David Taylor, Penn State's Legendary Wrestling Champ, Becomes Head Coach at Oklahoma State
Taylor, Penn State's first Olympic gold medalist and a three-time world champ, replaces John Smith as the Cowboys' head coach.
David Taylor, the two-time NCAA champion who helped launch Penn State's stratospheric rise in college wrestling, is the new head wrestling coach at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys announced the hire Monday night, making a seismic move in college wrestling akin to what Penn State did in 2010 by hiring Cael Sanderson.
Taylor, a three-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist, becomes a first-time head coach for of the nation's most historic college wrestling programs. Taylor replaces John Smith, who announced his retirement in April after 33 seasons, five NCAA team titles and 23 conference titles. Taylor operates the M2 Training Center in State College but has not coached or recruited at the college level, making this one of wrestling's most fascinating hires since the Nittany Lions plucked Sanderson from Iowa.
"With 34 national championships, the Oklahoma State wrestling program is the most successful in the country by any metric, regardless of sport," Oklahoma State Athletic Director Chad Weiberg said in a statement. "We began this search knowing there is no goal that is unattainable for Cowboy Wrestling. No expectations are too high. The ambitions we have for ourselves led us to the hiring of David Taylor, someone of equally high goals and ambitions."
There are a few similarities between Taylor's hiring at Oklahoma State and Sanderson's at Penn State.. Taylor, like Sanderson, was an elite college and international wrestler with a championship resume. Sanderson spent four years coaching at Iowa State, his alma mater, before a team of Penn State wrestling enthusiasts (including alumnus and Ira Lubert) helped recruit him to Penn State to revive the program. Since then, Sanderson's teams have won 11 of the last 13 NCAA team titles and crowned 38 individual champions. Taylor won two of those individual titles, and two Hodge Trophies as the nation's top wrestler, as one of Sanderson's most important first recruits.
Like Penn State did in hiring Sanderson, Oklahoma State had outside support. In his statement announcing Taylor's hiring, Weiberg thanked Chad Richison, the founder and CEO of Paycom. Though he graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma, Richison was important to bringing Taylor to Oklahoma State.
"We are allowed to have very high expectations here because we have elite support and so many great people across multiple generations who care deeply about Cowboy Wrestling and the sport of wrestling," Weiberg said. "While there are many to thank for their help during this process, I'd like to particularly thank Chad Richison. Without his leadership support of our program, this wouldn't be possible. Like so many others, he cares deeply about the sport of wrestling, wants to see it continue to thrive in the state of Oklahoma at all levels, and shares my belief that a strong Oklahoma State program helps assure that continues to be the case long into the future."
Taylor, 33, is Penn State's most decorated freestyle wrestler. He won three world freestyle championships, in 2018, 2022 and 2023, and became the first Penn State wrestler to win Olympic gold at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo. Taylor's bid to become a two-time gold medalist ended surprisingly at the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials, where he fell to Aaron Brooks in the best-of-three championship series at 86 kg.
"It's an honor to be in this position and I'm extremely grateful," Taylor said in a statement. "I'm looking forward to the future of Oklahoma State wrestling. It has an unbelievable tradition and I'm excited to be part of it moving forward. I've achieved everything I have wanted in my personal career, and this is no longer about me. I am just thrilled to be in the position to help others achieve their goals, and truly make an impact in the wrestling world and on the lives around me."
Before the Trials, Taylor professed his fondness for Penn State wrestling and even did some proxy recruiting for Sanderson and the program. Taylor competes for the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club, which Sanderson oversees, and which has an important relationship with the Penn State wrestling program.
“It starts at the top," Taylor said of Sanderson and his staff. "Our coaches are the best leaders, role models that you can ask for. Coach Cael is who I wanted to wrestle like when I was a kid. I dreamed of wrestling for Coach Cael. Still to this point, to achieve every goal I wanted to achieve and beyond, and to still be doing that along someone I look up to, is great.
“And I’m just a small example of that. I think every athlete who comes to Penn State, their desire’s to be great. That’s why they come. Over the last 15 years, Penn State has shown that if you want to be a national champion, you come to Penn State."
Taylor now seeks to bring that energy to Oklahoma State. The Cowboys lead all programs in team (34) and individual (143) NCAA titles but have not won a team title since 2006. Oklahoma State's last individual champion was A.J. Ferrari in 2021.
To energize the Oklahoma State program, Taylor could start the recruiting process at home. He's familiar with several current and future Nittany Lions, training with them at the NLWC, and could pitch them to join him in Stillwater. However, the NCAA Transfer Portal spring window closed May 3. Taylor also could hire one or two members of Penn State's coaching staff or the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club staff.
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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich.
