OT: FSU Hires Oregon HC Willie Taggart
http://www.espn.com/espn/now?nowId=1-21679467
Considered one of the best relatively young Offensive minds in football. This seems like a solid hire in a solid coaching search, especially compared to the tire fire that is the UT search.
Edit
8 years as Head Coach at 3 schools
47-50 overall
Each team got better each year under him
Derwin James just announced he isn't playing in their bowl game either, as he is skipping it to prep for the draft.
December 5th, 2017 at 4:04 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 4:46 PM ^
His overall record (47-50) is, in fact, identical to Hoke's pre-Michigan. But a glance at his yearly records shows clear positive trends. And he's from the Harbaugh coaching tree.
December 5th, 2017 at 4:49 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 4:55 PM ^
At SDSU yes, but not really at Ball State. He was having a forgettable tenure there until he went 12-1 out of the blue in 2008. The Carr coaching tree also hasn't been too impressive (bizarre for a coach who won 75% of his games over 13 years), in contrast to Harbaugh's.
December 5th, 2017 at 4:57 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 5:06 PM ^
Look what happened after he left:
2009: 2-10 (That season the Cardinals were led by another distinguished member of the Lloyd Carr coaching tree, Stan Parrish. Woo.)
2010: 4-8 (Parrish again. Some improvement. More Woo.)
I don't see sustained excellence there.
As someone else pointed out, you could reasonably look at his SDSU work and say that he took the program up another notch. His DC (Rocky Long) is still the head coach and they've had a good run.
December 5th, 2017 at 5:13 PM ^
at BSU when he was their OC -- gave UM fits in the game they played. ''They played a lot of ZR and spead concepts. I was a little surprised when Hoke when all in on "manball" at UM.
December 5th, 2017 at 5:18 PM ^
I recall watching SDSU under Hoke and thinking their offense seemed reasonably diverse. Makes you wonder if he really was being micromanaged by Brandon at Michigan.
December 5th, 2017 at 5:36 PM ^
It also can't be overstated how dire the OL situation was for his 3rd and 4th years. RichRod recruited one (one!!) OL in the 2010 class (Christian Pace) and just three in 2011. Four guys in two years for a position group that needs five on the field at a time! That's less than half of what you should be recruiting if you're allocating your 85 spots correctly. That's a recruiting fail of epic proportions.
If anyone thinks our OL situation was rough this year because of poor classes in 2014 and 2015, the situation was a lot worse in 2013 and 2014 because of the OL recruiting in 2010 and 2011.
December 5th, 2017 at 5:42 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 7:23 PM ^
OL when you could get another tight end to play slot or wide receiver/fullback/ qb? How bout a tightend that can pass block, and put wide receivers on the fied that can run.
December 5th, 2017 at 8:16 PM ^
I hate you.
December 6th, 2017 at 12:05 AM ^
HOW DID THIS BECOME ABOUT HOKE?!?
December 5th, 2017 at 5:09 PM ^
The fact that Ball State collapsed to 2-10 in 2009 suggests that '08 was an abberation, and that the program's footing remained shaky. Hoke had the good sense to strike while the iron was hot.
December 5th, 2017 at 5:23 PM ^
from his first to his second year at Ball State but if you chop off his first year there, his Ball State record is nearly identical to Taggart's at South Florida.
December 6th, 2017 at 8:38 AM ^
He was having a forgettable tenure there until he went 12-1 out of the blue in 2008
Um, that kind of counts.
I was having a bad dating year until that one night that I hooked up with Kate Upton . . .
December 6th, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^
And 2011 counts in his Michigan record. But if we're evaluating a coach's ability, one outlier season should be taken with a grain of salt.
December 6th, 2017 at 1:00 PM ^
2011 absolutely counts in his michigan record and it contributes to his downward trend at Michigan, which is the opposite of the ball state situation where it contributes to his upward trend.
December 5th, 2017 at 5:08 PM ^
but this is how it works. successful coaches get bigger opportunities until they hit their ceiling. only a few can be elite at the highest level, but schools are always hoping they hit the lottery with their next hire. Hoke was exposed by the task at UM. Taggart may be exposed at FSU or he may rise to the occasion. Harbaugh may eventually trounce UM and OSU regularly but jury's out. A major hire is a gamble, you don't know if you'll hit the jackpot or walk away broke
December 5th, 2017 at 6:30 PM ^
Western Kentucky/Ball State portions of their careers definitely you can make a case, but the Mountain West Brady Hoke was coaching SDSU in was nowhere near as competitive as the AAC. Also Hoke had Rocky Long as his DC, who ended up replacing him as HC and doing significantly better than Hoke was doing. There's no similar coordinator coat tail riding you can see from Taggart.
December 5th, 2017 at 4:54 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 4:56 PM ^
I wrote three sentences. You couldn't be bothered to read all three?
December 5th, 2017 at 7:39 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 5:10 PM ^
It's exactly this kind of lazy, unthinking reply, that has ruined this board. And that general trend, on the internet as a whole is ruining discourse, totally.
Do better, man.
December 5th, 2017 at 5:30 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 6:08 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 6:06 PM ^
these days. If I could conceive of what might be done to rectify. . .
All I can really imagine is that Brian or somebody sits by for a week and dumps every post that contribution. Anything that begins "LOL bro. You should. . ." should receive a lifetime banhammer.
December 5th, 2017 at 4:44 PM ^
In what way? He's been a coordinator before and been a solid head coach everywhere. He's turned programs around with a track record of advancing to better programs. Not sure the comparison works.
December 5th, 2017 at 4:52 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 9:38 PM ^
Florida State didnt hire him to be OC!!
December 5th, 2017 at 5:47 PM ^
at WKU for two seasons way back in 2001-2002. Never was a sole coordinator. Jumped from Stanford RB coach (generally considered the least demanding position coach) to HC at WKU.
Mostly a position coach for some successful teams, jumped directly to HC and had some nice seasons as a HC with very similar results right down to the overall record (47-50).
Other than age, the comparisons of track record are pretty close. I think Taggart is going to have more success mostly for his willingness/desire to run a more modern offense, but we'll see.
December 5th, 2017 at 5:02 PM ^
The fact that two different high Power 5 programs (neither of which did he have previous ties to) offered him their job should tell you he isn't a Hoke clone.
December 5th, 2017 at 5:50 PM ^
and had he been willing to listen to suiters after his first year at Michigan, he could have gotten any open position he wanted.
Still very much TBD on Taggart. I think the odds are with him.
December 5th, 2017 at 6:19 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 6:34 PM ^
and coached 5 years at USF. While he may not have ties to FSU specifically, he's a Florida guy all the way which was certainly a big factor in FSU's interest (and his in them). FSU wouldn't have offered him if not for those regional ties.
As for Oregon, he didn't have ties there, but that's not a destination job like Michigan is. So it's not apples to apples to compare his hire there to Hoke's at Michigan. Hoke was a pretty hot name at the time and could have gotten second tier jobs on par with Oregon without having ties there.
December 5th, 2017 at 4:04 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 4:40 PM ^
I feel bad for Oregon too. But then I realized there is no such thing as loyalty anywhere in the business / sports world. Go get yours Willie!!!
December 5th, 2017 at 5:24 PM ^
Few words have been rendered more meaningless by overuse than loyalty.
December 5th, 2017 at 5:57 PM ^
More than one Oregon fan told me when Chip Kelly expressed interest in the Florida and UCLA jobs that "Oregon should dump Taggart and hire Chip back."
December 5th, 2017 at 7:38 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 4:43 PM ^
For the University of Nike??
December 5th, 2017 at 5:48 PM ^
You can call athletics at the University of Oregon many things, but "poor" is not one of them. Not with Phil Knight in their house.
Oregon fans are not believing that Chip Kelly returned to coaching less than two weeks before the Ducks' Head Coach position opened up. They're tearing out their hair (feathers?).
December 5th, 2017 at 4:06 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 4:07 PM ^
Weren't going to do any better than that.
December 5th, 2017 at 4:08 PM ^
doesn't let weeds grow under his feet. Third team in three years. Not sure about all the hype with him just yet. He has a loosing record as a HC. I guess FSU is convinced though and that is all that matters.
December 5th, 2017 at 4:12 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 4:14 PM ^
December 5th, 2017 at 4:17 PM ^