The Penn State Wrestling community was in a frenzy following Monday night’s huge coaching news. Yes, David Taylor is moving on.
Rumors were circling everywhere the last handful of days as Oklahoma State was zeroing in on their replacement for all-time great John Smith. And the epicenter of the news was Centre County, PA.
News broke that the Cowboys were going to fly Taylor to Stillwater to discuss the job opening. Then the news shifted as the Okie State administration was getting antsy. Instead, they flew to University Park airport to meet Taylor.
As of midday on Monday, May 6th, there was still no decision.
Then after 10:30 pm local time, the following tweet was fired out.
Forever grateful for my Penn State family, I am looking forward to this new chapter with @CowboyWrestling @OSUAthletics pic.twitter.com/7e6otWqXHl
— David Taylor (@magicman_osu) May 7, 2024
5 Thoughts on Penn State Legend David Taylor Becoming Oklahoma State Head Coach
Thought No. 1 – Wait, what?
Following he legendary career at Penn State, Taylor stayed put in Happy Valley. There he trained with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and started to spread his roots throughout the community.
Two years after winning his second NCAA title and taking home his second Hodge Trophy, David and Kendra tied the knot in Chicago. From there the Taylor’s opened and expanded three local businesses (M2 Training Center, K2 Roots, and Vitality Wellness Club) and were very active in fostering cats for a local animal shelter.
And just this past March, Kendra and David welcomed their third child to their ever-growing family.
David Taylor, the 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist and three-time World Championship Gold Medalist was synonymous with Penn State Wrestling, the State College community, and Nittany Lions greatness.
So with last night’s bombshell of an announcement, this came as a bit of a shock to me. Especially considering Stillwater is 1,210 miles from State College and it appeared that DT had firmly planted his flag in Centre County.
Thought No. 2 – Olympic Trials result
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Thought No. 3 – Who does this affect?
Thought No. 4 – What a bold move for Chad Weiberg
If there’s a clear winner in Monday night’s decision it’s Athletic Director Chad Weiberg and Oklahoma State.
It’s never easy replacing a successful head coach in any collegiate sport. But trying to replace a legend? That’s almost impossible.
During John Smith’s 33 year career in Stillwater he led five teams to NCAA team titles and coached 33 individual champions. The last team title for Smith came in 2006 and it marked the end of a dominant run for the Cowboys. Oklahoma State won four straight titles from 2003-2006. However with the rise of teams in the Big Ten, Oklahoma State began to wane from the national spotlight.
So now back to David Taylor.
Does he have any head coaching experience? Other than his training with wrestlers at M2, no he doesn’t.
Does he have any ties to Oklahoma State? Nope.
Does he have any ties to the southwest? That would be three resounding “no’s”.
But, Taylor knows what it takes to be great in both college and on the international stage. And when Taylor walks into a recruit’s home with a gold medal around his neck and plops two Hodge Trophies down on the coffee table, the best recruits in the nation are going to listen.
Thought No. 5 – Teeth cutting
MORE: Projecting PSU Wrestling’s 2024 Starting Lineup
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Education: Penn State University
Location: State College, PA
Even though he had no prior journalism experience, Chris has now covered Penn State Wrestling and Penn State Football for the past three years, including as the Penn State Wrestling Beat Writer for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.
And it's clear he also likes constant torture as he's been a PSU Basketball fan for way too long.
Several years back, Chris made the seamless transition from PGA Professional to computer programmer and thoroughly enjoys following and writing about all things related to Penn State sports during his spare time.
