Taylor Ruden joined the Virginia rowing program as an assistant coach in July of 2024. She helped UVA to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2026 after a 10th-place showing in 2025. UVA has finished runner-up at the ACC Championship in each of Ruden's two seasons.
Ruden arrived in Charlottesville after serving as assistant coach at Ohio State from 2020-24. She helped the Buckeyes to the Big Ten Championship in 2022 and four NCAA championship appearances, including a top-10 finishes in 2021 and 2022. She coached the Buckeyes’ Second Varsity Eight to gold at the 2023 Big Ten Championships and eighth-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
In Ruden’s first season at Ohio State in 2020-21, the Buckeyes finished second in the Big Ten and sixth at the NCAA Championships. Ohio State finished 12th at the NCAA Championship in 2023 and 2024. Ruden coached eight All-Americans at Ohio State.
Ruden also spent one-year as an assistant at her alma mater Indiana in 2019-20 and three seasons at Navy from 2016-19. While with Navy, she was part of a staff that earned back-to-back CRCA Region 2 Staff of the Year honors as the Midshipmen earned Patriot League titles in her two seasons. She coached the Varsity Four, which finished a program-best 14th at the 2018 NCAA Championships, and one All-American at Navy.
During her time as a student-athlete in Bloomington, Ruden competed as a coxswain with the Hoosiers’ crew team. She coxed the Varsity Four to a 13th-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Championships and Varsity Eight to a 16th-place national finish as a senior in 2016. Ruden graduated from Indiana’s Kelley School of Business with a degree in marketing in May of 2016.