What Others are Saying About David Taylor Being Named Head Coach at Oklahoma State

STILLWATER – There is a certain amount of silence regarding the hiring of former Penn State NCAA Champ, two-time Danny Hodge Award wiiner, Olympic Gold Medalist, and four-time World Champion wrestler David Taylor. The silence emanates from Oklahoma State and Penn State. There is one glaring exception in that current Penn State wrestler Carter Starocci fired off in Twitter. I learned this morning that Penn State’s spring semester ended last weekend with graduation and that campus is as deserted as it gets during the year. At Oklahoma State, obviously there are comments from athetic director Chad Weiberg and administration, but mum from wrestling. In fact, the wrestlers and coaching staff, including Cowboy Wrestling Club, were called in for a meeting this morning with administration and only one coach was in attendance. 

How reliable are the reports that Paycom President and CEO Chad Richison is involved? My sources tell me 100 percent and as a result, Oklahoma State wrestling will be well on it’s way to a new facility for headquartering, a plump NIL budget, and Taylor will have a $1 million salary.

An early guess on assistant coaches … I predict that Taylor will bring fellow Nittany Lions Wrestling Club resident athlete Thomas Gilman and Penn State assistant coach and his brother-in-law Jimmy Kennedy. Taylor is married to Kennedy’s sister, Kendra.

As for the opinions of the outside wrestling world on the hiring of David Taylor, there was plenty.

Audrey Snyder of The Athletic in a story: “Oklahoma State’s hiring of David Taylor could lead to a seismic shift in NCAA wrestling”  

“Oklahoma State is bringing in one of the top wrestlers in the world who has succeeded as an athlete at every level. While Taylor has never been a collegiate coach before, he is the wrestler who many of the athletes he’ll soon be recruiting have watched and studied. Like Sanderson was for Taylor, these recruits saw Taylor win Olympic gold in Tokyo and watched as he became in many ways the current face of the sport.”

David Taylor last month on the possibility of coaching and his preparedness.

“I see what college coaches do. I see what our coaches have to do to be competitive at the highest level and it’s more than a full-time job.”

Audrey Snyder of The Athletic:

While no school appears poised to dethrone the Penn State wrestling dynasty anytime soon — the Nittany Lions have won 11 of the past 13 NCAA team titles — Oklahoma State has the program DNA to win big.

The Wrestling Changed My Life podcast:

The Cowboys will be a top 3 team in how many years? My bet is that David Taylor will lead Oklahoma State to a top 2 team in 3 years or less.

Current Penn State super Sr. wrestler Carter Starocci: 

“I was offered a big pay day too. I said go wipe your (expletive) with that money. When it comes to money people switch like the weather. Not me. Loyalty is everything. Nothing is built without trust. PSU vs OK State in the football stadium. The national champs 10 matches to 0.”

Stillwater High School, U.S. Open champion, and Oklahoma State wrestling commitment Ladarion Lockett responding to Starocci:

“Be happy you only have one year left ….”

Several things to be aware of. The primary requirement of a wrestling coach in college is to recruit good wrestlers. Taylor had David Taylor Magic Man Wrestling, one of the largest yout wrestling programs in the country and it fed Penn State wrestling. Taylor is very connected to a lot of talented young wrestlers. 

Lockett appears to be on board and it will be interesting to see how the Oklahoma State wrestlers respond. Former head coach John Smith is out of town, supposedly on a fishing trip with his wife. That was probably for the best. I’ve been told that Smith was aware of the pursuit of David Taylor and stayed out of it. It reminds me of how former Oklahoma State baseball coach Gary Ward did it. It is not always the best move to try to dictate or even suggest who should succeed you as a head coach.