David Taylor assesses first month-plus as Oklahoma State wrestling coach

David Taylor was the big splash hire in the college wrestling offseason when Oklahoma State hired him as the new coach.

He replaced a legend in John Smith as a first-time coach. Taylor went straight from the mat as an Olympic Gold Medalist to a Division 1 head coach.

It’s no secret he’s been molding the program in his own vision and learning on the fly.

“It’s good, really good,” Taylor told FloWrestling. “Yeah, it’s a new challenge, it’s fun. You know? It’s been great to build relationships with the guys we have on the team and now we’re just trying to get a little better.

“It’s new. So there’s lots of things that you know, just like anything else, like you just ask a lot of questions and I’m learning. I got a great team around me, our administration is amazing. Our coaching staff is amazing, you know, so we just complement each other really well, you know, and everyone has different levels of experience and you know, just figuring it out.”

Taylor made sure to recognize the Oklahoma State administration which took a big risk with a historic program. But Taylor surrounded himself with a talented staff, even if they’re raw.

“We have a great relationship with our administration,” Taylor said. “So I’m talking to them very frequently, you know, obviously, just the support that we get from them, you don’t have success about that. And Tyler Caldwell has been great. You know, he’s been around the program for a long time so he knows the ins and the outs. I rely on my brother in law Jimmy (Kennedy). He’s got a lot of coaching experience. 

“Thomas, you know, we’ve been competing together and Bryan Pearsall has had great administrative experience, coaching experience. So, I just think every one of them … we very much have a good flow of how we’re doing things, attacking every day.”

Longtime coach and wrestling content creator Mike Malinconico told On3 it was a big swing for the fences to hire Taylor.

“I try my best to pull away from the situation right as often as I can and not allow my personal emotions to lead what I do or say,” Malinconico told On3. “That said, they shook the world. This is as monumental a hire as you can get, and it took a tremendous amount of stones by the administration of Oklahoma State to pull the trigger on this. 

“The easy hire is Coleman Scott. It’s the easy hire. You make everybody happy. He is an Olympic medalist, he did grow up a cowboy, it’s the easy hire. But not many good things have ever come from making easy decisions.”David Taylor assesses first month-plus as Oklahoma State wrestling coach