NEWS: Oklahoma State hires ex-Penn State wrestling star David Taylor as next head coach

Penn State wrestling legend David Taylor created a seismic shift within NCAA wrestling late Monday night, leaving State College to accept the Oklahoma State head coaching position. The former Nittany Lions star will take over one of the most historic programs in wrestling, and is perhaps the most significant hire in the sport since Cael Sanderson arrived in Happy Valley in 2009.

Oklahoma State hires David Taylor

Penn State wrestling legend David Taylor is heading to Stillwater. Oklahoma State wrestling announced Monday via social media that it hired Taylor as its next head coach.

Over the weekend, reports surfaced that the Oklahoma State administration had flown to State College to talk with Taylor after reaching out to the former Nittany Lion following Olympic Team Trials. He will replace legendary head coach John Smith, who recently retired after 33 seasons.

Welcome to Stillwater, Head Coach David Taylor. Let’s make some magic!#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/PEFPkuRzRL

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) May 7, 2024

“Forever grateful for my Penn State family,” David Taylor wrote on social media following the announcement. “I am looking forward to this new chapter with [Cowboys wrestling and Oklahoma State athletics].”

Taylor always expressed that he wanted to get into college coaching after his wrestling career was over. Despite settling down with his family on a small farm in Centre County, it appears he couldn’t pass up one of the top three jobs in all of college wrestling. He will take over a roster that finished 10th at the 2024 NCAA Championships.

Oklahoma State wrestling is considered the greatest wrestling program of all time in terms of longevity of success. The Cowboys have won 34 NCAA Championships and still hold a large gap from Iowa’s 24 and Penn State’s 12 titles. However, Oklahoma State’s last NCAA Championship took place in 2006, capping off a four-year consecutive title run.

One of the more intriguing aspects of this move is who David Taylor brings with him from State College to Stillwater. While Casey Cunningham and Cody Sanderson are set in stone on Cael Sanderson’s staff, it will be interesting to see what other faces from the Penn State wrestling program he brings along. This will be the first time we have seen a crack in the dam within the program. For the most part, almost all of the coaches and wrestlers have stayed around Penn State wrestling and the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.

A Penn State wrestling legend

David Taylor can be credited as one of the keystones who helped Cael Sanderson jumpstart the Penn State wrestling dynasty in the early 2010s. Taylor, along with fellow national champions Ed Ruth and Quentin Wright, pushed Penn State into the national spotlight. The trio helped the Nittany Lions towards their first NCAA Championship four-peat under Sanderson.

Taylor finished his Penn State wrestling career with a 134-3 record and an impressive 88.3% bonus percentage. In his four seasons, he won two National Championships and finished as the National Runner-Up in his other two seasons. He also became the third multiple-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner in history in 2014.

International success

It took David Taylor a little time to break into the international freestyle wrestling scene, but he finally won his first Gold Medal at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest. He has since been one of the best in the world at 86 kg. His crowning achievement was bringing home the Gold Medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Since that Olympic Gold, Taylor finished with three consecutive World Championship medals: a Silver in 2021, a Gold in 2022, and a Gold in 2023. He was the heavy favorite to make the Olympic games in Paris this summer before being upset by fellow Penn State wrestling alum Aaron Brooks in the finals of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in April.

Taylor is still one of the top wrestlers in the world at 86 kg. However, it remains to be seen whether he will continue his international wrestling career after taking the head coaching job in Stillwater. He has always wrestled for the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, but this could be a sign that he is done on the mat and turning his attention exclusively to coaching.

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