The only thing about Taggart that I don't like is getting rid of "Win The Day," it was a good motto and a good tradition for a school that doesn't have much in the way of tradition. He's also not shy about holding people accountable. How many programs would fire newly-hired assistants for a DUI?
Discipline went to hell under Helfrich. It wasn't Sark-at-USC bad, but it was close. So I feel like Taggart is doing a lot of things right and I'm thrilled with the Leavitt and Cristobal hires.
Taggart's teams seem to struggle in their first year, but he's definitely built them up. USF going from 2-10 to 10-2 is a good indicator of that. And he has much more in the way of talent and facilities to work with at Oregon than he's ever had. He needs at least a winning record this year to win my confidence. Double-digits would be nice. It's not like he doesn't have a great QB, a stable of RBs, and a strong receiving corps to build his offense. And Leavitt has been a miracle-worker on Defenses. Even a mediocre defense could put us? in contention for the league title. Watching developments in Eugene with great interest. LIFPO.
I'm LIPO. But there are about a half dozen red flags that scare me, none of which are DUI related.
-That he seems dedicated to running Chip Kelly's no-huddle zone read offense, but doesn't really have the guys who know the Xs and Os behind it.
- That he replaced Coach Rad, who has forgotten more about getting players ready to play at a fast pace than anyone else, with a new guy who seems hell-bent on developing big, dumb muscle, which is the complete opposite of what Chip Kelly wanted.
- That he's just a little bit too naive about how hard it is to flip 5-star West Coast kids away from USC and bring 5-star East Coast kids 2,000 miles away from home.
- That he's setting up excuses for a disappointing season and long rebuild already, when the team with a healthy Freeman and Crosby should be pretty good and could be really good if Jelks and Hollins figure out how to apply consistent pressure on the QB.
- The rumblings that Herbert may be to white of a QB for his taste, even though he's far and away the best QB to step on foot since some Hawaiian guy.