After one year, 363 days, after accepting a job as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks football team, Willie Taggart has decided to leave and accept the head coaching vacancy at Florida State University. His decision was heavily influenced by the fact that Florida is home to him. He was the head coach for the University of South Florida from 2013-2016. He has stated in his press conference how happy he is to be home and how this is his "dream job".
Is said to have lied about his meeting with Florida State as well. He was contacted last Thursday but says he was not until Saturday. After this was revealed to the public, most people in Eugene, Oregon lost all respect for him.
Many Oregon Duck players are disgusted by their ex-coaches decision. A current linebacker for the Ducks, Troy Dye, tweeted after Taggart had left that he "lied straight to my dads face in my living room Thursday night. He didn't keep his word to me Monday. Lost all my respect." This was after he visited his family in regards to Troy's brother committing to the Ducks.
On another front, many Oregon commits have changed their mind. They have lost already a four star commit and many others are contemplating switching schools. While Taggart was brought in to bring Oregon back into College Football Playoff contention, in his only year, he only achieved a mediocre 7-5 record. On top of leaving a vacancy for Oregon, he has potentially crippled their 2018 recruiting class, hurting them in both the short and long term. In preparation for their Bowl game against Boise State, they promoted assistant coach Mario Cristobal for the time being. Only time will tell if Taggart's sudden departure will be an easy fix or cripple them for the next couple of seasons.
