The wait is over: Ducks ‘tag’ their new head coach

After a week of silence, the Ducks have found their man: Willie Taggart will be the next head football coach of the University of Oregon, replacing recently fired Mark Helfrich.

Taggart is out of the University of South Florida. He’s an offensive-minded coach and runs a spread offense. He’s coming in as a proven team re-builder, with the track record to prove it.

Coming to the Pac-12 Conference will be nothing new for Taggart; he was the running back coach for Jim Harbaugh’s Stanford teams, back in 2007-09.

He then built seven years of experience as a head coach, with a record of 40-45. His first three years were at Western Kentucky (where he starred at quarterback from 1995-98), where he went 16-20. It was a strong showing, as the team was in a rough place when he showed up and he helped rebuild them. In 2012 he left to coach South Florida where he went 24-25 in his four years – no small feat considering that when he showed up they were coming off a 3-9 season.

Last season, Taggart led USF to the Miami Beach Bowl game, where they lost to his former team, Western Kentucky. This season he led them to the Birmingham Bowl game (vs. South Carolina on Dec. 29, in a contest he won’t coach) after a 10-2 season.

If nothing else Taggart has a proven track record of rebuilding teams. But in rebuilding, it took a year of coaching at each school to get in his groove. He went 2-10 in each of his first years at Western Kentucky and South Florida. Does that mean Ducks fans should be concerned? Possibly, but the Ducks are in a much better place already than at his two previous stints. Meaning if things go well, he may be able to get the ball rolling right away.

But there is a reality that it could take him a few years before things get moving, considering he’s bringing a new style of coaching. And he has to decide whether to bring back the long-time coaching staff of U of O. Most coaches come in and clean house, bringing in their own guys. But this staff has a good connection with the fan base and some fans want them to stay.

It’ll be interesting to see how things play out, but one thing is known: Oregon has decided what direction they are headed. Taggart is not the big-name coach that many fans wanted, but he is who the school chose.