Oklahoma State Hires David Taylor as Head Coach

Oklahoma State has done it! They’ve pulled off the most stunning and exciting coaching moves in recent history. Tonight, the Cowboys announced that 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist David Taylor will be the team's new head coach. 

The job will be Taylor’s first collegiate coaching position. In addition to his competitive career, Taylor has his own youth club (M2 Training Center) on the outskirts of State College, Pennsylvania. M2 has proven to be one of the better clubs in the nation. 

Along with an Olympic gold medal, Taylor has also won three world championships and captured silver in another final. Taylor was unsuccessful in a recent bid to make the 2024 Olympic Team. He fell in two straight matches to fellow Penn State great Aaron Brooks. 

Taylor was one of the most dominant collegiate wrestlers of the last 20 years, winning a pair of Hodge Trophy’s during his time at Penn State. He was a starter on Cael Sanderson’s first NCAA title-winning team and the Nittany Lions won team titles each year that he was in Penn State’s lineup. During his four years at Penn State, Taylor amassed a 134-3 record and his winning percentage is second overall in Penn State’s storied history. 

While it’s too early to get a feel for the staff that Taylor might assemble, you would assume it has some sort of Penn State flavor to it. Perhaps his brother-in-law, Jimmy Kennedy, who is currently an assistant on the Nittany Lion staff. 

It’s unclear what the future holds for current Oklahoma State Associate Head Coach, Coleman Scott. Scott left his position as head coach at the University of North Carolina to return to his alma mater. The assumption was that he was likely the head coach-in-waiting once the legendary head coach John Smith decided it was time to retire. 

That day came on April 11th as Smith surprised the wrestling world by stepping down after leading Oklahoma State for 33 years. His tenure included five NCAA team titles and 33 individual national titles. 

Taylor’s hire makes him the first Penn State alum to wrestle for Sanderson who has ascended to a head coaching position. Could the Taylor/Oklahoma State combination be one that threatens Penn State for college wrestling supremacy?