After triumphantly claiming gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, David Taylor looked forward to repeating that result in the French capital. However, the Nittany Lion was promptly knocked out at the U.S. Olympic Trials leading up to the Summer Games. Losing out on an Olympic berth was disheartening, and he decided to bow out gracefully from the wrestling mat. But after a while, the 33-year-old surprised fans by taking on the head coach role at Oklahoma State University. 

With the 2024 NCAA season approaching, many are curious about how he’s taking on the new role. In a press conference on October 14, Taylor was asked how things were progressing with the OSU wrestling program. “There was a lot of things going on, you know? A lot of moving pieces. I feel like things have settled down, and they’ve continued to formulate. I think things are in a really good spot,” the wrestler stated. 

As for how is the team doing? David Taylor continued, “We’re really excited about the team that we have now. We’re excited about the recruiting class that we have coming in, just been a lot of momentum around the program in all areas.” Even though the 33-year-old is a first-time coach, many are confident in his abilities. On the other hand, there is also concern about how he is with the nitty-gritty areas of the job.

The coach admits that before taking on the role, he had his hands full. However, things have straightened out since. “You just learn, you just got to adjust, and I feel pretty well equipped in all those areas.” The Olympian then gives his team at OSU a much-needed shout-out for being supportive towards his goals and helping him out. “So early on. Obviously, there was a lot of questions. But as time going on, it’s just adjusting,” the Nittany Lion exclaimed. 

As the season inches closer, David Taylor reiterates there’s a lot to be excited about. Speaking about what to look forward to, the conversation eventually shifted to this season’s transfers, and one name stood out: Wyatt Hendrickson. He was asked what having him onboard was like. The 33-year-old draws comparisons with certain wrestlers who are towards the end of their careers and don’t have their heads in the game. He reiterated that they mostly try to see if they can push themselves for another year.

But Hendrickson and the rest of their transfers don’t sit in that category. “They’re engaged, they’re focused, they’re hungry, you know? They are wrestling like they got a mission this year, and they’re trying to achieve something.” The coach reveals how it’s been a treat to be around them. The 33-year-old did have some kind words for Wyatt. “He’s a great leader, you know? He just got a great personality.” Taylor described him as someone who people automatically gravitate towards and stated everyone is excited to see him step on the mat. However, this isn’t the only thing he’s looking forward to at OSU. 

David Taylor is changing how things are done at Oklahoma’s wrestling circuit

Everyone’s expectations from the first-time coach are higher than ever. He proved his mettle as a wrestler on the mat, but would Taylor make a fitting first-time coach? Seeing how this is his first gig, many were curious if the 33-year-old had faced any challenges while taking control of the reigns. 

During a recent press conference, while discussing the upcoming collegiate season, he was asked if anything had surprised him in the role yet. Even though David Taylor wasn’t expecting the question, after a short pause, he stated scheduling was something he couldn’t get over. “Yeah, I didn’t know there was so much flexibility in scheduling.” Even if he hasn’t coached before, this shouldn’t be out of the blue, but there were other challenges too.

Many other coaches were trying to guide him through a new situation. But that’s not how he looked at it. It almost felt like they were trying to coach him into following a certain process. “It’s the way we do it, you know? I’m like, ‘No, it’s not the way we do it, schedule says this, we’re going to do this,” Taylor stated. However, OU left him astounded as well. How is that, you ask?

“Like we’ve wrestled OU, home and away our whole, really historically forever. But they only want to do one match this year,” he revealed. They didn’t want to come back, which left him dumbfounded, but everyone else found it funny. Coming back to the schedule, David Taylor reiterated he didn’t realize they could tweak it, which is why they hadn’t made the OSU schedule public yet. But, days later, their home schedule for the 2024-2025 NCAA season was released. Are you looking forward to watching him take on the head coach role?