Willie Taggart To Lead Oregon Football
The University of Oregon has hired Willie Taggart as head football coach from the University of South Florida, the university announced Wednesday. Since the firing of Mark Helfrich last Tuesday, Oregon reached out to numerous possible candidates. They struck out immediately on Scott Frost, Jim McElwain and Chip Kelly. Advanced talks ensued with P.J. Fleck and Brian Kelly, but ultimately Taggart was signed for five years, earning $3.3 million per. Athletic director Rob Mullens will introduce him at a press conference this Thursday.
Taggart apprenticed several influential members of the football community during his rise to a Division I head coach. Pro-football quarterback Oliver Luck (father of Andrew Luck), Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, and recent Hall of Fame inductee Tony Dungy all shaped Taggart into the offense-heavy leader he is today. His offensive focus transitioned South Florida from 106th in the nation in scoring to the top ten by 2016. Averaging over 40 points per contest, advanced metrics place South Florida in an elite category despite playing the weak defenses of the American Athletic Conference. USF finished the season 10-2 behind their high-powered offense, and play South Carolina on December 29th in the Birmingham Bowl.
The ex-USF and Western Kentucky coach compares to past Oregon coaches like Kelly and Helfrich in his offensive concentration. With South Florida, Taggart utilized dual threat quarterbacks to grab big chunks of yardage. Current USF quarterback Quinton Flowers not only is an efficient passer, but also the team’s leading rusher. The new coach will have Justin Herbert to mimic Flowers’ success with, a promising talent who ranked fourth in the Pac-12’s September passer rating, and possesses enough mobility to develop into a dual threat.
On the other side of the ball, South Florida’s strategy to combat their 46th rated defense was simply outscoring the opponent. Taking over the 126th ranked NCAA defense, Taggart will have his work cut out for him. The defensive duties will fall on Brady Hoke’s shoulders, as defense has not been one of Taggart’s strong suits.
To transform undistinguished teams into offensive powerhouses, Taggart puts his heart and soul into recruitment. USF’s signing classes have placed in the top half of the AAC since he arrived, and were No. 1 in 2014 and No. 2 in 2015. He connects to young players with gestures like free football camps, his most recent designed for kids in his Florida hometown. Hopefully for Oregon fans, Taggart can salvage Oregon’s immediate future through recruitment. Already two four-star recruits have rescinded their commitments - defensive end Langi Tuifua and defensive back Deommodore Lenoir. Their exit drops the program’s potential signing class to sixth in the Pac-12.
Willie Taggart knows the move to Oregon is the next step in achieving his ultimate goal, described to SB Nation’s Steven Godfrey as “…to be the first African-American head coach to win a national title.” He’s already breaking down walls by becoming the University of Oregon’s first black head football coach, and will look to join Tony Dungy in history as the first to win a title at their respective level.
