OSU Wrestling: Why New Head Coach David Taylor is Nicknamed ‘Magic Man’

Oklahoma State’s new wrestling coach is known by more than just his given name.

Olympic gold medalist David Taylor was named head coach of Cowboy Wrestling on Monday night. Although “Coach Taylor” might become what he’s called most around Stillwater, throughout the country he’s known as “Magic Man.” It’s even his handle on X, which shortly after OSU announced the hire, Taylor switched from @magicman_psu to @magicman_osu. He quickly changed that but hasn’t updated his bio yet, which again reads his nickname first, plus his weight and international accomplishment as an Olympic gold medalist and three-time world champion. Taylor was also a two-time individual NCAA champion and two-time Dan Hodge Trophy winner at Penn State before his international career began.

Taylor’s “Magic Man” nickname ultimately came from Will Ferrell’s movie, “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.” In an old interview with Flo, Taylor and former Team USA teammate Kyle Dake reminisced watching the movie on repeat before deciding to steal the nicknames from the movie. Taylor admitted he eventually started using “Magic Man” as his signature at the bottom of text messages. Then it stuck.

Taylor made “Magic Man” his own once he backed it up at Penn State. Then during his international career, because of his knack for coming back in matches that seemed impossible to come back in, almost like magic, the nickname became famous and even morphed into a brand. In 2015, Taylor signed with Adidas and partnered with the company on a wrestling apparel line called “M2,” which was based off his nickname. Taylor got a signature shoe under the brand before more apparel was also released. Taylor also named his wrestling academy “M2 Training Center.”

Today, even when OSU announced Taylor as its new head coach in what seemed like a magic act in itself, Cowboy Wrestling did so with posts on social media that were punctuated with, “Let’s make some magic!”