.png)
German (DE) 
English (US) 
Spanish (ES) 
French (FR) 
Hindi (IN) 
Italian (IT) 
Russian (RU) 
7 hours ago
1
Troy Taylor is 6-18 in two seasons at Stanford. (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images)
Two years ago, Stanford head coach Troy Taylor spoke of building a "culture of love" and being "sincere and authentic" during his first Pac-12 media day news conference. A pair of law firms hired by Stanford to investigate him found something else.
As detailed by a report from ESPN published Wednesday, two investigations found Taylor to have bullied and belittled female athletic staffers, attempted to have an NCAA compliance officer removed after she warned him about rules violations and repeatedly made inappropriate comments to a different woman about her appearance.
The first investigation reportedly resulted in Taylor signing a warning letter in Feb. 2024 acknowledging he could be fired if his conduct continued. More complaints led to a second investigation last July.
Taylor acknowledged the investigations and said he would try to use them to improve himself in a statement to ESPN::
In a statement released by Stanford on Wednesday, Taylor said he was using the investigations to improve "how I interact with others."
"I willingly complied with the investigations, accepted the recommendations that came out of them, and used them as a learning opportunity to grow in leadership and how I interact with others," Taylor said in the statement. "I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively and collegially with my colleagues so that we can achieve success for our football program together."
Stanford released a different statement endorsing Taylor to nurture a respectful working environment:
In a separate statement, a university spokesperson said, "Stanford believes in upholding the highest standards of behavior in the workplace."
"The University received complaints regarding Coach Taylor and a third party investigated the matter thoroughly. Last summer, the University took appropriate measures, Coach Taylor received coaching, and he has committed to nurturing the respectful working environment that is essential to the success of all our athletics programs."
The first investigation was reportedly conducted by Kate Weaver Patterson, of KWP Consulting & Mediation in May 2023, only six months after Taylor was hired to replace longtime head coach David Shaw.
She reportedly found a culture of fear and hostility, with multiple people complaining Taylor had repeatedly made comments about a female staffer's "appearance, smell, and interest in football." Senior associate athletics director Matt Doyle, who was also found to have treated staff inappropriately, said he believed Taylor froze him out of meetings because of his cooperation with the investigation.
More, via ESPN:
While Taylor called his work environment "zero drama," Patterson "found him to have a significant blind spot on how his 'direct communication' is received by staff."
In addition to finding the football culture at Stanford "not welcoming to women," Patterson wrote that the program was not "welcoming to anyone ... who cannot dedicate unrestricted time to the program" regardless of gender.
Patterson cited "belittling comments" Taylor aimed at compliance officers, saying he "expressed inappropriate anger and frustration with staff." The coach would go from "sitting there silently to screaming," a witness stated. In some situations, staffers were "scared to death to talk to him."
"[Taylor] loses his s— over things that aren't that big of a deal," one person told Patterson.
The second investigation was led by Timothy O'Brien of the Libby, O'Brien, Kingsley & Champion law firm in Maine and begin in June of last year after two more complaints against Taylor.
O'Brien had reportedly found little had changed, noting he had never encountered "this palpable level of animosity and disdain" for a university compliance office. He cited seven Level III violations committed under Taylor from 2022 to 2024.
He still found a coach who did not treat women appropriately:
One of the sources who spoke with ESPN on condition of anonymity said that, while Taylor is an "equal opportunity a—hole," his behavior more often targeted women.
O'Brien seemingly agreed with that assessment and noted in his report that "while being a head football coach is a stressful role, I do not find any excuse for Coach Taylor's treatment" of the women cited in the investigations.
Taylor is currently preparing for his third season at Stanford after beginning his tenure with back-to-back 3-9 seasons. The Cardinal hired him after he posted a 30-8 record in three seasons at FCS Sacramento State, as well as a lengthy career as an assistant coach at the college level.
Comments