David Taylor’s comeback, at first glance, looks like a redemption in the making. But as you get closer, there is something more. Something more driving Taylor forward. After his dismal loss at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2024, Taylor decided to hang up his singlet. However, soon after, he stepped into the Oklahoma State’s mats. Not as their wrestler, but as their head coach! Although surprising, the bigger twist came after this! Taylor decided to return to the mat.

And not just any mats, the World Championship mats! A rather familiar place for Taylor; he holds three titles, after all. So why retire in the first place? David Taylor said that it was the “dwindling inner fire” that led him to leave. “I just didn’t feel the same anymore,” he added. But who would have thought that the decision to step off would be the very thing that puts things into perspective?

After leaving the pressures of competition, Taylor went on to re-discover his love for wrestling in the most unexpected way. He found it while coaching! “When you step away from it, it gives you a different perspective coming into practice, and it just created an energy and excitement that I hadn’t felt in four years,” he said. Those four years were a period of uncertainty and turmoil for Taylor, so much so that it gave him the nerves before Worlds.

“I haven’t wrestled six matches in a long time, you know? So to wrestle like that every single sing time. I don’t know, you know?” But then again, he went on to say, “When you have that fire to do something, it’s such a small window in wrestling. And I started to feel that again.” Well, well, put on your singlet and conquer Taylor, because the reason to win just got a whole lot bigger!

This is not just redemption anymore for Taylor; people are looking up to him. OSU athletic director Chad Weiberg recently went on to say, “For our team here to see him competing and doing the things to get ready to compete, it only makes what’s happening in our room better.” You heard it, folks! That faith suggests two things. One, David is ready to take on the world, come what may. Second, the coach wins, the Cowboys win! As the Cowboys page posted, “All we gotta say is Go Pokes’!

As Taylor gets ready for the World Wrestling Championships in Albania, it is evident that he is not returning as the man he left. He is coming back to conquer and remind the world why he is ‘The Magic Man.’ And as of now, Taylor is doing a great job of the same. On the first day, Taylor started with a match that set the tone. He went up against NCAA champion Michael Macchiavello and All-Americans Trent Hidlay and Marcus Coleman and comfortably won.

That put Taylor in the best-of-three finals matchup against Zahid Valencia. After three wins, David Taylor was back on the World Team. Despite the “I don’t know,” seeing the form that Taylor is in, there is no way he is going to let that fire die again! However, if history is to be held testimony, coaches, when competing, haven’t had the best of experiences!

Will Taylor meet Sanderson’s end as he walks his path?

David Taylor is not the first to balance the tightrope of coaching and competing. He is, in fact, following the footsteps of his coach, Cael Sanderson. Sanderson, after his retirement, stepped into Penn State as a coach. However, in 2011, he too came back to wrestle again. Sanderson’s return set a high bar, and now Taylor is walking a similar path with his coach’s legacy as a guide.

The parallels between Sanderson and Taylor are hard to ignore. Much like Taylor, Sanderson also wore his singlet again when he was in a full-time coaching role. But Sanderson did not have the results that he expected. He went on to finish fifth at the World Championships. Can Taylor do what his coach couldn’t? Maybe not just make it to the podium, but maybe even be on the very top!

However, this is not going to be an easy journey. David Taylor is likely to go against “The Tank.” Yes, that’s right! Taylor could go against the five-time world champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev! But Taylor seems ready as ever, as he went on to say, “Sadulaev, I know you’re watching. Let’s find a way to get you over here. Let’s wrestle…” It might just be time to settle it all on the mat. All eyes on the 2024 Senior World Championships; this just might be the most exciting season yet!