Draft, but signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent. He competed against Mike Kafka to back up Vikings starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater along with Shaun Hill.
Kafka would get injured and was placed on injured reserve, making way for Heinicke to be the third string QB.