Penn State AD Pat Kraft on David Taylor going to Oklahoma State: 'Second place is cool'

David Taylor accepting the Oklahoma State job was arguably the biggest story of the college wrestling offseason.

Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft is happy for the Olympic Gold Medalist and Penn State legend. However, don’t expect the Nittany Lions to lay down to Oklahoma State at this point.

The Cowboys have a lot of wrestling history, but as Kraft pointed out, Taylor still has some catching up to do when it comes to the current Penn State regime.

“We’re happy for David, one of ours” Kraft said, via Joe Smeltzer. “But I’m gonna just tell you, we’re the best wrestling program in the world. They can have whoever they want, but good luck, David. Second place is cool, but Penn State wrestling.”

Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson’s been the leader of the program since 2009-10. Since then, Penn State’s won 11 team national titles in NCAA wrestling, quite absurd right?

The Nittany Lions took 9th in 2010, 6th in 2015 and 2nd in 2021. Other than that, the team rarely ever loses when it comes to the team scoring at NCAAs or dual meets.

Taylor took over for the legendary John Smith, who’s success as a wrestler and coach made him one of, if not the greatest figure in American wrestling history.

When talking to the team about the transition from Smith to him, Taylor reflected on his entry to college and Sanderson’s transition from his alma mater Iowa State to PSU.

“That’s one thing when I walked in yesterday and addressed the team and talked to him, it’s a tough situation, very tough situation,” Taylor said during his introductory press conference. “I felt like I could relate to it. You know, when I was a senior in high school, I was going to Iowa State. And back then, you know, it was a little different. Cael Sanderson took a job at Penn State and I was in a kind of a weird limbo, you know? 

“I didn’t know what I was going to do. I felt like I wanted to follow him, I wasn’t sure and I had to wait for the new coach to come in, let me kind of figure out what was gonna be next … Coach Kevin Jackson got the job and he allowed me to pursue what was in my heart and I feel like that was a decision that really changed wrestling.”