Former Stanford Football Coach Troy Taylor Suing ESPN For Defamation

Former Stanford football coach Troy Taylor is suing ESPN for reports that he says led to his firing by the school. 

Back in March, Taylor was fired by Stanford after a number of articles came out that said he was investigated numerous times by the school for bullying, according to author Xuan Thai of ESPN.

The Athletic first reported the lawsuit being filed. 

The first story that ran alleged that after numerous investigations by outside firms, Taylor was accused of bullying and belittling female staff members associated with Stanford. According to the report from ESPN, following the first investigation into the claims, Troy Taylor signed a letter of warning in February of 2024. 

In the aftermath of that investigation, more complaints were levied against Taylor, leading to another inquiry of the situation that ended on July 24 of the same year. 

After the ESPN report was published, Troy Taylor released a statement to the public, saying he complied with the investigations, and that he looked forward to continuing his job at Stanford. 

"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."

Head coach Troy Taylor of the Stanford Cardinal talks to his staff against the California Golden Bears in the third quarter at California Memorial Stadium on November 23, 2024 in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

The initial story into Taylor's alleged actions mentioned that there were undisclosed third-party investigations in 2023 and 2024 that led to multiple employees filing separate complaints regarding the behavior of the Stanford coach. 

The lawsuit that was filed alleges that ESPN's reporting had "repeated defamatory statements about Taylor, knowing full well that the statements were false, for the purpose of smearing Taylor’s reputation and injuring him in his profession."

It should also be noted that Stanford general manager Andrew Luck, the former Indianapolis Colts quarterback, was the one that fired Troy Taylor a week following the ESPN report into the alleged investigations. 

Now, Troy Taylor is suing ESPN, in hopes of one day also returning to the sidelines after going 3-9 in each of his two seasons as the Stanford coach.