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Stanford fires head coach Troy Taylor after accusations of bullying, belittling female staffers

On3 imageby:Dan Morrison•about 17 hours•

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Stanford coach Troy Taylor
Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports)

The Stanford Cardinal have reportedly parted ways with head coach Troy Taylor. This comes amid accusations of bullying and belittling female staffers.

Less than a week ago, it was reported that Taylor had twice been the subject of third-party investigations into complaints from employees in the athletic department about his behavior. Andrew Luck, former Stanford quarterback and NFL star, became Taylor’s director superior upon becoming the program’s general manager in November. It was his decision to move on from Taylor.

“It has been clear that certain aspects of the program need change,” Luck said in a statement. “Additionally, in recent days, there has been significant attention to Stanford investigations in previous years related to Coach Taylor. After continued consideration it is evident to me that our program needs a reset. In consultation with university leadership, I no longer believe that Coach Taylor is the right coach to lead our football program.”

Troy Taylor was initially hired by Stanford ahead of the 2023 season after he previously was the head coach at Sacramento State. In his two seasons coaching the Cardinal, he led the team to a 6-18 record overall, going 3-9 twice.

Those investigations found Taylor had been “inconsistent with the standards” of Stanford in his behavior. He initially received a warning letter that he could be let go if the behavior continued before Luck made his decision on Tuesday. Notably, Taylor also received “significant disciplinary action” after his second investigation. That included a financial penalty and workplace training.

“I willingly complied with the investigations, accepted the recommendations that came out of them, and used them as a learning opportunity to grow in leadership and how I interact with others,” Taylor previously said. “I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively and collegially with my colleagues so that we can achieve success for our football program together.”

Athletic director Bernard Muir was Troy Taylor’s direct supervisor at the time, but he stepped down earlier this month. However, his resignation was unrelated. University president Jon Levin, who started in August 2024, had also been involved in discussions.

In the first investigation, Kate Weaver Patterson of KWP Consulting & Mediation found multiple complaints from female staffers, in particular inappropriately commenting on their appearances. It also, in general, found the environment of the program wasn’t welcoming to women. The second investigation was led by the law firm of Libby, O’Brien, Kingsley & Champion. It found Taylor’s behavior toward an NCAA female compliance officer was “inappropriate, discriminatory on the basis of her sex.” This came when he tried to have her removed from her post after she brought forward concerns about NCAA violations. Those included illegal practices and player eligibility issues.

“Under Coach Taylor’s leadership, the football program has disregarded or simply not followed NCAA rules that they have been repeatedly and consistently educated on by the Compliance Office,” O’Brien wrote in the documents obtained by ESPN.

Stanford now begins its search for a new head football coach. This comes as most programs around the country are in the midst of spring practice, and could potentially lead to a domino effect with coaches potentially being hired from other programs to replace Troy Taylor.