Fired Stanford football head coach Troy Taylor has filed a defamation lawsuit against ESPN and reporter Xuan Thai, the Sacramento Bee reported on Wednesday.
Taylor, 57, was fired by Stanford in March after two seasons at the helm of the school's football team. Six days prior to his dismissal, ESPN published a report by Thai detailing two investigations by Stanford into accusations that Taylor "bullied and belittled female athletic staffers," among other claims. At the time Stanford GM Andrew Luck said Taylor was fired because he felt the program needed a "reset." ESPN additionally published a story in April in response to Taylor's statement released a month after he was dismissed.
