David Taylor Has Help in Launching His Plans to Put Oklahoma State Back on Top
STILLWATER – David Taylor said he was standing out with his animals on his property outside State College, Pa. The phone lit up. He saw the number was from Oklahoma and then he heard the voice message, “This is Chad Weiberg, athletic director at Oklahoma State.” Maybe it was a sign, maybe it was perfect timing. A loss to Aaron Brooks in the U.S. Olympic Trials final match had Taylor at a “crossroads.”
“I love coaching and I love wrestling,” Taylor said of how he wound up taking the Oklahoma State job. “I said the last seven years building a training center with Mark McKnight and in a short period of time our club became one of the best clubs in the country. I think we were able to develop the talent and pour into the kids and that is something that I always loved.”
Okay, so maybe coaching? If you are David Taylor, the Magic Man, then you can be choosy.
“There are only a few places that have the ability to win at the highest level. It takes a lot,” Taylor reiterated.
He returned that phone call.
“You can do this at Oklahoma State. Coaching is a part of it, wrestling is a part of it, technique is a part of it,” Taylor explained. “We’re going to create our own little magic down here.”
Taylor taking a play off of his own “Magic Man” nickname. However, he was very clear about what helped Penn State and what needs to be strengthened here in brick and mortar and commitment.
The regional training center needs to be nice and it needs to be populated with the kind of wrestlers that young wrestlers aspiring to be NCAA champions, freestyle champions, Olympic and World champions can look at and know that Stillwater can be their college and post college home for those dreams.
Taylor pointed to Daton Fix and idnetified him as a future coach and athlete that he hopes will help out and that he plans to help with his freestyle aspirations.
Something other than a metal fabricated building for a regional training center on the Oklahoma State campus. The one at Penn State is across the hall from the Nittany Lions wrestling room.
It just so happens a friend to wrestling in Oklahoma, not an OSU alum, but a supporter of wrestling was ready to help out. He was ready to assist especially if it involved David Taylor. Paycom owner and CEO Chad Richison was eager enough to volunteer his plane and to go along to meet the potential new head coach of Cowboy wrestling.
“You know I had actually reached out to David when the OU job became available last April,” Richison said. “I had been a fan of his and what he had done. I hadn’t met him though, so when I got to meet him and his family, I was able to share my experience of growing up and wrestling in the State of Oklahoma and being surrounded by all the many Olympians. I got to talk to him about what his goals are next. Actually, get to sit beside Chad (Weiberg) and David as they talked through it. I’m grateful to be a part of it and be there when it was going down.”
Richison talks with passion of what the sport did for him and how it shaped him in his life. He is a visionary that has created a unique company that does worldwide business and is the leader in the payroll and business logistics industry.
Richison attended John Smith wrestling camps, was part of the first team state championship at Tuttle High School and then was in the wrestling program for hall-of-fame coach David James at the University of Central Oklahoma. Richison has invested in his alma mater and done fantastic ih helping UCO campuswide. Now, he wants to help wrestling in Oklahoma.
The first step in the plan is a better facility to make the regional training center for USA Wrestling at Oklahoma State even stronger and more prominent. The need to have it stand out and draw the best in the region and even beyond.
It is usually a lot of fun and can be very satisfying and rewarding when people’s goals and dreams collide and they combine to make it all happen. It looks like that will be the case with David Taylor and Chad Richison.