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Stanford football head coach Troy Taylor has been accused of bullying and belittling female athletic staffers, according to a lengthy new report published by ESPN. Andrew Luck, who became the general manager of the Stanford football program in November of last year, has yet to respond to the report. Neither has Condoleezza Rice, a special adviser on athletics to the university president.
According to the ESPN report by Xuan Thai, in addition to bullying and belittling female athletic staffers, Troy Taylor has also been accused of seeking “to have an NCAA compliance officer removed after she warned him of rules violations and repeatedly made ‘inappropriate’ comments to another woman about her appearance.”
These revelations were made in documents from two investigations into Troy Taylor that were obtained by ESPN. Following the first investigation, Taylor signed a warning letter on Feb. 14, 2024, acknowledging he could be fired if his inappropriate conduct continued. A second investigation that ended on July 24, 2024 listed additional complaints, but the football coach was not fired and is currently still with Stanford.
The investigations began after multiple employees filed complaints against Taylor for what they called hostile and aggressive behavior, as well as personal attacks, the reports said. The school hired Kate Weaver Patterson, of KWP Consulting & Mediation, to investigate in spring 2023.
The second investigation cited evidence “that this is an ongoing pattern of concerning behavior by Coach Taylor.” It was conducted last June and July by Timothy O’Brien, senior counsel for the Libby, O’Brien, Kingsley & Champion law firm in Maine. O’Brien, who has advised several Division I and Power 5 programs, said in his report that he has never encountered “this palpable level of animosity and disdain” for a university compliance office.
“Even during the interview with me, when talking about compliance issues, Coach Taylor’s tone was forceful and aggressive,” O’Brien wrote.
He called Taylor’s treatment of the team’s compliance officer “inappropriate, discriminatory on the basis of her sex,” saying it had a “significant negative impact” on the staffer. O’Brien concluded that Taylor retaliated against the compliance staffer by “seeking her removal from her assigned duties” after she raised concerns about NCAA rules violations related to illegal practices and player eligibility.
O’Brien outlined possible disciplinary procedures, including termination, under NCAA bylaws if an employee retaliates, “such as intimidating, threatening, or harassing an individual who has raised a claim.”
“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 a statement released on Wednesday by Stanford. “I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively and collegially with my colleagues so that we can achieve success for our football program together.”
While general manager Andrew Luck has been silent on the matter, a university spokesperson told ESPN, “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.”
Ann Killion of the local San Francisco Chronicle is calling for Andrew Luck, or someone at Stanford, to “do the right thing.”
“Taylor’s statement, reading like an AI-generated script for remorse, claimed he used the investigations as ‘a learning opportunity,'” she wrote.
“He certainly didn’t use the first investigation as a learning opportunity. The second investigation found that Taylor’s behavior was ‘an ongoing pattern,’ and the lawyer conducting the inquiry said he had never before encountered ‘this palpable level of animosity and disdain’ for a university compliance office.
“Apparently Stanford’s high standards of ‘learning’ aren’t applicable to Taylor.”