Kathy Taylor Reviews

Kathy Taylor is the best coach I have ever had the pleasure of playing with. She pushed me to my highest potential and never gave up on me even when I wanted to give up on myself. She’s will help you find your greatest potential and that will continue on into your life after college sports.

Coach Kathy Taylor is an awesome coach. The article that came out was from the upperclassmen on the Colgate team who were recruited by the old coach & they didn’t have the same wants for the program that Kathy has and is trying to change; She sees so much potential in our team and genuinely cares about us and wants us to succeed. She really pushes you to be the best player you can be and doesn’t beat around the bush and is old school so what she says can come out sounding harsh, but the advice she gives is helpful, very knowledgeable, and I personally think that people just need to grow thicker skin and stop being so soft. At the end of the day, Colgate is a Division I lacrosse program and people need to realize that playing at this level isn’t for everyone, and that every coach at this level is intense and challenges their athletes, you signed up for it by committing to a DI program. Overall, she’s a great women and what is being spread about her is wrong, she just wants us to be the best players we can be.

Coach Taylor cares so deeply for all of her athletes. She is competitive and wants to win and creates a culture that is very team oriented. She wants everyone to succeed on the field, in the classroom, and as leaders. Coach Taylor is very knowledgeable about the game, and helps each athlete be the best they can be because she knows their potential. She’s motivating and dedicated, and any athlete who gets to play for her is very lucky.

Kathy Taylor was one of the best coaches I have ever had. Her experience, grit, and dedication to our team was unstoppable. She not only pushed me and my peers to be better athletes, but thought us countless transferable skills I use everyday in my career. She cares about lacrosse, her team, and pushing you to be the best you can be. Coach Taylor is an advocate for strong women athletes and and I feel honored to have been coached by her.

I’ve had the privilege of being coached by Kathy Taylor and it has been nothing but memorable, fun and motivating. She has inspired young women to become the best version of themselves on and off the field. I have the utmost respect for her honesty and tough love approach to coaching. Our team culture was the best it has ever been under the leadership of coach taylor. She wants the best for her athletes.

Although an old school mentality, Kathy Taylor helped shape me into a hard working, dedicated person who pushes through hardships and obstacles. Mental toughness is important, but she never failed to want the best for us on and off the field.

My experience with Kathy Taylor as a coach was nothing but the best. She shaped me into what I am today and made me strong and determined in every aspect of life. I was so incredibly lucky to play lacrosse for such an amazing woman. She cares for her team while also understanding what we can handle and when to push us to achieve greatness. The skills I learned from her on the lacrosse field carry into my everyday life and now into coaching lacrosse myself.

I had the chance to play for Coach Taylor at Le Moyne College and had an incredible experience. She helped guide our team to a national championship in 2018. She is not only a coach but a mentor to us off of the field. I had a terrific four years and I wouldn’t change a thing.

This is response to the USA Today "Investigation" as well as to some of your reader's feedback. Kathy was our daughter's High School coach a few years prior to her move to SUNY Cortland. Our daughter was not a starter and fought through some injuries on those powerhouse teams. Did our daughter always love her - no - but she fully appreciated that Kathy was motivated to bring out the best in her athletes for the benefit of the TEAM. Had this USA Today Investigative Team interviewed the departing (and many) retained athletes after Syracuse University fired Greg Robinson as football coach, replacing him with Doug Marrone , there would have been a similar one-sided flavor to that article. (A feel-good coach leading an undisciplined program for his polar opposite.) The article holds Colgate out as almost a Mecca for Division I Women's Lax athletes. That is simply not the case, as the team's record over the 13 years prior to Kathy's arrival reflects. Is Division I different from Division III (SUNY Cortland} and II (LeMoyne) ? Absolutely, athletic scholarships to a highly selective, expensive University is a blessing (not without a downside for sure). Did Colgate hope to improve their program? Get more "bang for their buck" with their scholarship money? Did they seek out a coach with a record of success running disciplined programs? I'm guessing the answer to all three is yes. Kathy had athletes from our High School, years after she left, applying to play for her at SUNY Cortland. They and their parents were well aware of her expectations and style. I was glad to see that the limited positive input did include that of an athlete who chose to transfer from SUNY Cortland to LeMoyne in order to finish her career with Kathy. There is no excuse for body shaming and pushing injured athletes back into practice into play - if that is accurate, there must be consequences. But, encouraging an accomplished player to gain strength and weight in order to become an even better athlete? Isn't that in the best interests of the athlete and team? The article shared some background and game stats for some of the better starters for the team. Were they asked to modify their play for the overall benefit of the team? Did they resent this? Some of your readers have also weighed in with gay-shaming? There were some gay athletes on my daughter's team - there was NONE of that. The 6 Seniors were clear on the fact that did not like playing for Kathy. Not mentioned in the article were the circumstances of their prior coach's departure. Given the team's record, one would expect that it was not harmonious. No doubt, resentment for this may have played a part in their acceptance of the transition. To what extent did this attitude metastasize to the rest of the team? Our daughter played for four coaches in High School and College. Would her College program have benefitted from having Kathy as coach, particularly the last two years? Would she have welcomed a return to her disciplined coaching style for improved TEAM success? Absolutely. With attorney involvement on both sides, obtaining more balance for this article would have been difficult. To publish it primarily amplifying the grievances of the athletes who volunteered, with little effort to provide any perspective, feasting on low-hanging fruit, is BAD Journalism!

Does not value mental health of athletes. Will run athletes into the ground.

I think it is important to note that just because many athletes had positive experiences with Kathy Taylor, that does not take away from the negative experiences other athletes had. Just because she pushed some to their highest potential and made others great on and off the field, does not mean she did not go too far with others. Calling athletes a refrigerator on wheels, telling them they do not look the part of a college athlete, and shaming others for being too skinny is not helpful or motivational. It is a problem in today's world. Telling my teammate her depression was fake or making jokes about it goes beyond lacrosse and has a bit more to do with her behavior as a person in those cases. I commend Coach Taylor for being unapologetically herself, but when it goes too far I think that others need to step in. Again, just because you had a positive experience with Coach Taylor, does not mean you have the right to negate the experience of others and call them liars. Every opinion here is valid, that is why it is a conversation. Both sides need to listen. Listen to the good experiences if you had a bad one and listen to the bad experiences if you had a good one. There is truth on both sides. She is in fact a very knowledgeable coach who is honest with her players. As a coach, I think she sticks to her guns and she is who she is and makes no apologies for that. I also know she was brought up in a time where comments about mental health and physical appearance were more normalized and accepted. That being said, she has consistently and on multiple occasions crossed the line. Yes division I athletics is meant to be extraordinary challenging and difficult. Coach Taylor is going far beyond that in my opinion.

How long can Colgate continue to keep this coach? Every contact she has with players negatively affects them. She destroys their love of the sport and breaks them down emotionally and physically. Colgate University's reputation is one of intellectual rigor with world class professors. The current women's lacrosse coaching situation is the antithesis of those standards. The girls on this team deserve so much better.

This coach will finish her 5th year 3-13. The 3 wins were from the bottom of the patriot league. One easy game against American, and two 1 goal wins. Not one win against a winning team. So this great coach is not able to win one non conference game and was able to squeak out 3 wins the whole season and still make the playoffs. If your daughter is on this team this is what is going through her head and her teammates…. Great we get to play Army and finish the season getting crushed at home. Then we get to go to West Point for the first round of the playoffs to get crushed again. Coach will not be able to have any answers for what Army will be doing and all of our friends are back at school having fun. 23% win percentage over the last 2 years. Send your daughter to Colgate so she will lose more games in one season than her HS team lost in her 4 years on Varsity. Coach is living on her old reputation.

Another epic fail for Colgate Women’s Lacrosse, embarrassing is an understatement!

The biggest mistake you daughter could make would be to commit to play lacrosse for KT. The sport your daughter loves and has spent countless hours perfecting will turn into a sport your daughter hates in little over a year. Current starters that should have transferred out at the end of last year are now just playing out the season hoping that it would end tomorrow. This is how it will go for most of the freshman class if you decide to stay with Colgate and KT. Freshman year your daughter will be put on a pedestal and praised as the saviors of the program. Fall ball will come around and all of the new players will get a majority of the playing time with praise and admiration. The parents and players will be happy. This for most will be the last time they will say that. From that point on if your daughter is producing on the field, you will have at least one good season until your daughter has an injury. Kids know this and play hurt with said injury not disclosing it. While this is going on KT is busy trying to flush the toilet on the sophomores and upper-class to see who she can get to quit so she has more $ to offer her next class coming in. Year two for your daughter the whole cycle starts all over. New freshman will get all of the playing time and the shining stars will be forced into the lineup. KT will stick with this lineup to prove to everyone what a great recruiter she is. If your daughter was a producer as a freshman and remains a starter the competition will now put their best defender on her and shut her down. KT is not smart enough to as a coach to recognize this and will do absolutely nothing to help get your daughter open. She will stay with her magnificent offense of pass the ball around for 70 seconds with each player trying to go 1v1. When that doesn't work a desperation shot is taken as the shot clock expires, essentially an unrecorded turnover. 2024 1-10 (maybe 1 more win in their future) 2023 4-11 2022 6-12 2021 5-6 2020 3-4 (covid) Zero coaching, horrible winning percentage, only 2 four-year recruits of hers graduating. By the time your daughter reaches her junior and senior year you will realize she is stuck at Colgate playing for KT miserable and hating her decision to play there. Don't take my word for it have your daughter ask juniors and seniors. decommit while you can! Freshman athletes hit the transfer portal and run as fast as you can. Juniors and seniors get the AD on speed dial and start campaigning to have KT fired. don't get trapped like many have. Colgate is a wonderful school that your daughter will not want to leave after you finish your sophomore year. DON'T GET STUCK IN THE CESSPOOL THAT KT HAS CREATED!

Coach Taylor is a failure! She might have”changed” since the abuse allegations but in actuality she is still the same Coach. She wanted to change the culture and program so badly that she simply damaged herself and her reputation, as the saying goes “your reputation is all you have” and she has failed, These young impressionable young athletes all know her motive; tear them down, thinking they will play harder! But that tactic doesn’t work anymore! Exit the program, give these young women a positive experience. Your time is UP! Future commits reach out don’t go to COLGATE if Kathy Taylor is there!

This team has been systematically broken down year on year under Kathy Taylor. To the point that they are now incapable of beating a decent D3 team. Kathy Taylor might have been a very good D2 coach but whatever magic she had is long gone. (which was likely easily recruited great talent in the upstate New York market at a lower academic school masking mediocre coaching- but I digress). More specifically, Taylor makes zero in game and halftime adjustments. This Coach will see a train approaching literally from 2 miles away and continue to walk right into its path. Virtually every game in 2024 the opponent outshoots Colgate 3 to 1. The defense plays a soft man to man coverage leading to inordinate amounts of free shooting space calls and after going down by 4 or 5 goals they then try to increase man to man pressure leading to numerous passes to cutters scoring or just one on one breakdowns leading to 10 point or more losses. The offense is simply scared to make a mistake and are in the bottom 5 percent in the country in shots attempted , goals made, one of the absolute worst in D1 in turnovers and one of the worst in the country in draw controls. Kathy Taylor is the head coach and solely accountable for the outcomes of this program. Whether your are in the tiny fraction of parents who like her or not and no matter how one feels about former and current players allegations of abuse by her, coaches are ultimately judged on wins and losses. And don’t give me “well there are other things more important than wins and loses”, because these kids were all academic high performers coming into college and would achieve off the field in any environment. Team GPA has been consistent and high well before Coach Taylor was hired. In sum, Kathy Taylor you should do the proper thing and step aside for the program to move forward and the ladies who remain to have any chance of salvaging a true student athlete experience. Sometimes true leadership requires selfless sacrifice. Colgate, if Kathy Taylor does not resign, which she likely should have already, you have a professional responsibility to immediately relieve her of her duties for those 20 plus student athletes who prematurely left the program under her leadership and the 20+ current players (at least half of which loathe the day they decided to play under this coach).

Colgate University supports this constant abusive behavior over and over. Coach Taylor may have a handful of foolish followers, but the truth is she creates a toxic environment plays mental games with our daughters during each practice and during game time decisions! Don’t send your daughter to Colgate! Speak to the other athletes she is a SHAM, scam artist and clearly a legend in her own mind!! Don’t go to COLGATE

Horrible program. Horrible coaching. Team is miserable. Freshman transfer while you can before it's too late. The only happy sophomore from last year's squad is the kid that transferred to Vanderbilt!

As a parent and a Women's lacrosse fan it amazes me how KT keeps doing the same thing over and over and over with no results and thinks it is going to work. Good coaching teaches and demands discipline and implements a system that helps the team be better at maintaining possession. Winning teams usually double the number of turnovers in their shot total. Teams are taking triple their turnovers in shots against Colgate. Colgate 28 shots to 37 turnovers in two games says it all. Can't win games when you are not taking shots and don't have possession of the ball. It was the same last year, hopefully something changes. Transfer portal is looking like a real option for many.