Taggart Announces Staff Additions

[Brad]

USF ATHLETICS GoUSFBulls.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: FEB. 26, 2015

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Taggart Announces Staff Additions/

Woodie Promoted To Assistant Head Coach

Jon Haskins Named Director of Player Personnel

Raymond Woodie Promoted To Assistant Head Coach

Joe Kinnan Joins Staff As Volunteer Senior Offensive Consultant

TAMPA, FEB. 26, 2015 – USF Head Football Coach Willie Taggart today announced two additions and one promotion for the Bulls’ football staff as USF nears completion of the first week of spring practice.

Taggart announced the addition of former Stanford linebacker Jon Haskins to the Bulls’ staff as director of player personnel as well as the addition of legendary Florida high school coach Joe Kinnan, who is serving as volunteer senior offensive consultant. Taggart also formally announced the promotion of linebackers coach Raymond Woodie to the position of assistant head coach/linebackers coach.

Haskins previously served as director of player personnel at the University of Florida (2012-13) and the University of Nevada (2011-12) and the director of player development at Stanford University (2007-10). He comes to USF after a year in California working as vice president of operations for Rowdy Sports Entertainment and founding his own company, IEO Recruiting. Haskins also previously worked as managing editor for Cardinal Sports Report (2010-11), a Rivals and Yahoo Sports site, and as a graduate assistant coach at Duke University (2002-05).

The Sarasota native graduated from Stanford in 2000 with a degree in public policy and concentration in business policies. He was a four-year starter at linebacker for the Cardinal football team (1994-97), earning honorable mention All-PAC 10 honors in 1996 and 1997. A seventh round NFL Draft pick in 1998, he also played professionally for the San Diego Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL and the XFL’s San Francisco Demons.

Woodie, a Bay Area native, was named the top recruiter in the American Athletic Conference by Rivals in 2014 and has been instrumental in USF posting back-to-back recruiting classes ranked the best in The American. In his third year on the USF staff, Woodie has also helped guide rising junior linebacker Nigel Harris to a nation-leading and USF record six forced fumbles in 2014 in a break-out season for the Tampa native that saw him finish second on the team with 77 tackles and lead the Bulls with 10.5 tackles for loss. Woodie also guided current Chicago Bear DeDe Lattimore to a team-leading 98 tackles and second-team All-AAC honors in 2013.

Kinnan won five state titles and 290 games in 29 years as the head coach at Manatee High School as he built a program regularly ranked among the best in the nation. He won one of those state titles with Taggart at quarterback. The USF head coach helped lead the Hurricanes to back-to-back state title game appearances in the early 1990’s. Kinnan will consult with the Bulls’ coaching staff and analyze game and practice film and will not have on-field coaching duties. A member of the Florida Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame, Kinnan has consulted top college coaches throughout his career including Nebraska’s Tom Osborne and Gus Malzahn of Auburn.

USF returns 14 starters (6 offense, 7 defense and 1 specialist) for Taggart’s third season at the helm. The Bulls will return their top five tacklers (9 the top 12 overall) and players that accounted for 73 percent of the team’s tackles in 2014. USF returns 100 percent of its rushing and passing yardage from 2014, including 1,000-yard rusher Marlon Mack, and 50 percent of its receptions and receiving yards.

The USF Football program completed its 18th season and 15th at the FBS level. The Bulls have made six bowl appearances, including every season between 2005-10, and have four bowl game victories. USF has produced 14 All-America selections, 23 NFL Draft picks and reached the No. 2 ranking in the Associated Press Poll in 2007.

Follow @USFFootball on twitter for all the latest information concerning the USF Football program.

- #GoBulls -

[Skingraft]

Why do I have the feeling we will see this press release again next year

[puc86]

Why do I have the feeling we will see this press release again next year

 

I'm willing to bet that if your gut feeling is correct than the headline will not look anything like this one. 

[The Great 8]

 

Why do I have the feeling we will see this press release again next year

 

I'm willing to bet that if your gut feeling is correct than the headline will not look anything like this one. 

 

 

Agreed. It may be staff changes being announced, but, I doubt by Taggart. 

 

If there's changes to next year's staff and it's Taggart announcing the changes, it must've been because we were wildly successful and the staff was poached. If he fails, for whatever reason, he's likely gone.

[raptorcj]

Whether with Taggart's blessing or not, bringing in some tenured help is positive for fans. Shows we're willing to think out of the box to get in the W column. I sure hope it pays off.

[ckparrothead]

Bringing in Kinnan as a consultant concerns me.

 

I'm sure he's qualified. But the fact of the matter is throwing away the coaches you got from your best friend Jim Harbaugh and bringing in your own personal high school coach on a volunteer consulting basis strikes me as kind of a desperate move.

[charsibb]

Bringing in Kinnan as a consultant concerns me.

 

I'm sure he's qualified. But the fact of the matter is throwing away the coaches you got from your best friend Jim Harbaugh and bringing in your own personal high school coach on a volunteer consulting basis strikes me as kind of a desperate move.

 

Well, we've all been filled with despair, so maybe it's high time CWT is too...

[raptorcj]

Kinnan may be the behind-the-scenes action of the AD, too. Not a conspiracy theorist, but if CWT was asked to change offensive scheme to more of a spread, it's not a stretch to think he might need a little help to get there.

 

[edit] and if I were CWT, I'd be thankful for the help!

Edited March 3, 2015 by raptorcj

[Skingraft]

Bringing in Kinnan as a consultant concerns me.

I'm sure he's qualified. But the fact of the matter is throwing away the coaches you got from your best friend Jim Harbaugh and bringing in your own personal high school coach on a volunteer consulting basis strikes me as kind of a desperate move.

He's gett paid

[BrowardBull17]

Bringing in Kinnan as a consultant concerns me.

I'm sure he's qualified. But the fact of the matter is throwing away the coaches you got from your best friend Jim Harbaugh and bringing in your own personal high school coach on a volunteer consulting basis strikes me as kind of a desperate move.

Couldn't agree more.