How much is FAU paying Willie Taggart? Here are the details on his contract.
Details have emerged on Willie Taggart’s contract to coach the Florida Atlantic University Owls football program.
According to USA Today and the Associated Press, Taggart is receiving $750,000 a year in base pay for five years. There’s a $3 million buyout if Taggart leaves before Dec. 1, 2022, and it is scaled down from there, the AP reported.
There’s a $25,000 annual retention payment, USA Today reported.
In addition, Taggart is set to receive a car allowance — FAU did not disclose the amount — membership to the Boca Raton Resort and Club, and his family can travel on team charters, the AP reported.
Taggart’s deal also calls for performance bonuses. He’ll get $20,000 for winning his Conference USA division, $40,000 for winning the C-USA title and $30,000 for a bowl game, according to the AP.
Taggart was fired as Florida State’s head coach on Nov. 3, a day after the Seminoles lost to rival Miami. He went 9-12 in less than two seasons as FSU’s head coach.
Before his stint in Tallahassee, Taggart was the head coach at Western Kentucky, USF and Oregon. A Florida native who grew up in Palmetto and played high school football at Manatee High in Bradenton, Taggart left Oregon after one season to take his self-described, “dream job,” at FSU following Jimbo Fisher’s departure for Texas A&M.
Taggart quickly improved FSU’s recruiting class in December 2017 following his hiring, but his record on the field contributed to his dismissal less than two years into the job.
As part of his firing, Taggart is owed roughly $18 million in a buyout from FSU. However, that buyout has an offset clause should he seek employment before 2024. And the entire buyout matter is complicated following a Tampa Bay Times report that Taggart and FSU never signed a formal contract, only an agreement the day he was introduced as FSU’s coach.
On Wednesday, Taggart was announced as FAU’s next coach, replacing Lane Kiffin, who took the head coaching job at Ole Miss.
Kiffin previously had head coaching jobs at Power 5 schools, Tennessee and USC. Following his dismissal from the Trojans, Kiffin revitalized his coaching career as a member of Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama and that led to his post at FAU.
FAU won two C-USA titles in Kiffin’s three seasons, including the 2019 crown.
This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 2:13 PM.
