Seems at least one FL HS football coach had a problem with Taggart's recruiting down at USF, saying he didn't go after many recruits in the Tampa area and seemed to favor kids from other places in FL. He says that USF has gone "from a KIA to a Cadillac" in hiring Strong.
Now, Taggart has responded by saying the coach is bitter about being passed over for a job on his initial USF staff. Willie said he recruited multiple players from that high school but always had to talk to the coach's assistant because the HC was never there. Also, the writer pointed out that 9 starters and 14 on the two-deep depth chart were from the area, which runs counter to the HS coach's claim. In typical Taggart style, he was able to get a good joke out of it.
"Someone texted me the story and I saw where he called me a Kia," Taggart said. "I like Kia 900s, they're pretty cool. Kia 900s got an 11-2 record."
greenyellow wrote:Seems at least one FL HS football coach had a problem with Taggart's recruiting down at USF, saying he didn't go after many recruits in the Tampa area and seemed to favor kids from other places in FL. He says that USF has gone "from a KIA to a Cadillac" in hiring Strong.
Now, Taggart has responded by saying the coach is bitter about being passed over for a job on his initial USF staff. Willie said he recruited multiple players from that high school but always had to talk to the coach's assistant because the HC was never there. Also, the writer pointed out that 9 starters and 14 on the two-deep depth chart were from the area, which runs counter to the HS coach's claim. In typical Taggart style, he was able to get a good joke out of it.
"Someone texted me the story and I saw where he called me a Kia," Taggart said. "I like Kia 900s, they're pretty cool. Kia 900s got an 11-2 record."
I love that high school coaches really stick up for their players, but they always come off as so whiny when they complain about college coaches. And they seem to complain about college coaches all the time.
ifuwant2 wrote:I love that high school coaches really stick up for their players, but they always come off as so whiny when they complain about college coaches. And they seem to complain about college coaches all the time.
ifuwant2 wrote:I love that high school coaches really stick up for their players, but they always come off as so whiny when they complain about college coaches. And they seem to complain about college coaches all the time.
To be fair, a lot of college coaches suck.
I guess I just don't understand what should be expected of a college coach. I mean, the high school coaches complaints often come off less about sticking up for a kid/kids who might be "x" conference worthy and more about whether the college staff stops by yearly for a selfie and a few handshakes. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but that's how it comes off. Doesn't matter how many high schools a college coach hits, and how much time he spends slapping backs, somebody, somewhere is going to complain.
ifuwant2 wrote:I love that high school coaches really stick up for their players, but they always come off as so whiny when they complain about college coaches. And they seem to complain about college coaches all the time.
To be fair, a lot of college coaches suck.
I guess I just don't understand what should be expected of a college coach. I mean, the high school coaches complaints often come off less about sticking up for a kid/kids who might be "x" conference worthy and more about whether the college staff stops by yearly for a selfie and a few handshakes. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but that's how it comes off. Doesn't matter how many high schools a college coach hits, and how much time he spends slapping backs, somebody, somewhere is going to complain.
Yeah that is true, because a lot of high school coaches suck too. It can definitely be difficult to discern between good coaches complaining about bad ones and bad ones complaining because their annoying behavior wasn't tolerated.
Two Hillsborough County head coaches said they have never met Taggart. Hillsborough coach Earl Garcia, a USF alumnus, said he has spoken to the Bulls head coach “maybe 10 minutes total,” despite having two prominent players, linebacker Nigel Harris and punter Mattias Ciabatti, on the USF roster for Taggart’s three seasons.
Sunday night, Garcia learned Hampton, his cornerback, was switching his commitment from Toledo to USF.
“That was news to me,” Garcia said. “It’s not like there’s bad blood. There’s just ... no blood, no contact, no relationship. It’s a unique recruiting strategy. Maybe they’re doing it right. Maybe it’s just me. But I’ve been doing this 42 years and I’ve never seen that.”
Two Hillsborough County head coaches said they have never met Taggart. Hillsborough coach Earl Garcia, a USF alumnus, said he has spoken to the Bulls head coach “maybe 10 minutes total,” despite having two prominent players, linebacker Nigel Harris and punter Mattias Ciabatti, on the USF roster for Taggart’s three seasons.
Sunday night, Garcia learned Hampton, his cornerback, was switching his commitment from Toledo to USF.
“That was news to me,” Garcia said. “It’s not like there’s bad blood. There’s just ... no blood, no contact, no relationship. It’s a unique recruiting strategy. Maybe they’re doing it right. Maybe it’s just me. But I’ve been doing this 42 years and I’ve never seen that.”
Honestly, it's a new age of recruiting. With the huge fad of technology and social media Taggart is cutting the middle man out. You can go straight to the recruit by just following them on twitter and establishing a relationship with them through DM. Gone are the days of going straight to the high school coach to recruit. It seems due to this, Taggart doesn't really need to approach the high school anymore. I think Garcia is just an old school coach who hasn't caught up to the time of the new age. Just my opinion though.
I'm sorry, even reading through that USF thread, I still just don't get why high school coaches get so worked up about this. Who cares? You coach your high school team. Do that. Enjoy the kids. Help them get recruited where you can. Who cares if you have a relationship with the college coaches. Why do you think you're entitled to a line with the coaches office? You got a kid they want they'll be calling. You got a kid you think they should be looking at get them the information. It's not like the college coaches don't have their eyes and ears peeled for local talent. They don't want to talk shop with you, who cares? Kids promote themselves nowadays. It's not 1989 anymore.
I wish for every one of these complaining coaches that all the high school football players over the years who would like to complain about how little their high school coaches helped them get recruited would come out of the woodwork. Old coach Earl Garcia has 42 years worth of coaching. That's a lot of disgruntled kids. Would we listen to their complaints? Should we?
PS. I love high school coaches and admire the hard work and sacrifice of time. Lot of them should be sainted. Complaining about access to college coaches just makes the ones who do that seem smaller than the great job they do.
Sounds like a bunch of people with hurt feelings that Taggart found other ways to talk to recruits without having to go through the coaches. Even Sherrod Everett, the Ducks' new Director of Football Operations, chimed in and said they had 44 players from the Tampa area this past season so it's not like they weren't recruiting them.
scoducks wrote:
Honestly, it's a new age of recruiting. With the huge fad of technology and social media Taggart is cutting the middle man out. You can go straight to the recruit by just following them on twitter and establishing a relationship with them through DM. Gone are the days of going straight to the high school coach to recruit. It seems due to this, Taggart doesn't really need to approach the high school anymore. I think Garcia is just an old school coach who hasn't caught up to the time of the new age. Just my opinion though.
Maybe it is a new age, but it's not necessarily for the better. Part of contacting the head coach is to get a background on a player from what is likely to be a reputable source. Without that, it's really hard to imagine a college coach and a player meeting at the right level if tweeting and texts are all there is to go on. The HS coaches add a buffer and some sort of guidance for the prospective student athlete that I believe is necessary when high paid coaches(win at all costs) are coming down the pipe. It's just practical and advisable if we are to retain some sort of regulation on the whole shitshow that is football recruiting.
