Oregon makes the right move with Willie Taggart hire
By Jack Crosby
The Oregon Ducks went out and made the right move with the hiring of South Florida’s Willie Taggart
When the Oregon Ducks set themselves out on a coaching search following the firing of Mark Helfrich after four seasons at the helm, it actually had the look of a potential recipe for disaster. Not having performed an actual coaching search since Jimmy Carter was in office, and with a wealth of riches at their disposal thanks to the funds of Nike founder Phil Knight, there was the obvious chance that the Ducks administration wouldn’t make the right move — they’d make the splash move.
Well as it would turn out, if anyone was waiting to laugh at Oregon for throwing their money to the wolves with a splash move, you’d better hold your chuckle. Very early Wednesday morning, we learned that they went with the right move, as they’re set to hand the program reins to South Florida’s Willie Taggart.
You might not know the name of Willie Taggart as well as you knew some of the other names that were mentioned for the Oregon job –such as former head man and current San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly or new Texas Longhorns head coach Tom Herman– but before long, with some success in Eugene, you will.
What makes Taggart the right man for the job here is the fact that he has proven he has a penchant for turning programs around given recent history. He took over a disastrous Western Kentucky program in 2010, and while he only won two games his first season at the helm, he finished 7-5 during his final two seasons.
That was enough to earn him slightly bigger job and another reconstruction project with the South Florida Bulls, his latest team. Once again, he started his tenure off with a two-win season in 2013, but then things progressed from there. He went 4-8 in 2014, 8-5 in 2015 and he recently finished up the 2016 campaign in Tampa with an eye-popping 10-2 record. This season for South Florida reminded fans of the time in 2007 when they were the No. 2 team in the country at one point. Yeah, remember that? That happened.
Make no mistake about it — Oregon is not in a good place right now. While their recent success on the field, including a trip to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in January of 2015– can put the blinders on, the Ducks need some help with their program. After a 4-8 season this past year, the writing on the wall was that the ship was undoubtedly sinking; they nicked that iceberg that was right ahead of them.
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Now, though, a proven program savior in Taggart can come in with that brilliant offensive mind of his –yes, Oregon fans, you’re gonna love how this man can progress an offense– and steer the ship in the right direction.
No, wait, my bad! I mean drive the bus in the right direction …
You’d better get on that bus, Ducks fans. Because your school went out and made the right hire in Willie Taggart from South Florida.
Enjoy the ride.