USF Coach Willie Taggart to Oregon; Texas Coach Charlie Strong to USF
Taggart looks to become a household college coach; Strong hopes to revitalize his head coaching stint
Fool me once.
Willie Taggart took over as the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football coach and followed a 2–10 opening season with two straight winning seasons (7–5, 7–6). The Hilltoppers have been winning ever since.
Fool me twice.
Taggart takes over an abysmal USF football program and after another 2–10 debut, improves the Bulls yearly until the end of his 4th season where the Bulls were ranked 25 in the AP Poll with a 10–2 record.
The Oregon Ducks should have no shame signing Willie Taggart with that resume.
If Taggart can make magic a third time, he’ll be the undisputed king of college football reclamation projects.
The Oregon Ducks took a tailspin in 2016 finishing 4–8. This is the Ducks worst season record since 1991.
There’s two concerns for Oregon as far as Taggart not panning out as the dream coach to return Oregon to the national conversation.
1. Taggart is a system dependent coach and the Oregon roster isn’t yet suited for him
Number one is an easy fix for Taggart given time to recruit the right guys for his system, but the first year may not be pretty for Taggart with the Ducks.
Taggart ran an option heavy, hurry up offense with USF heavily dependent on quick decisions from quarterback Quinton Flowers. How will Taggart’s offensive playcalling adapt with quarterbacks who may have some pocket proficiency?
Taggart’s offense predicated on USF’s Flowers and WKU’s Kawaun Jakes were limited. Flowers and Jakes have three options: Run the option, throw the screen, or bomb the ball downfield.
Oregon QB Dakota Prukop can be a good fit for Taggart’s system.
The offense should be suitable and ready to go for Taggart.
The Oregon defense on the other hand is an absolute tire fire and a half. Taggart is an offensive minded coach who likes to outscore teams leading USF to an average of 43 points per game while giving up 31 on the 2016 season.
Will his shootout offense be able to overcome better offensive and defensive competition in college football? This brings us to concern number two.
2. The level of competition Taggart will be faced with in the Pac-12 will prove to be a difficult transition
When I said Oregon’s defense is a tire fire, I’m talking their defense gave up 70 points to Washington in one game. Washington is a great team, but giving up 70 points is usually reserved for college basketball games.
The least amount of points Oregon gave up to a Pac-12 opponent this year: 28 in a win over Utah. It was the only Pac-12 team Oregon held under 30 points.
The Pac-12 is a huge step up in competition for Taggart whose only ranked win has come against a reeling #22 Navy. USF’s competition in the American Athletic Conference hasn’t allowed Taggart to be tested against the top programs, outside of once or twice a year if Florida State or Miami is on the docket.
Taggart’s move to the Pac-12 will pit him against perennials like Stanford, Utah, USC, and rising programs like #4 Washington and #10 Colorado. Schedule wins for Oregon won’t be as easy to come by as they were for Taggart at USF, where the team could clearly outplay struggling colleges like East Carolina or U Conn.
Can Strong take USF to the next level?
USF’s decision to bring in Strong, who coached Big 12 school Texas, is a sure bit of irony considering USF just got snubbed from the conference of 10 schools yet still calls themselves the Big “12".
The Big 12 snub hurts USF in a number of ways. Strong will have to come into a USF football team that will need to consistently win 10 games a year and sneak in a top-25 when possible.
Strong is a defensive minded coach but it never came to fruition at Texas. Strong has held many assistant coaches positions at prestigious institutions including most notably several runs with Florida, but also Ole Miss, Notre Dame, and South Carolina.
Strong led Louisville to consecutive bowl appearances including a Sugar Bowl victory over Florida and a Russell Athletic Bowl victory over Miami.
When USF met a Teddy Bridgewater led Louisville in 2013, the result was not pretty for USF, who got routed by Strong’s squad 34–3.
Despite the impressive resume at Louisville, where his defense looked stout in his final season, Strong struggled at Texas without a winning season in 3 years finishing with a 16–21 record.
Key Questions for Strong at USF
What will Strong be able to do with USF’s current crop of talent? There’s certainly promise, but also holes in USF’s roster especially on the defensive side.
The quarterback question at USF is also fascinating. Will Flowers fit with Strong, is the most worrisome prospect for the 2017 Bulls.
Will Strong be able to bring strong recruiting classes to USF that picks most of its talent out of the Florida and specifically the Tampa Bay area?
