Willie Taggart hires this longtime assistant with strong recruiting background at FAU
One of Willie Taggart’s longtime staff members is joining Taggart at Florida Atlantic.
Raymond Woodie was hired as an outside linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator at FAU, a source told the Herald.
Woodie and Taggart are Manatee County natives from Palmetto. This is the fifth time Woodie has joined Taggart’s coaching staff.
He made the jump from high school football to college football when he became the defensive ends coach for Taggart at Western Kentucky in 2010. He served in that role for two years before becoming WKU’s linebackers coach in 2012.
From there, Taggart brought Woodie to USF, Oregon and FSU. With the Bulls, Woodie coached the linebackers from 2013 to 2015 and was named an assistant head coach in 2015. He was promoted to defensive coordinator for the 2016 season. With the Oregon Ducks, Woodie was the special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach.
Woodie guided FSU’s linebackers for the past two seasons. He remained on the Seminoles staff following Taggart’s dismissal on Nov. 3, which came less than two seasons into his tenure in Tallahassee.
Florida Atlantic hired Taggart to replace Lane Kiffin, who left for Ole Miss, in December.
Now he has added one of his longtime assistants to his FAU staff. Woodie’s coaching career in the high school ranks was a successful one in Manatee County.
He guided Bayshore High to five playoff berths from 1997 to 2006. The Bradenton school, which opened in the 1970s, had only made the playoffs once prior to Woodie’s arrival, and has not made the playoffs since his departure. At his alma mater Palmetto High, he won a district title during his three years.
One of Woodie’s best assets is his recruiting, a role he will have at FAU. At Western Kentucky, he recruited seven future NFL players including Venice High’s Forrest Lamp, who was a second-round pick of the Chargers 2017.
His recruiting accolades: Sun Belt Recruiter of the Year by Scout and FoxSports.com in 2012; American Athletic Conference top recruiter by Rivals in 2014; 247Sports ranked him the No. 1 recruiter in the Pac-12 in 2017 and the ACC’s No. 2 recruiter in 2018.
The ACC accolade came with less than two months to recruit FSU’s first class under Taggart after being hired.
Woodie’s son, Raymond Woodie III, played in 10 games as a true freshman with the Seminoles, including their 20-14 loss to Arizona State in the Sun Bowl.
This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 9:32 AM.
