The contract details for Penn State wrestling legend David Taylor in his new job as Oklahoma State’s coach have been released.
Taylor, a 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist known as “The Magic Man,” shocked the wrestling world in early May when he took the job to succeed legendary coach John Smith and thus retired from active competition.
Here’s what the contract looks like year-by-year, per the Tulsa World’s State Employee Database, obtained by the Stillwater News Press.
He’ll be the first college coach to make $1 million in a year, at least in terms of public contracts.
Year 1 (2024-25): $1,000,000
Year 2 (2025-26): $1,030,000
Year 3 (2026-27): $1,060,000
Year 4 (2027-28): $1,090,000
Year 5 (2028-29): $1,120,000
Year 6 (2029-30): $1,150,000
Taylor’s contract also includes bonuses for performance, which are:
NCAA championship = $125,000
runner-up finish = $80,000
third-place finish = $60,000
individual NCAA champion = $10,000
There are also personal benefits, which are:
A membership to a golf course
4 tickets to OSU football games
A luxury suite during home wrestling duals
12 tickets to home wrestling duals
12 tickets to postseason tournaments
Spouse/family travel for away wrestling matches.
Taylor’s goal is to bring Oklahoma State— which has 34 team titles, 10 more than the next closest program— back to its old glory.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.To do that, he’ll have to overtake an empire he helped build.
Penn State wrestling is the biggest dynasty in college sports— so big that the word “dynasty” might not even do it justice.
The program, under the direction of the great Cael Sanderson, has won 11 of the past 13 national titles, and Taylor was a key part of the first four, won consecutively from 2011-14.
Individually, Taylor won two national titles, was a national runner-up in his other two seasons and is one of just six in history to win two Dan Hodge Trophies— wrestling’s Heisman.
After college, Taylor remained a vital part of Nittany Lion Wrestling Club while building a decorated freestyle career, which wrapped up with three World Championships, four world medals in addition to Olympic Gold.
Penn State last extended Sanderson in the summer of 2022. His contract details are not released to the public, but Taylor’s contract will certainly make wrestling fans think of how much the nation’s best coach— maybe the best of all time— is making.
