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Discussion Topic: Early returns from Stillwater - Taylor can coach
Ben Golden added to this discussion on January 15, 2025
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Taylor should get a ton of credit--you can buy a bunch of good talent and still not perform well. Consider Ohio State football this year... yes they are in the national championships, but they had two losses during the season despite spending $20M on NIL, pulling a bunch of transfers, etc. I'm not saying Ohio State football is a cautionary tale; they may well win the national championship on Monday.
But Taylor is a first year coach with a bunch of transfers and is not taking those lumps.
With that said, the booster/NIL money available to Oklahoma State is a huge part of it too. That funding is a huge part of it as well.
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Discussion Topic: Early returns from Stillwater - Taylor can coach
Hank Kornblut added to this discussion on January 15, 2025
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Oklahoma State has the most storied tradition of any program in America. They care about wrestling and are happy to spend to prove it.
I thought M-Rod nailed it when he said the Bucks can pretend not to want to use the portal but they just haven't done it yet successfully. How much better are they right now with Cardenas at 197? As he pointed out, the game has changed and you have to adjust or fall behind.
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Discussion Topic: Early returns from Stillwater - Taylor can coach
Rex Holman added to this discussion on January 16, 2025
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I would like to add that wrestlers want to go where they will be successful and actually achieve their goals while being appreciated in doing so.
Hamiti came to the game (D1) ready to win. Hadn't evolved much since his beginnings at Wisconsin. As a coach, you have got to make sure your wrestler is checking more boxes. Having no competition in the room and staying the same sucks and frustrating. Underachieving sucks.
Oklahoma State has a highly competitive room and coaches that have spent the latest parts of their career in that PSU room. Oklahoma State culture will be a direct result of that.
If a guy is close with an almost complete game, a coach can make the difference in a championship versus almost being good enough.
Everyone is on a developmental curve/somewhere in the learning process. It's always a question of where you go from here.
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