In stadiums and arenas packed with cheering fans, athletic organizations garner support from millions of admirers worldwide. These organizations frequently paint a picture of equality and progress — but how much do fans really know about the happenings behind the scenes of these establishments?
Studies point towards the idea that for a number of these administrations, gender discrimination towards females is a deeply rooted issue.
This discrimination doesn’t just occur among female athletes — it is regularly common among female staffers as well. According to a survey conducted by the group Women in Football, the number of women experiencing discrimination in the football industry is continuing to rise. The survey showed that 89% of women working in football have experienced discrimination in the workplace, a number that was up from 82% in 2023 and 66% four years ago.
Troy Taylor, Stanford’s head football coach from 2022 to 2025, is the latest figure under the spotlight. According to ESPN, there were two internal investigations into Taylor, both of which revealed a pattern of hostility, inappropriate behavior and targeted aggression, particularly toward female staff members. Despite the number of complaints, Taylor retained his position for nearly two years following the first investigation. His eventual dismissal, spearheaded by newly appointed General Manager Andrew Luck, may raise questions from the public about Stanford’s institutional accountability.
Taylor briefly played for the Jets in the NFL before retiring and moving on to coaching. After coaching at the University of Utah and Sacramento State, Taylor was hired as Stanford’s head football coach in December of 2022. He coached Stanford to two 3-win and 9-loss seasons in 2023 and 2024.
Stanford launched two separate investigations into the behavior of Taylor after multiple complaints were filed by the staff. These complaints centered around hostile and aggressive behavior, as well as personal attacks. The first investigation, conducted in May of 2023 by Kate Weaver Patterson, an investigator from KWP Consulting & Mediation, included over 30 interviews with staffers.
Patterson’s write-up explained that there were multiple complaints of Taylor repeatedly having made “inappropriate comments” about a female staffer’s “appearance, smell and interest in football.”
The investigation ended with Taylor signing an agreement on February 14, 2024, stating that if this misconduct continued, his contract would be terminated.
The second investigation was conducted during the summer of 2024, just a few months after the conclusion of the first investigation. This investigation, led by Timothy O’Brien, lawyer and senior counsel for the Libby, O’Brien, Kingsley & Champion law firm, found even more concerning behavior toward female staffers. According to O’Brien’s writings, he had never seen this level of “animosity and disdain” towards a coach’s staff and a team’s compliance officer. The job of Stanford’s compliance officer is to ensure the organization is following the laws, specifically the NCAA rules.
“Even during the interview with me, when talking about compliance issues, Coach Taylor’s tone was forceful and aggressive,” O’Brien said in his original report of Taylor’s behavior.
Furthermore, the investigation claimed that Taylor allegedly attempted to have the team’s compliance officer removed after she warned him of NCAA violations; said violations included more inappropriate comments and discriminatory behavior toward the staff’s female employees.
Despite these findings, Taylor remained the head coach of the Stanford football team through the fall of the 2024 season and up until March 25, 2025, when he was fired by Andrew Luck.
“In recent days, there has been significant attention to Stanford investigations in previous years related to Coach Taylor,” Luck said in a statement released by Stanford. “After continued consideration, it is evident to me that our program needs a reset.”
Luck’s decision to let Taylor go came less than four months after he became the Stanford football team’s first General Manager in late November of 2024. The abruptness of this major decision, made by a new hire for the university’s athletic department, may raise questions from the public about what caused this sudden termination and why it didn’t happen sooner.
One of these truth-seekers is Josh Dubow, an Associated Press Journalist. Dubow stated that he believes the reason Taylor was fired was because the ESPN report became public.
“I think Luck acted now mostly because it became public and there was blowback,” Dubow said. “I don’t think Taylor would have been fired in March had ESPN not published the report.”
Even after two initial investigations, Taylor wasn’t terminated, suspended, or punished in any way. Legal experts argue that Stanford’s delayed response raises concerns about Title IX compliance, which was specifically put in place to avoid situations such as Taylor’s.
Title IX laws not only require that female athletes be given equal opportunities in terms of participation and scholarships, but they also require protection from gender discrimination of female employees in federally funded institutions. Although Stanford is a private university, they receive federal funding for research, meaning that Title IX laws apply to every program within the school.
Taylor’s case is certainly not the first exemplifying the mistreatment of female employees in athletic programs.
Alarmingly, most sexual discrimination cases remain unreported due to fears of retaliation and skepticism about reporting, as confirmed by a study from the U.S. Center for SafeSport, which found that 93% of athletes did not report such incidents.
According to sophomore Julie Yang, sexism within athletics can occur at all levels of play, even within high school competition.
“I’ve definitely experienced many struggles as a female athlete within my sport (track and field), partially because the sport is co-ed,” Yang said. “I’ve felt a lot of pressure when competing with the boys on the team, which can make me feel less confident in myself and my abilities.”
From a standout female athlete’s perspective, Yang strongly believes that Stanford’s decision to fire Taylor was the correct course of action.
“Firing Troy Taylor was definitely the right choice because what he did to the female staffers of the football team was very unprofessional,” Yang said.
From Yang’s perspective, because Stanford is a tremendously influential program, she believes this incident set a substandard example for all collegiate sports.
“Stanford is well known for being an amazing sports program and in terms of the actions of a coach like Troy Taylor, it is both a letdown for the team, but also quite offensive to the program itself,” Yang said. “Many people put a lot of faith and trust in prestigious colleges and Stanford is an exemplary college that many people look up to.”
But the impact of these issues expands far beyond the high school and collegiate level, they take place in professional leagues as well. One such example includes the Washington Commanders, formerly known as the Washington Football Team.
In 2021, the Washington Commanders, a team that was at the time known as the Washington Football Team, was fined $10 million by the National Football League (NFL) for “workplace misconduct” regarding the team’s workplace practices as unprofessional to female employees.
The NFL’s investigation found many instances of harassment, mistreatment, and inappropriate behavior towards females within the organization. These accusations spanned several years, portraying the management’s lack of awareness of the issues occurring within the program.
Over 40 employees who were under the management of Dan Snyder, former owner of the Washington Commanders, came forward in 2021 about workplace violations and harassment within the organization, ultimately leading to the costly fine.
In 2023, Snyder sold the Washington Commanders for 6 billion, largely due to the implications caused by the many scandals that occurred with the team during his ownership. In a statement following the sale, lawyers Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who represented the employees facing harassment, expressed their issues with the NFL’s treatment of the situation. According to Banks and Katz, ignorance of allegations like these speaks to the overall mishandling of sexism in the professional athletic workplace.
“The NFL must be more vigilant and must ensure that owners are held to the same standards as all employers; sexual harassment is illegal and must not be tolerated,” Banks and Katz said in the statement.
Overall, these incidents exemplify the systemic problems for women not only in the athletic industry but in all walks of life.
“There is not enough accountability for the treatment of women, not only in sports, but outside of sports and in life,” Yang said.
Although these situations are an unfavorable illustration of the clear gender dynamics portrayed in the athletic industry, Yang believes that this occurrence is not isolated and there is a clear lesson to be learned from both Taylor’s case as well as the story of the Washington Commanders.
“Hopefully these situations will become more mainstream and bring more awareness to females and female mental health,” Yang said.
The cases of Taylor and the Washington Commanders expose the systemic gender discrimination in sports, where institutions will often prioritize reputation over accountability and change. Despite Title IX protections, action often remains delayed until public pressure intervenes. Progress requires the enforcement of equity policies and accountability for misconduct.
These two cases are only a glimpse into a much larger issue that continues to unfold across the athletic business. They serve as both lessons and a call to action to raise awareness for the ongoing issues for women in sports, especially behind the scenes.
