New Head Coach David Taylor Keeps Tyler Caldwell as an Assistant Coach
STILLWATER – It was hinted at his welcome news conference with Tyler Caldwell the only former assistant under retired head coach John Smith in the room that Tyler Caldwell would be a part of the future of Oklahoma State wrestling under new head coach David Taylor. Monday (May 20) Taylor announced Monday that former Cowboy Tyler Caldwell will remain with the program as an assistant coach.
“I could not be more excited to have Tyler on our staff,” Taylor said in a release from Oklahoma State University Athletic Media Relations. “It was clear to me after meeting with Tyler that our visions for the program align. His knowledge of the sport, diligent work ethic and longtime dedication to the program will be invaluable as we move forward into this next chapter of Cowboy wrestling.”
Caldwell has been involved in OSU wrestling for close to a decade now and he is a former Oklahoma State wrestler himself.
Caldwell transferred to OSU ahead of the 2013 campaign following a stint at the University of Oklahoma. Earning All-America honors in all four years of his career, Caldwell was a two-time finalist and finished his career a with a 126-29 record, including a 63-9 mark at OSU. He also won a Big 12 title in both of his seasons as a Cowboy while securing bonus points in over 40% of his matches.
He can be valuable in giving Taylor the background on the program, it’s supporters, and the school in general. This past season was Caldwell’s first as an assistant coach after spending the previous six seasons as the program’s recruiting coordinator.
This season Caldwell especially helped several wrestlers that had strong campaigns as Dustin Plott and Daton Fix each finished as a national runner-up, while Izzak Olejnik placed fifth at 165 pounds to give OSU its most placers since 2021. The Cowboys excelled in dual competition throughout the regular season with wins in their first 14 duals, three of which coming against top-five teams as part of OSU’s nation-leading 12 ranked victories on the year.
While serving as recruiting coordinator, Oklahoma State consistently signed classes ranked top-five nationally. In Caldwell’s final season in the role, the Cowboys inked the top-ranked class that was highlighted by top pound-for-pound wrestler Christian Carroll. He also played a major role in the Cowboys’ 2020 class, which was ranked first in the country and consisted of the No. 1 overall recruit.
Caldwell also spent time as a volunteer assistant at West Virginia prior to joining the staff in Stillwater.