David Taylor glanced around the Boone Pickens Stadium team room, soaking in the moment and expressing its value as each second winded by.
Less than a month ago, he was clashing head-to-head with the world’s premier wrestling competition during Olympic trials. Now, he's set to begin his tenure as the eighth wrestling coach at Oklahoma State.
On Friday morning, Taylor was introduced as the head man, replacing interim coach and associate coach Coleman Scott as the successor to former coach John Smith, the winningest coach in program history. Taylor has big shoes to fill. He acknowledged that multiple times during his opening sentiment, paying homage to Smith, a figure widely deemed to be the greatest American wrestler of all time.