Former Stanford football coach Troy Taylor is suing ESPN and its reporter who authored a story in March suggesting that Taylor “bullied” and “belittled” female athletic staffers, which led to the coach’s firing a week later.
The lawsuit alleges that ESPN and reporter Xuan Thai “made, published, and 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.”
ESPN and Thai are named as defendants and Taylor the plaintiff in a civil complaint filed Wednesday in federal court for the Northern District Court of California.
The complaint is calling for a jury trial but does not specify how much Taylor is seeking in damages for defamation.
ESPN declined to comment to the Sacramento Bee, which first reported the lawsuit’s filing.
“(ESPN) had the reports in their hands and yet they repeatedly made false statements about the investigatory findings to paint Troy as a misogynistic bully. We are honored to represent Troy and clear his name so he can get back to coaching football,” Paul Salvaty, Taylor’s lawyer, said to the Bee.
The lawsuit alleges that Stanford leaked a copy of two confidential university workplace investigations about Taylor’s interactions with female athletic staffers, according to the Bee.
“I don’t know if I’ll get another coaching job,” Taylor, who is renting a home in Los Gatos with his family, told the news organization.
“It’s great to have my family here, but I’m in pain,” Taylor added. “I’m struggling with this.”
Taylor’s wife Tracey said in an interview with the Bee, “It’s been really hard, devastating and sad. I know Troy, and he’s not anything like the things he’s been described as. He’s not a bully.”
Taylor, a former Cal quarterback, had been coach at Folsom High School and Sacramento State before taking over at Stanford for the 2023 season.
He went 3-9 both seasons he was in charge of the Cardinal after helping Sacramento State to three consecutive FCS playoff berths.
ESPN reported in March that Taylor had been investigated twice for his treatment of female staffers, and that he signed a letter in 2023 after the first probe, acknowledging that he could be fired if his behavior continued.
The first investigation accused Taylor of being “angry, aggressive and belittling at times.” The second investigation, which was completed in the summer of 2024, delved into similar accusations and concluded that he attempted to have a compliance officer removed from her position.
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Less than a week after the report surfaced, Stanford football general manager Andrew Luck fired Taylor. Days later and just before the beginning of spring camp, Luck hired Frank Reich, his former NFL head coach in Indianapolis, on an interim basis.
A month after his dismissal, Taylor declared in a statement that he had been fired “without cause” and that the portrayal of him as a bully was “unfair, wrong and contrary to my professional track record.”
Both investigations were completed before Luck took over his post, but he was on the panel that hired Taylor. Athletic director Bernard Muir announced in February that he would resign at the end of the school year. The school has not named a replacement in the five-plus months since.