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Its Time to Turn the Page on Willie Taggart


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Since we got in late from the game last night it is hard to catch up on all the posts.  Taggart is horrendous.  He starts a kid that isn't ready at QB.  How much was he not ready? Had about 16 plays on his wrist band.  So if you think you saw the same plays over and over again you would be correct.  You weren't watching Groundhog Day.  Had to bring the QB coach from the box to the sideline to babysit him.

 

His game management?  On that last touchdown play, yes the one on 4th down, he was signalling in for White to spike the ball.  White luckily questioned it and got a play in from one of the other QBs on the sideline.  Running the ball on 3rd was just plain dumb but I guess if you think it is 2nd down that might explain things.

 

We were fortunate enough to be asked to sit in the ADs suite so didn't have to sit out in that mess.  The AD went down to the field at the half.  Wasn't happy.  The President stayed in the box and even after we won there was no great joy.  We stood outside the stadium after the game at the team buses.  Not one smile on any kid.  Not one.  The D coordinator stopped briefly and said a win is a win.  I'm not too sure the people above the coaches see it that way.  Taggart has lost this team.  He may or may not be back next year.  If he is back it is because of $$$.  Learned that Harlan has a bit of a background in football and coached some.  When he watches this mess he understands.

 

You guys can talk about a better record this year.  People that know football know that this team has improved little in two years. 

Wow, what coaching ineptness!!  Thanks for sharing Cousin.  Funny you say he's lost the team as I've been thinking that for a while now.  Care to share why you feel he has lost the team?

 

It is quite apparent CWT is in over his head and I'm glad the AD is finally seeing what we're seeing.  Harlan truly is between a rock and a hard place.  I'm sure he wants to fire him, but it's only year 2 and the finances make it difficult.

 

Thanks for all your continued support of USF athletics!  Someday when I retire I hope to be CousinRicky 2.0

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People who think CWT will be fired are completely delusional ... (note, I didn't say "should be fired"... I said "will be fired"... "should" implies opinion, "will" implies fact)

 

He will NOT be fired.  USF cannot afford to pay for THREE HEAD COACHES AT THE SAME TIME.  In 2015, Holtz has one more year of his buyout.  Firing CWT means paying HIS buyout... then paying the salary for another coach.

 

It may be ugly... but 4 wins are double last year... and more than Skip's last year...

 

It may not be fast enough for some people... but the team is improving.

 

Harlan is not going to fire CWT when he is making progress, and we can't really afford it anyway.

 

 

Tell us how much money USF is losing in ticket sales, merchandising, donations, etc. along with intangibles of public opinion, etc.? USF has never made money on football, only about 20 programs do. Are donors going to cough up money next year for this mess or donate more for a change? You have to think  outside the box and not just at one cost factor and take into effect that football straight up is a loss leader that's undertaken not for income but for advertising to donors and potential students.

 

 

Donors already had to cough up to get Taggart... hard to go back and ask them to pay to get rid of him... especially when we have to start paying "full cost of attendance" for student athletes.

 

Sorry, but USF has to factor the costs... and weigh it against the improvement.

 

 

You obviously don't know what you're talking about.  The cost for Taggart plus the annual cost for Holtz not coaching was at a discount since Taggart came in at a much lower salary than Holtz would have gotten for coaching the prior season.  The guaranteed base salary contract amount is only based on the check directly from the University and does not include monies from the donor accounts and other supplemental accounts. USF had to pay for his buyout from WKU of $500K but that plus the salary was only slightly above what Holtz would be making at $2M per year.  Willie's $1.15M per year + Holtz's $500K guaranteed base = $1.65M/yr << $2M/yr for Holtz.

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The thing I'm not sure I like really is this idea that 2015 is the year Willie is on the hot seat and he has to win a lot or get fired. Based on what the QB situation looks like right now I can tell you that 2015 isn't exactly going to be a banner year for South Florida football. So why bother waiting?

I think rather you give him some time to work this QB problem out, until you sense the guy is just tragically inept when it comes to judging the position, recruiting it, and making start decisions. And admittedly, we're about halfway there on that.

In my opinion, the problem with making the argument for keeping Willie around for another 2 to 3 years, for the long term turnaround, is the situation with the attendance.

If we had a somewhat stable fan base, one that Harlan could count on to provide about 30,000 in season ticket sales and another 10,000 or so butts in seats, there is no problem sticking it out

However, with an already disinterested, declining fan base where attendance is nearing all time lows consistently, Harlan has to consider what another year of boring, mediocre football will do to the interest level of the fan base long term.

If you have to wait another 2 years for the team to start winning or at least be entertaining, it will be at least another 2 years for the seats to start filling up.

In the big picture, Harlan's job is to create revenue for the University by selling tickets or raising funds. If he has to wait another 4 years for that, he was a waste of money too.

If Taggart could at least put an exciting product on the field so people could be entertained I think we could up with not winning for another year or two.

 

 

This.

 

As i've said elsewhere, if you're boring you better win, and if you're losing you better be exciting.

 

Boring, losing football will kill the ticket revenue

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How many times has a coach been fired after doubling the prior year's win total?  How many times has that happened when the school is still on the hook for the prior coach's salary on top of it?

Edited by WWMJD
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Since we got in late from the game last night it is hard to catch up on all the posts.  Taggart is horrendous.  He starts a kid that isn't ready at QB.  How much was he not ready? Had about 16 plays on his wrist band.  So if you think you saw the same plays over and over again you would be correct.  You weren't watching Groundhog Day.  Had to bring the QB coach from the box to the sideline to babysit him.

 

His game management?  On that last touchdown play, yes the one on 4th down, he was signalling in for White to spike the ball.  White luckily questioned it and got a play in from one of the other QBs on the sideline.  Running the ball on 3rd was just plain dumb but I guess if you think it is 2nd down that might explain things.

 

We were fortunate enough to be asked to sit in the ADs suite so didn't have to sit out in that mess.  The AD went down to the field at the half.  Wasn't happy.  The President stayed in the box and even after we won there was no great joy.  We stood outside the stadium after the game at the team buses.  Not one smile on any kid.  Not one.  The D coordinator stopped briefly and said a win is a win.  I'm not too sure the people above the coaches see it that way.  Taggart has lost this team.  He may or may not be back next year.  If he is back it is because of $$$.  Learned that Harlan has a bit of a background in football and coached some.  When he watches this mess he understands.

 

You guys can talk about a better record this year.  People that know football know that this team has improved little in two years. 

 

I have read this post over again a few times.  What is really concerning to me is that according to this, coach did not know what down it was at the end of the game, and if it were up to him, we'd have come away with a loss.  In other words, the team won in spite of the coaching on the final drive?  That is very concerning if that is the case.  On one hand, we have the improvement in win-loss record over last year, the $$$ issue with guaranteed contracts, and the opinion that Taggart should have more time to bring in his guys.  On the other hand, we have the dwindling fan base, the boring product, and what looks to be game management that is worse than Holtz ever was.  

 

I'm sure there are people who make much more than I do that are going to have to make the right decisions about the future of the program.  I like Harlan.  I trust he'll figure out what has to be done.

 

Go Bulls.

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Since we got in late from the game last night it is hard to catch up on all the posts. Taggart is horrendous. He starts a kid that isn't ready at QB. How much was he not ready? Had about 16 plays on his wrist band. So if you think you saw the same plays over and over again you would be correct. You weren't watching Groundhog Day. Had to bring the QB coach from the box to the sideline to babysit him.

His game management? On that last touchdown play, yes the one on 4th down, he was signalling in for White to spike the ball. White luckily questioned it and got a play in from one of the other QBs on the sideline. Running the ball on 3rd was just plain dumb but I guess if you think it is 2nd down that might explain things.

We were fortunate enough to be asked to sit in the ADs suite so didn't have to sit out in that mess. The AD went down to the field at the half. Wasn't happy. The President stayed in the box and even after we won there was no great joy. We stood outside the stadium after the game at the team buses. Not one smile on any kid. Not one. The D coordinator stopped briefly and said a win is a win. I'm not too sure the people above the coaches see it that way. Taggart has lost this team. He may or may not be back next year. If he is back it is because of $$$. Learned that Harlan has a bit of a background in football and coached some. When he watches this mess he understands.

You guys can talk about a better record this year. People that know football know that this team has improved little in two years.

Wow that is scary...thats all I can say.

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How many times has a coach been fired after doubling the prior year's win total?  How many times has that happened when the school is still on the hook for the prior coach's salary on top of it?

Don't know how many times it has happened, but it happened to our very own Paul Wulff at Washington State.  He doubled his win total then was fired because of a declining, non existent fan base. 

 

The AD and administration didn't care that the previous staff had incurred scholarship reductions and the program was just in the process of turning around.  he understood that something needed to be done to energize the fan base and it needed to be done quickly.

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And now WSU has Mike Leach. Someone who puts asses in seats AND has a long history of winning.

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People who think CWT will be fired are completely delusional ... (note, I didn't say "should be fired"... I said "will be fired"... "should" implies opinion, "will" implies fact)

He will NOT be fired. USF cannot afford to pay for THREE HEAD COACHES AT THE SAME TIME. In 2015, Holtz has one more year of his buyout. Firing CWT means paying HIS buyout... then paying the salary for another coach.

It may be ugly... but 4 wins are double last year... and more than Skip's last year...

It may not be fast enough for some people... but the team is improving.

Harlan is not going to fire CWT when he is making progress, and we can't really afford it anyway.

This. And, ugly as it is, in his first 2 years CWT has as many wins as Holtz last

2.

Things are improving, just not all at once.

CSH had like 7 or 8 one score losses those two seasons, some on the last play. Those two years the team seemed much more on the edge of competing than these last two.

 

He had 3 one score losses his last year, none after BJ went down. His inability to have a serviceable qb in waiting is what probably hastened his departure ....

And he had 5 the preceding year...3+5=8.

As for no backup, I've never seen that before in football. Ever. Wow. Of course, Taggart can't find one either or the coach at Vandy or all the other teams in football without a backup OR starter that wins games. Imagine that Holtz couldn't find a similar backup to the second highest total offensive yards player in Big East history. They have those all over the place to recruit. Like that Woulard guy Holtz recruited.

 

Whoops...  for whatever reason thought we had two 3-9 seasons.  Thanks for setting me straight. 

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