College Football Blitz: Louisville admits Wakeyleaks role, Willie Taggart makes a splash hire

We got some more pertinent information about Wakeyleaks on Wednesday, and Willie Taggart shook up the Pac-12 a bit

Welcome, all, to the first daily edition of the College Football Blitz here on FanSided. Both during the season as well as in the offseason, here is where we will round up some of the biggest college football stories making the rounds on a daily basis.

With the 2016 college football regular season just coming to a close and with bowl season upon us, college football is still at the forefront, so there is still a little bit to talk about.

So, let’s get to it!

Louisville Admits They Made A Boo-Boo In The Wakeyleaks Saga

Without a shadow of a doubt in anyone’s mind, the overwhelming top storyline in college football this week actually has nothing to do with the upcoming bowl season, rather it’s revolving around a game from the ACC that took place back on Nov. 12. The Louisville Cardinals defeated the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 44-12 on that Saturday, but we would find out that this contest would come to eventually produce the biggest scandal of the season — Wakeyleaks.

We first learned of the scandal involving former Wake Forest radio announcer and assistant coach Tommy Elrod getting his mole on Tuesday, and on Wednesday we learned a little bit more about the role of Louisville in all of this.

Louisville AD Tom Jurich released a statement on Wednesday, acknowledging that his staff did receive a “few plays.” Then, from there, he almost tried to downplay it all as not really having any sort of significance.

No no, Mr. Jurich, any involvement in this is pretty significant. Sorry.

More and more information about this whole ordeal will reveal itself in the coming days and weeks, but let’s just all be honest with one another — we’re not gonna be pleased until we hear from Mr. Integrity himself on all of this, head coach Bobby Petrino. Yes, you, Bobby.

Willie Taggart Sends Shockwaves Through The Pac-12

Willie Taggart being named the head coach of the Oregon Ducks last week was seen as a home run hire by many, as most expect the former South Florida head coach to turn this Pac-12 program around just as he did the Bulls and Western Kentucky prior in his career. We imagined that his impact as he aims to resurrect this Oregon program would not go unnoticed, and on Wednesday he made sure we all know that he does in fact mean business when it comes to getting the Ducks back to the top of the conference.

Now we knew that the top priority of Taggart as the new head coach of the Ducks was to get that god-awful defense fixed up in a hurry, and this was evidenced by the fact that he was courting Charlie Strong to be his defensive coordinator. Of course, Strong would actually go on to replace Taggart in Tampa as head coach of the Bulls.

Boy, though, did Taggart ever find himself one hell of a backup option. News emphatically dropped on Wednesday that Colorado defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt would be leaving the Buffaloes to take the same job with the Ducks. Taggart didn’t get Strong on staff, but I’m sure he’s more than pleased that he has maybe the best coordinator in the conference on his side now.

Yes Leavitt, a former South Florida head coach himself, is going to Eugene, Oregon to help Taggart with this turn around, and in reality, this will probably be seen as the biggest non-head coaching hire of the offseason when all is said and done. As Colorado raced their way to a Pac-12 South title this past season, their defensive unit showed some significant improvement. Prior to his arrival in 2015, the Buffaloes were giving up 38.6 per game. This past season? That number dropped to 20.5. That’s results right there, my friends.

Now Leavitt will see if he can help the Ducks with a similar turnaround. It’s scary to think for the rest of the Pac-12 that this was Taggart’s first move. The Ducks certainly are in good hands.

So, how are you feeling, Coach T?

Canada Goes South

Lane Kiffin is the new head coach of the FAU Owls, meaning that the dream for some of him making a lateral move to the LSU Tigers to become the offensive coordinator there and square off against Nick Saban every season are dead. That being the case, LSU officially filled the role on Wednesday with the hiring of Matt Canada, now former Pitt offensive coordinator.

Canada is coming off a season in which he orchestrated the highest-scoring offense in Panthers history at 42.3 points per game. He has indeed proven his worth, and now it’s time to see what he can do under Ed Orgeron and the Tigers. We know that with Coach O and defensive coordinator Dave Aranda the Tigers’ defense will still get their job done, so this is a pretty tall task for Canada.

However, he took the reins of the offense successfully under a defensive-minded coach in Pat Narduzzi at Pitt, so something tells me that he’s not worried about that whatsoever.

Final Thoughts

1. Let’s all be honest, we’re just waiting to see what role Bobby Petrino played in all of this so we can spit our vitriol at him — again.
2. Yes, Pac-12, Coach T is driving that bus and he’s ready right now to plow you all over with it sooner rather than later.
3. People in Baton Rouge who wanted a bigger name than Ed Orgeron just for the sake of having a big name may be eating their words. Coach O has quite the supporting cast around him in addition to a talented roster.

Any thoughts on today’s college football news, feel free to sound off in the comments below.