Former FSU coach Willie Taggart has his next job at this Florida school
A little more than a month after he was dismissed from his dream job, Willie Taggart has found a landing spot.
The Palmetto native who starred at Manatee High in Bradenton and later at Western Kentucky under Jack Harbaugh is the new head coach at Florida Atlantic University, according to Yahoo Sports.
Taggart replaces Lane Kiffin, who left the Owls to coach Ole Miss.
Taggart first worked at his alma mater, WKU, as an assistant. He then worked under Jim Harbaugh at Stanford, where he helped mold running back Toby Gerhart into a Heisman Trophy candidate. That led Taggart to his first college head coaching job when he returned to WKU and led a turnaround.
Following his time at WKU, Taggart returned to the Sunshine State to lead USF. With the Bulls, Taggart finished his time with quarterback Quinton Flowers with success as USF adopted the Gulf Coast offense from Taggart’s high school coach, Joe Kinnan.
Taggart parlayed his success with the Bulls into his first Power 5 opportunity — the Oregon Ducks. His stay in the Pacific Northwest was brief, leaving a year after taking the job when an opening occurred in Tallahassee.
Jimbo Fisher’s departure from FSU to Texas A&M in 2017 gave Taggart the chance to land a job at the school he grew up cheering.
However, his “dream job” was short-lived as he was fired on Nov. 3, a day after losing to Miami and less than two years into his tenure with the Seminoles.
Now he’s reportedly back and with FAU. The move could prove costly to his buyout from the Noles, which stood at roughly $18 million. As part of the buyout, there’s a clause stating it would be offset should Taggart seek subsequent employment before 2024.
Also to further complicate matters with the buyout, the Tampa Bay Times reported in November that Taggart and FSU never signed a formal contract, only an agreement the day he was announced as the Noles’ head coach.
Taggart’s career record is 56-62. He went 9-12 at FSU.
Aside from his overall record, Taggart is known as a solid recruiter and has an understanding of the state as a Florida native and coaching stints at USF and FSU. He even recruited the state at Oregon and did it well when rebuilding WKU.
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 5:08 PM.
