Taggart leaving Oregon to replace Fisher at Florida State

Published 1:30 am Sunday, December 3, 2017

Florida State’s first coaching search in more than four decades lasted just five days.

FSU has reached an agreement with Oregon coach Willie Taggart on Tuesday to become the Seminoles’ head football coach, a source told the Orlando Sentinel.

A formal announcement on Taggart’s hiring is expected by the university later today with an introductory press conference expected Wednesday.

Taggart, a Palmetto, Fla., native and former USF head coach who has worked under Jack and Jim Harbaugh, became one of the hottest available coaches in the country after his final season with the Bulls in 2016.

Now, Taggart will be tasked with replacing Jimbo Fisher, who won a national title in 2013 and was introduced as Texas A&M’s new coach Monday after agreeing to a 10-year deal worth $75 million guaranteed.

Florida State officials met with Taggart after he took a recruiting trip in Arizona on Monday. He informed Oregon players of his intention to take the FSU job on Tuesday afternoon, according to a source.

Taggart will be FSU’s third coach since 1976 — joining legendary coach Bobby Bowden (1976-2009) and Fisher (2010-2017) — and the 10th coach in program history.

Terms of Taggart’s agreement with FSU are not known at this time.

Taggart led Oregon to a 7-5 record this season, an improvement from its 4-8 record a season ago, despite losing starting quarterback Justin Herbert to a collarbone injury for much of the season.

Taggart has a 47-50 overall record in his eight seasons as a head coach, but rebuilt Western Kentucky and USF to winning programs after his brief tenures at both schools.

At USF, Taggart’s record gradually climbed from 2-10, 4-8, 8-5 to 10-2 from 2013-16, where the Bulls ranked 19th in the final Associated Press poll in his final season.

Taggart’s coaching career began immediately after graduating from WKU in 1997. He served as an assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and position coach under Jack Harbaugh for seven seasons, highlighted by a Division I-AA national title in 2002

Current Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh hired Taggart as an assistant at Stanford, where he coached running backs for from 2007-09, guiding Heisman Trophy finalist Toby Gerhart.

Taggart won two games in his first season as Western Kentucky’s head coach, matching the same winning total in the previous two seasons, before consecutive 7-5 seasons in 2011 and 2012. Taggart led WKU to the program’s first bowl game in his final season before taking the USF job.