Former Stanford football coach Troy Taylor sues ESPN for defamation

Former Stanford coach Troy Taylor filed a defamation lawsuit Wednesday against ESPN and one of its reporters over a March investigative story that led to his dismissal.

The suit, filed in the Northern District of California, alleges that reporter Xuan Thai published “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.”

The Athletic obtained a copy of the complaint, which the Sacramento Bee first reported.

General manager Andrew Luck fired Taylor, who was Stanford’s coach for two seasons, six days after ESPN’s March 19 report.

That story alleged Taylor “bullied and belittled female athletic staffers,” citing a pair of previously undisclosed third-party investigations in 2023 and 2024 after “multiple employees filed official complaints regarding Taylor’s behavior.”

Taylor’s complaint alleges a follow-up story ESPN published a month later said Stanford’s initial investigation began “in response to a single complainant who alleged gender bias and ‘a culture problem in football,’” and that the investigator found “insufficient evidence” regarding the original complaint.

The actual April 16 article contained that language but also noted the investigation ultimately included interviews “with at least 20 Stanford athletic department staffers regarding four allegations against Taylor. Three of the allegations regarding belittling and inappropriate behavior toward multiple women were deemed to have merit.”

ESPN did not retract its original story. An ESPN spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Luck, Stanford’s former All-American quarterback, took over as general manager in November and became Taylor’s direct boss at the time. A person briefed on the decision to fire Taylor told The Athletic in March that Luck knew some details of Taylor’s situation with the school before accepting the GM job and received a briefing once he started.

He did not take action, however, until the ESPN report came out just ahead of spring practice.

“It has been clear that certain aspects of the program need change,” Luck said in a statement at the time. “Additionally, in recent days, there has been significant attention to Stanford investigations in previous years related to Coach Taylor. After continued consideration it is evident to me that our program needs a reset. In consultation with university leadership, I no longer believe that Coach Taylor is the right coach to lead our football program.

Taylor, 57, led Sacramento State to FCS playoff appearances in each of his three seasons. Stanford’s then-athletic director Bernard Muir hired him in December 2022, after consecutive 3-9 seasons and the subsequent departure of longtime coach David Shaw. Taylor went 3-9 in each of his two seasons as well.

After Taylor’s dismissal, Luck hired Frank Reich, his former Indianapolis Colts coach, as Stanford’s interim coach for the 2025 season, with the condition Reich would not be a candidate for the permanent job.

(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)