He replaces veteran coach Murray Roulston, who resigned from the role on Sunday morning, effective immediately.
Taieri Rugby Football Club chairman Peter Dyer said Roulston could no longer commit to the role.
"He had a few things going on in the background and just felt it was better that he stood aside," Dyer said.
"There was certainly no pressure from within the Taieri club for him to go and he has left on good terms."
Dyer said Roulston had put in a lot of work across all the grades during the years and "his work ethic and knowledge of the game is second to none".
"We hope he continues to be involved and support the club in the future," he wrote on a social media post.
His replacement, Young, has been there, done that, got the sprig marks.
The former loose forward played 50 games for Otago between 1980 and 1985.
The 66-year-old took up coaching almost as soon as he hung up the boots.
He had a stint as Otago and Highlanders assistant and was head coach of Southland in 2002-04.
Since retiring from professional rugby in 2016, he has remained involved in the club game. This season he has been doing one-on-one work with the Taieri premier colts and was happy to step up and coach the premiers again when asked.
He will join Graeme Anderson in a co-coaching arrangement. Young will run the pack and Anderson will be responsible for the backs.
The 2021 champions are in a rebuilding year and have put in some gutsy efforts despite their lowly position on the competition table.
There is still plenty of time to turn the season around and there is confidence the club is heading in the right direction.
"We’ve had a great intake of young players coming in, so we’ve got really good numbers in our prem colts and championship colts," Dyer said, adding there had been quite a few departures among the premier grade and premier 2 grade players.
"Overall our numbers are probably up on last year ... but obviously we are in a bit of a rebuilding phase with the prems. Losing two premier props in the first two weeks with season-ending injuries certainly has not helped our cause.
"But we’re not getting pumped each week. We’ve been competitive and we are only just missing out in these tight games. We’re fairly confident going forward."
