Takedown Report

OSU Wrestling: Details of David Taylor’s Contract Released

Taylor is set to make $1 million in Year 1
By all accounts, the highest-paid college wrestling coach in the country now resides in Stillwater.
PFB obtained details of new Oklahoma State wrestling coach David Taylor’s contract on Friday. Taylor, 33, was hired to replace John Smith, who retired after leading the Cowboys for 33 years. Smith made $500,000 in 2023, according to Tulsa World’s state employee salary database.
According to the six-year contract, which runs through March 31, 2030, Taylor is set to make $1 million the first year, followed by $30,000 raises each year after, putting Taylor’s contract at $1.15 million in the final year of the contract. The deal, which was signed by Taylor and administration this week, is worth $6.45 million total over six years. According to available public records, Taylor is now the highest-paid college wrestling coach in the country and is the first college wrestling coach to have a salary reach the $1 million threshold.
On top of the salary, Taylor will also have the opportunity for performance incentive bonuses. Those include $125,000 for an NCAA championship, $80,000 for a runner-up finish, $60,000 for a third-place finish and $10,000 for every individual NCAA champion. He will also get a one-time payment of $1 million. Benefits also include a golf course membership, four tickets to OSU football games, the use of a luxury suite during wrestling duals, up to 12 tickets to wrestling duals and up to 12 tickets to postseason tournaments. … more at … https://pistolsfiringblog.com/osu-wrestling-details-of-david-taylors-contract-released/

July 27, 2024 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

McMillon still leans on wrestling experience in roaming the secondary for Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh safety Donovan McMillon said his experience as a wrestler still impacts how he plays football
By AARON BEARD – Associated Press July 23, 2024

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Donovan McMillon roams Pittsburgh’s secondary thinking about angles to take on a ballcarrier and the eagerness to take him down in a 1-on-1 shot. The safety said his time on a very different stage — the wrestling mat — still influences how he manages those split-second moments. “You’re trying to attack your opponent at his weakest angle, at his blind spot, and trying to get leverage,” McMillon said Tuesday during the Atlantic Coast Conference’s preseason football media days.
The Florida transfer who led the Panthers with 105 tackles — the most by a Pitt defender since 2015 — was a wrestler for his first three years of high school in Pennsylvania. He still thinks like a wrestler, too. “When I see that running back, tight end, receiver, even quarterback in the open, making a move, it really comes down to me seeing where he’s spotting and what I think he’s going to do,” he said. “And I attack that spot.”
McMillon thrived in wrestling as he grew about five inches in a year toward his current 6-foot-2 frame, including being a Class 3-A runner-up at 182 pounds in Pennsylvania in 2020. He said getting in wrestling shape is “by far the hardest shape I think in any sport,” describing a routine of running a few miles and lifting weights before school, not eating because of cutting weight, running some more, having a match, eat a big meal — and then start all over again. “At the end of the day I might not be in that shape I used to be in,” he said, “but that (wrestling) shape is in my head. … I can move and play 70, 80 snaps a game and I’m not worried about anything.” … more at … https://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-news/mcmillon-still-leans-on-wrestling-experience-in-roaming-the-secondary-for-pittsburgh/WQQ3ZY4MTRG55KDRTUDFILCZPA/

July 27, 2024 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment