Coach of the Year so far?

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

Have to think it's David Taylor.  He's got a bunch of his freshman (Vega, Robideau, Lockett) looking like absolute world beaters.  Wrestling way above expectations.

[HungusMungus]

Bono is 8-0......

[Rassling2]

2 hours ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

Have to think it's David Taylor.  He's got a bunch of his freshman (Vega, Robideau, Lockett) looking like absolute world beaters.  Wrestling way above expectations.

Nah too soon - let’s circle back to discuss end of January

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

Just now, Rassling2 said:

Nah too soon - let’s circle back to discuss end of January

Hence the "so far" in the thread title...

[WrestlingRash]

Cael. 

[pcostilow]

Tan Tom

[happyvalet]

1 hour ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

Hence the "so far" in the thread title...

[happyvalet]

Rob Koll's squad has wins over UNI, WVU, and Navy and has only lost to Nebraska 

[Nak21]

TanTom sure has tOSU in a good spot at the moment.

Hard to argue against Cael ever, at any point in the season. 

Dresser at ISU? I’ve always been impressed with Schwab and the job he’s done at UNI. Also Erisman at Ark-LR.

[Pinnacle]

Sanderson and Cunningham, and if not them then Khaled Dassan.

[Owen Rector]

It has to be Rob Koll. 7 new starters at UNC. They also lost Lachlan McNeil, Spencer Moore, Cade Lautt, Josh Ogunsanya, Sonny Santiago, Jayden Scott, and Gavin Kane from last year. This team lost so much power, yet they blew out West Virginia and beat UNI and Navy as well.

[ionel]

2 hours ago, Nak21 said:

Hard to argue against Carl ever, at any point in the season. 

 

Who has Carl wrestled? 

[Nak21]

13 minutes ago, ionel said:

Who has Carl wrestled? 

Who’s Carl?

[ionel]

4 minutes ago, Nak21 said:

Who’s Carl?

That guy everyone talks about all the time?  

[ionel]

1 hour ago, Fred said:

What is Blaze’s most notable win in college? Seems a bit early to be suggesting he might be unbeatable. It’s unfortunate that Carl won’t let his guys take on top competition outside of mandatory Big Ten competitions

 

7 minutes ago, Nak21 said:

Who’s Carl?

Fred knows him ... ask Fred.

[1032004]

12 hours ago, Owen Rector said:

It has to be Rob Koll. 7 new starters at UNC. They also lost Lachlan McNeil, Spencer Moore, Cade Lautt, Josh Ogunsanya, Sonny Santiago, Jayden Scott, and Gavin Kane from last year. This team lost so much power, yet they blew out West Virginia and beat UNI and Navy as well.

What happened with Santiago?  Graduated?  Doesn’t look like he is on a team

[Maxwell Smart]

Carl is Cael Sanderson. It's their way to make fun of his accomplishments. Envy's the #1 deadly sin, sloth is underrated. 

David Taylor is in the lead right now.

 

[MidwestMan]

There is a big difference between being a coach that "develops" talent and a coach that "parades" talent.

I'm not saying you can't be both, but it's certainly easier to win if your program is stacked deep with top 20 recruits, and this is true in every sport.  Did Cael coach a team title back at Iowa State?

The blue bloods may take home all the trophys, but if I give out a "Best Coach" award, it's going to the coach that does the most with the least!  Isn't that where the phrase "coaching them up" came from?

Do we need a new category?  Best Underdog Coach.

 

[Nak21]

1 hour ago, Maxwell Smart said:

Carl is Cael Sanderson. It's their way to make fun of his accomplishments. Envy's the #1 deadly sin, sloth is underrated. 

David Taylor is in the lead right now.

 

+1 

This guy gets it.

[Nak21]

6 minutes ago, MidwestMan said:

There is a big difference between being a coach that "develops" talent and a coach that "parades" talent.

I'm not saying you can't be both, but it's certainly easier to win if your program is stacked deep with top 20 recruits, and this is true in every sport.  Did Cael coach a team title back at Iowa State?

The blue bloods may take home all the trophys, but if I give out a "Best Coach" award, it's going to the coach that does the most with the least!  Isn't that where the phrase "coaching them up" came from?

Do we need a new category?  Best Underdog Coach.

 

In college athletics, recruiting may be THE biggest part of the coaching game. Jimmys and Joes often times vastly outweigh Xs and Os. So if you’re the best recruiter, the best developer and/or atleast best maintainer of said recruits talent thru college and you have the results, it’s hard to say you’re not an amazing coach, which Cael is. 
As far as Cael at ISU, a quick look at his performance there says he’s a damn good coach, there was marked improvement his 3 years at the helm vs the 4-5yrs prior. 3 conference titles, 30 kids qualified for NCAAs, 3 top 5 finishes…then he came to PSU and we’ve all seen what’s he’s done there…we hear bitching about everyday here from fans of other schools…

[NM1965]

Come on. It's Cael every year. I'm rooting for David, but it's Cael until he's dethroned. 

[Greenwave]

Josh Moore, had over 70% of his CSU wrestlers follow him to Kent State.  Some how he  got enough sponsors and donors to start a women’s program.  Not a splash hire, but he seems to be what Ohio needed in the greater Cleveland area.  Let’s see if he can keep second tier recruits in Ohio and build a solid program?

[Owen Rector]

6 hours ago, 1032004 said:

What happened with Santiago?  Graduated?  Doesn’t look like he is on a team

He had one year of eligibility remaining but had been on the team for 5 years. Im guessing he just finished up all he needed academically and decided to move on from the sport.

[GV4444]

On 12/22/2025 at 9:03 AM, HungusMungus said:

Bono is 8-0......

Nice.  I was going to say it's way to early to bother.  You proved my point. 

It's easy to say Ryan, Taylor, or Sanderson.  I'd say Ryan's tOSU is the leader right now.  

If I were a middling B1G program with a big checkbook and had to hire an existing head coach to take it to the next level, I would going after Schwab or Pat Pop, but that's another topic.

Edited December 23, 2025 by GV4444

[1032004]

1 hour ago, Greenwave said:

Josh Moore, had over 70% of his CSU wrestlers follow him to Kent State.  Some how he  got enough sponsors and donors to start a women’s program.  Not a splash hire, but he seems to be what Ohio needed in the greater Cleveland area.  Let’s see if he can keep second tier recruits in Ohio and build a solid program?

This is the answer.  Last year they were winless in duals against D1 teams.   This year they already have 4.