Oklahoma State Introduces David Taylor As Eighth Head Coach of Cowboy Wrestling

STILLWATER – On Friday morning, Oklahoma State officially introduced the new head coach of Cowboy Wrestling, David Taylor. As it was for John Smith’s retirement press conference, the theater room in the West End Zone of Boone Pickens Stadium was filled to the brim.

With not an empty seat in the house, it was full of fans, donors and supporters, the entire wrestling team, family and friends of the new coaching staff, numerous members of the athletic department, both support staff and fellow coaches.

“I think right away there’s more people here than at the world championships,” Taylor’s opening remark started. “It just speaks volumes to what this program means to everybody.”

Taylor addressed the fans and the media for nearly 15 minutes, talking everything from his wrestling career at the prep, collegiate and free style/world levels, to his decision to make the move to being the head coach at Oklahoma State. 

“Right off the bat, I realize this is a tough challenge,” Taylor stated. “And to be honest, it is the most uncomfortable decision I’ve ever made. But just like training, just like when I was a kid, the best results come from being uncomfortable. And I don’t want to lose. I don’t want to lose at anything that I do, and I’m very excited for what’s ahead.”

The entirety of his press conference was full of important information, as was the breakout sessions with his assistant coaches, John Smith and Chad Weiberg. But there were two nuggets I took away from Taylor’s presser. One being about his coaching staff. While it’s not complete just yet, former Penn State assistant coach Jimmy Kennedy has been named Associate Head Coach and former Iowa wrestler Thomas Gilman has been named an assistant coach. Former OSU wrestler Daton Fix is staying on as a graduate assistant and will be helping out with the Regional Training Center.

“I want to surround myself with people that believe in what we’re trying to do. My brother-in-law, Jimmy Kennedy, who we announced as associate head coach, he’s a guy who’s going to be with us. He’s going to be pouring into these kids. Thomas Gilman, Thomas and I just finished our competition career, and what I like about these guys is their character’s the highest I know. Just from being around them, they’re people that are selfless and I think to be a great coach you have to serve your athletes and they’re willing to do that. When building a staff, it’s important to have coaches that are going to wrestle with the guys, because I think that’s super important. It’s important for these guys and the future recruits, we’re going to wrestle and we’re going to help you understand what it feels like to be the best in the world. What it feels like to be the best in the country.”

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The other really important part of his speech was about John Smith, who retired from Oklahoma State after 33 years as head coach and nearly 50 years around the program.

“Coach Smith, a complete legend, I can’t even call him John Smith, he’s a coach. He’s never coached me before, but that’s the kind of aura that he has. To be able to be honored to even be considered this in this situation, I mean this job hasn’t been available for 33 years. He’s the greatest American wrestler we’ve ever seen. So, coach, thank you for everything you’ve done, the impact you’ve had on the wrestling community, the impact you had on me, you just set that bar high for wrestling, coaching and I’m very, very excited for this opportunity and I do not take it lightly. So, I just want to say thank you.”

Pokes Report will have much more coverage from Taylor press conference and the breakout sessions in the coming hours and days.