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David Taylor to Oklahoma State & related news

Had this talk with a guy I work with today who wrestled at LHU.

They just stepped over every alum that has gone into coaching in the entire John Smith era to hire an outsider, and at a minimum probably permanently (until they win big again) severed ties with 3/4 of them.

They better win soon and big or the pressure to "do something" on the same people who financed this move will be heavier than maybe any wrestling coach has ever felt.
2nd paragraph is way over-dramatic.

Only 4 other candidates were interviewed, so at most they only "stepped over" 4 Smith alum to hire an outsider. Realistically only 1 -- Scott.

And "permanently severed ties" ... permanently is a long time unless you're Montell Marion. There are ways to get them back. Even DeSean Jackson made up with the Eagles after those nasty false gang slurs.
 
Like I said yesterday, he had to take the job and Oklahoma State had to take him if he wanted it.

But this is not Cael with a clean slate. There will be folks around the program who had a ton of success who will want to stay but won't be allowed to do. Folks who wanted the job and didn't get it. If it had taken Cael 4 years to win but he was always close, I don't think he would have been gone. Don't know if I feel that way here.

I think he'll win. But this could go sideways real quick if he doesn't. It won't be "practice patience". It will be, "why did we leave the John Smith Way not to win?"
I do think it’s much easier to win quick now with the instant portal upgrades you can make. Cael won here his 2nd year which was crazy enough but the portal would have made it even easier
 
I do think it’s much easier to win quick now with the instant portal upgrades you can make. Cael won here his 2nd year which was crazy enough but the portal would have made it even easier
I don't remember much about who is still in (or coming into) OK St's Stable, but they could add:
  • Allirez
  • Hamiti
  • Barraclaugh
  • Hendrickson
To go w/ Spratley, Plott, Carter Young and...? That's a pretty salty year 1 lineup.

PS There's no chance Bonnie is in play, IMO. I was actually a bit concerned, because she seemed to be MIA later last season, and is looking somewhat frail these days.
 
Two Burning questions: Will DT try to talk Bonnie to leave with him and will Taylor keep the creepy blonde lady who wears Oklahoma State stuff around. I think she said she was on staff as a recruiter. Mineo was talking about her yesterday and I can’t seem to find it now.
That lady is a groomer. What a freak. That’s the crazy OSU story that I was alluding to yesterday @vhsalum
 
I don't remember much about who is still in (or coming into) OK St's Stable, but they could add:
  • Allirez
  • Hamiti
  • Barraclaugh
  • Hendrickson
To go w/ Spratley, Plott, Carter Young and...? That's a pretty salty year 1 lineup.

PS There's no chance Bonnie is in play, IMO. I was actually a bit concerned, because she seemed to be MIA later last season, and is looking somewhat frail these days.
Hamiti is already there. Alirez would be great but I wonder what Jamison would do then? He’s tough and has 3 more years. Barraclough maybe but they got Hamiti and Fish at his weight. Not that he couldn’t beat one of them but both guys just transferred in. Will be interesting to see who jumps at the chance to be coached by DT
 
I do think it’s much easier to win quick now with the instant portal upgrades you can make. Cael won here his 2nd year which was crazy enough but the portal would have made it even easier
Agreed, though one big difference is that PSU already had 3 future NCAA champs on the roster when Cael arrived.

It's hard to ID a future finalist on OKST's current roster, with eligibility beyond 2025. Carroll maybe, depending on his weight. Spratley? Hughes? Merrill and Lockett aren't on campus yet, too early to say with them.

David will need to import higher-end talent (which may be in short supply) while establishing his culture. Eaaier said than done.
 
Agreed, though one big difference is that PSU already had 3 future NCAA champs on the roster when Cael arrived.

It's hard to ID a future finalist on OKST's current roster, with eligibility beyond 2025. Carroll maybe, depending on his weight. Spratley? Hughes? Merrill and Lockett aren't on campus yet, too early to say with them.

David will need to import higher-end talent (which may be in short supply) while establishing his culture. Eaaier said than done.
There's going to be portal talent available coming from Penn State in the near future where they don't have a spot in the lineup here. It started with Gibson, who is still out there for DT to grab if he wants, but between Mesenbrink, Haines, Facundo, Sealey, Ryder, Duke, Henckel, and Barr, at least one is going to be the odd man out. DT should have the inside track on those types of guys.
 
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A few thoughts on the DT to OSU train:


- Lastly, I’m almost certainly reading too far into this, but DT’s farewell tweet to the program last night seemed a bit on the short side. I’m not saying he’s should’ve taken out a full page ad in the Centre Daily Times or that it should’ve been a long dissertation type post, but it felt a bit obligatory and superficial compared to most posts of that ilk.
I wouldn't read too much into DT's tweet. If you go back and reread all the posts on this topic, they were flying back and forth all day. True or not true? Offer accepted or offer declined? If there were still some negotiations with OSU to be hammered out, I'll bet DT was mentally drained by the end of the day. He probably didn't have much left to sit and compose a long tweet to the Penn State fans.
 
There's going to be portal talent available coming from Penn State in the near future where they don't have a spot in the lineup here. It started with Gibson, who is still out there for DT to grab if he wants, but between Mesenbrink, Haines, Facundo, Sealey, Ryder, Duke, Henckel, and Barr, at least one is going to be the odd man out. DT should have the inside track on those types of guys.
Gibson is not still out there.

And while some of those guys might leave PSU early, and David would have an inside track, that's not enough.
 
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DT seems happy here I doubt he cares much about money!but good luck to him wherever he goes!
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Hamiti is already there. Alirez would be great but I wonder what Jamison would do then? He’s tough and has 3 more years. Barraclough maybe but they got Hamiti and Fish at his weight. Not that he couldn’t beat one of them but both guys just transferred in. Will be interesting to see who jumps at the chance to be coached by DT
Thanks, yeah, I was just throwing names out there.
 
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Mixed feelings here. He and his wife had enough going on in the State College area to keep him in the NLWC which is what I would have liked. But it is also nice to see him go out and try to build something himself. Best of luck to him. First time coach in a far off land.... Will be a challenge.
 
Mixed feelings here. He and his wife had enough going on in the State College area to keep him in the NLWC which is what I would have liked. But it is also nice to see him go out and try to build something himself. Best of luck to him. First time coach in a far off land.... Will be a challenge.
How long was he going to be at the NLWC if not a coach? Six months? And if you're going to be a coach, then OSU trumps the NLWC in stature and money and really anything. If he had stayed in State College, he may have well just quit the NLWC and concentrated on M2 and all the other side businesses he had going. So to me, he essentially left six months early. I think he was nearly done benefitting from the NLWC and vice versa. He always seemed easier around younger wrestlers, and that is where he heart probably is at. Lots of ego in an RTC.
 
2nd paragraph is way over-dramatic.

Only 4 other candidates were interviewed, so at most they only "stepped over" 4 Smith alum to hire an outsider. Realistically only 1 -- Scott.

And "permanently severed ties" ... permanently is a long time unless you're Montell Marion. There are ways to get them back. Even DeSean Jackson made up with the Eagles after those nasty false gang slurs.
Maybe- winning heals everything for sure.

While it may be overly dramatic to say that ties are permanently severed, at least until the winning starts, I don't think it's overly dramatic to assume that the DNA of the Oklahoma State program, and likely college wrestling, changed with this hire. There are almost certainly hard feelings today, maybe they go away tomorrow, maybe they don't, where the OSU guys coaching are wondering why they had to go after a guy with no experience when OSU guys not only had it but would love to have the job. This isn't just hiring a guy who hasn't coached at all at the level, this isn't just a guy with no Oklahoma State background, this is all of them.

Do I think DT should care? No. Do I think the university should care? No.

This gives Iowa, whether they realize it or not (or are smart enough to realize it then act on it) cover to leave the Gable umbrella, so to speak.
 
I wouldn't read too much into DT's tweet. If you go back and reread all the posts on this topic, they were flying back and forth all day. True or not true? Offer accepted or offer declined? If there were still some negotiations with OSU to be hammered out, I'll bet DT was mentally drained by the end of the day. He probably didn't have much left to sit and compose a long tweet to the Penn State fans.
He also has a million things to do and a lot of them needed to be done yesterday. If this was a retirement I'd expect a goodbye tour and a series of long, mushy tweets but he's got a lot of sh*t to do that is more important right now. Wife, kids, coaching hires, portal, OSU admin, attorney, M2, K2, plus a 100 more that need immediate attention. His tweet is the 1 minute version and exactly what I would expect.
 
Maybe- winning heals everything for sure.

While it may be overly dramatic to say that ties are permanently severed, at least until the winning starts, I don't think it's overly dramatic to assume that the DNA of the Oklahoma State program, and likely college wrestling, changed with this hire. There are almost certainly hard feelings today, maybe they go away tomorrow, maybe they don't, where the OSU guys coaching are wondering why they had to go after a guy with no experience when OSU guys not only had it but would love to have the job. This isn't just hiring a guy who hasn't coached at all at the level, this isn't just a guy with no Oklahoma State background, this is all of them.

Do I think DT should care? No. Do I think the university should care? No.

This gives Iowa, whether they realize it or not (or are smart enough to realize it then act on it) cover to leave the Gable umbrella, so to speak.
Give someone credit at Okie State for recognizing the reality of the situation. John Smith's way was not working. Okie State wants to be great at wrestling, is tired of underachieving. To bring in one a Smith proteges and think it was going to be any different would be stupid.

They went out and got the one guy who could come in and shake things up and leap frog much of the competition. With Taylor they hired a rock star who will be able to walk into any recruit's house in the country and have them interested. Other than hiring Cael, they could not have done any better. Taylor can coach, M2 proves that. At Okie State, he can bring in any recruit in the country as long as they can spell their name.

He just has to focus on bringing in talented wrestlers who fit his culture and coaching them up. Recruiting is one thing any coach has to do to be successful, probably the most important part of the job. He will excel in recruiting. All the other stuff, admin staff can handle. Regarding NIL, everyone is trying to figure that out.
 
Give someone credit at Okie State for recognizing the reality of the situation. John Smith's way was not working. Okie State wants to be great at wrestling, is tired of underachieving. To bring in one a Smith proteges and think it was going to be any different would be stupid.

They went out and got the one guy who could come in and shake things up and leap frog much of the competition. With Taylor they hired a rock star who will be able to walk into any recruit's house in the country and have them interested. Other than hiring Cael, they could not have done any better. Taylor can coach, M2 proves that. At Okie State, he can bring in any recruit in the country as long as they can spell their name.

He just has to focus on bringing in talented wrestlers who fit his culture and coaching them up. Recruiting is one thing any coach has to do to be successful, probably the most important part of the job. He will excel in recruiting. All the other stuff, admin staff can handle. Regarding NIL, everyone is trying to figure that out.
Yeah feels like the pokes decided to succeed unconventionally rather than fail conventionally.
 
Agreed, though one big difference is that PSU already had 3 future NCAA champs on the roster when Cael arrived.

It's hard to ID a future finalist on OKST's current roster, with eligibility beyond 2025. Carroll maybe, depending on his weight. Spratley? Hughes? Merrill and Lockett aren't on campus yet, too early to say with them.

David will need to import higher-end talent (which may be in short supply) while establishing his culture. Eaaier said than done.
I forgot they have Merrill coming in. I think that kid is a national champion contender from day 1 but not sure about the rest. Lockett is obviously extremely good but he’s at a weight where PSU will be extremely strong for the foreseeable future. Whether it’s MM, Levi, Sealey, Duke, etc I like PSU chances there. Not sold on Hughes at all but Spratley is good. Still, Lilledahl has beaten him multiple times in free and I don’t see that changing in folk. So I agree with you that lots more talent is needed. Pretty decent base to start from though
 
With DT and more than likely Gilman's NLWC budget now available, what would the reaction be on GIA if Cael lands Spencer? You know, endless deep pockets and all 🤣😂
 
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