Kathy Taylor – FAQs

Kathy Taylor is a women’s lacrosse coach with more than 30 years of experience at the high school, Division III, Division II, and Division I levels. Her career record across 16 seasons as a head coach is 233–76 (.754). She won the 2018 NCAA Division II National Championship at Le Moyne College, was named IWLCA Division II National Coach of the Year, and was voted SUNYAC Coach of the Decade for the 2010s. She served as president of the IWLCA and as a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team Selection Committee.

Kathy Taylor’s career record across 16 seasons as a head coach is 233–76 (.754). Her combined collegiate record at SUNY Cortland and Le Moyne College is 212–29 (.880). At Cortland she went 115–17 with four consecutive Final Fours. At Le Moyne she went 97–12 and won the 2018 national championship. At Fayetteville-Manlius High School her record was 245–62–3 with two New York State Championships.

Yes. Kathy Taylor won the 2018 NCAA Division II Women’s Lacrosse National Championship as head coach of Le Moyne College, defeating Florida Southern 16–11 in Tampa, Florida. The championship season produced a 22–1 record — an NCAA Division II record. Her teams at Le Moyne made four consecutive NCAA Final Fours from 2015 through 2018.

During Kathy Taylor’s tenure at Colgate, a former player raised allegations of abusive coaching. Colgate conducted a five-month third-party investigation covering more than 30 interviews. The university concluded Taylor should remain as head coach, publicly stated its intent to continue with her leadership, and extended her contract. She was not named as a defendant in the subsequent lawsuit filed against the university.

Colgate University’s five-month third-party investigation — more than 30 interviews, completed August 2022 — concluded that Kathy Taylor should remain as head coach. The university publicly communicated its intent to continue with her leadership and extended her contract. Taylor was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed against the university. The investigation’s outcome received no coverage from the outlets that reported the original allegations.

Taylor was advised by her university not to speak publicly and followed that guidance to protect her players, staff, and program. In her April 2026 OutKick op-ed she wrote that she believed the truth would be enough. She broke her public silence in early 2026, after the investigation’s outcome had gone unreported for nearly four years.

More than 50 former players came forward publicly by name. They include U.S. Army Major Jordan A. Miller, who led more than 500 soldiers through combat deployments and credits Taylor with building the foundation of her leadership; four-time All-American Lindsay Abbott Byrnes; Athletic Director Caroline Langhurst; and dozens of others across 35 years and four programs who describe her coaching as the defining influence on their professional and personal lives.

Taylor addressed this directly in her April 2026 OutKick op-ed, noting that when male coaches demonstrate intensity they are called passionate, while women coaches doing the same thing face questions about abuse. The double standard in how coaching intensity is perceived in women’s versus men’s athletics is documented and widely noted across collegiate sports.

Kathy Taylor retired from coaching following her tenure at Colgate University. She remains active as a public commentator on competitive athletics, coaching standards, and women’s sports. Her writing has appeared in OutKick and Grit Daily, and she has spoken on the Beyond the Scoreboard and Game Changers podcasts.

In December 2025, a former Colgate lacrosse player filed a civil lawsuit against Colgate University. Coach Taylor is not named as a defendant in that lawsuit. Colgate University conducted its own five-month independent investigation in 2022 — covering more than 30 interviews — and concluded that Coach Taylor should remain as head coach. The university extended her contract following that investigation. In February 2026, Colgate filed a motion to dismiss all nine counts of the complaint, disputing that Coach Taylor overruled medical staff and contesting whether the plaintiff’s mental health struggles were caused by the lacrosse program. More than 50 former players, coaches, and parents have come forward publicly to dispute the characterization of Taylor’s coaching as abusive.

For a full point-by-point response to the specific allegations in the complaint, read Coach Taylor’s comprehensive response.

Yes. In February 2026, Colgate University filed a motion to dismiss all nine counts of the complaint in federal court. In its filing, Colgate disputed that Coach Taylor overruled medical staff, contested whether the plaintiff’s mental health struggles were caused by the lacrosse program, and characterized the plaintiff’s departure from the team as voluntary. Colgate noted that its own five-month investigation — conducted in 2022 and covering more than 30 interviews — found no violation of university policy and resulted in Coach Taylor being retained and offered a contract extension.

Colgate’s motion argued that the pressures of competing as a Division I athlete for the first time are not the university’s legal responsibility. The motion to dismiss was reported by The Colgate Maroon-News on April 3, 2026. Source: The Colgate Maroon-News — thecolgatemaroonnews.com

For thirty years, I have dedicated my life to empowering young women through the game of lacrosse. The outpouring of support from nearly fifty former players, coaches, and parents – women who are now military officers, corporate executives, Division I coaches, educators, mothers, and leaders in their communities – has moved me beyond words. Their testimonials reflect the truth of what we built together. And the truth matters, because it has been buried for too long.

I stayed quiet when these allegations first surfaced – not because I had anything to hide. I was told not to speak because of the investigation, and I wanted to protect the players, the staff, and the program I cared deeply about. I wanted to coach. I believed the truth would be enough to set the record straight, and that we could move on to the business of building a program. I was wrong. The false allegations were reprinted as fact – over and over, for years – while I kept my head down, tried to reassure my players, protect my staff, and build something that mattered. Colgate’s own five-month investigation cleared me. They didn’t just retain me – they extended my contract. And still, not a single outlet bothered to report that. The fiction was more convenient than the truth.

I will no longer sit by while my three-decade career built on integrity, accountability, and genuine care is rewritten by a lawsuit that conflates demanding coaching with abuse. The media coverage hasn’t been careless – it has been reckless. Fiction presented as fact, allegations treated as verdicts, and not once did anyone pick up the phone and ask me or the fifty people who actually lived this experience for our side of the story. That is not journalism. That is a smear campaign with a press pass.

I have always coached with high expectations because I believed in my players’ potential – because that is what they deserved. A coach who would push them further than they thought they could go. A coach who would tell them the truth when it was hard to hear. A coach who showed up every single day for thirty years because this work meant everything to me. That is my legacy – and no lawsuit and no headline will erase what thirty years and hundreds of young women have proven to be true. But make no mistake: the damage is real. It has deeply affected me, my family, and my friends – forever. And I am done being silent about it.