ESPN reporting Taggart as Head coach

[paduck]

This board cracks me up. Many of you are acting like Taggart has already failed. I'm sure all of the same people just KNEW Charlie Strong wouldn't succeed at Texas, or that Peterson, Chip and Altman would be slam-dunks in the NW (side note: I remember people in various online forums years ago saying Peterson wasn't fit to coach Oregon). Fact is, hiring a new coach -- outside of a few rockstars like Saban or Meyer -- is a complete crapshoot. Wins at one stop don't always translate to the next school. You can throw previous records out the window.

Taggart is personable, an able recruiter, a good offensive mind, and he rebuilt two terrible, non-power 5 programs. We have no idea who he will hire to coach/coordinate the defense. Was he my number 1 choice? Of course not. I doubt he was Phil Knight's either. But I think we can at least give the guy a shot before we write him off as a terrible choice.

[Duck24]

Defense ranked 120th to our 126th. Next year is going to be really rough. He needs to kill recruiting or it's going to get ugly.

If they can find a great D.C., this could end up well for us.

Wasn't the USF D legit, like top 40-50, in 2015 and their DC bounced to Indiana, where he is now HC? Not sure if I read that here or on Twitter.

[Phenom]

Lenoir might be back on board. His twitter now says "Easty La To Eugene OR"

[Phenom]

Defense ranked 120th to our 126th. Next year is going to be really rough. He needs to kill recruiting or it's going to get ugly.

If they can find a great D.C., this could end up well for us.

Wasn't the USF D legit, like top 40-50, in 2015 and their DC bounced to Indiana, where he is now HC? Not sure if I read that here or on Twitter.

Yes

[pezsez1]

Well, first test.... can he recruit? Because if he fails to salvage this class, then his fate might be sealed already.

Yes, this sucks. What a flat hire.

[desertfan]

Well, first test.... can he recruit? Because if he fails to salvage this class, then his fate might be sealed already.

Yes, this sucks. What a flat hire.

I think recruiting is probably what I'm worried least about with regard to Taggart. By all accounts he sounds like a fantastic recruiter. I'm more worried about our track record at hiring defensive coordinators and getting Taggart a good one, which I feel he will need to have any hope of success here.

[Oregonian]

Lenoir might be back on board. His twitter now says "Easty La To Eugene OR"

It's said that since he decommitted, I just think he hasn't changed it yet.

[Duck24]

Maybe this is the life cycle of a coaching hire but after waking up to pee at around 4AM this morning, flipping on Mike & Mike and seeing the breaking news about Taggart, I have gone from livid, to solemn, to pissed to now actually seeing why they hired him.

He is a tireless recruiter, which is something I think anyone, regardless of what they think of Taggart, would agree is tantamount for the new coach.

He is young and energetic which could/should rub off on the team and program in general, which is something this team has been missing since Chip left.

He has a history of solid D, although this past season wasn't particularly impressive but there are mitigating circumstances with losing his DC. He needs to nail the DC hire as that can be his undoing.

Having endorsements from the Harbaugh's and Dungy certainly can't hurt either, given their track records of success.

Maybe this is just me trying to talk myself off the ledge but I am starting to support the hire. I just want him to be in Eugene and see what his vision of the program is and how he starts to craft it. He is going to have to hit the ground running though because he needs to salvage this recruiting class and hopefully flip a few targets that Oregon has missed. From what I have read, he was able to build a solid local recruiting base around the USF campus so hopefully he can do the same in Oregon and maybe flip a few of the in-state guys we have missed out on.

[StevensTechU]

I'm in the "blah" category. There are 5 or so names that I'm far more comfortable with that it doesn't sound like Oregon even made a run at.

I've spent my morning listening to various interviews of Taggart and it's hard for me to imagine him matching wits with Peterson, Leach, RichRod, MacIntyre and others. He's closer to Mora and Todd Graham in that regard, and to me that's not likely to get the job done.

[pezsez1]

It's not that I don't support the hire, and it's not that I doubt Taggart's abilities as a coach.

It's just that this is so... flat.

Chip (or a sitting Power 5 coach with a winning record) would have made a splash, energized recruiting and given fans something to cheer about.

This is just... flat. Feels more like a flailing haymaker than a solid punch. Even if Taggart is a tireless recruiter, I don't see this making recruits do double-takes. And I certainly don't see the fanbase getting very excited until kickoff next year, at which point he'd better win in a hurry or people won't engage, period.

This just feels like not what this program needed.

[dthomas=ddixon]

Maybe this is the life cycle of a coaching hire but after waking up to pee at around 4AM this morning, flipping on Mike & Mike and seeing the breaking news about Taggart, I have gone from livid, to solemn, to pissed to now actually seeing why they hired him.

He is a tireless recruiter, which is something I think anyone, regardless of what they think of Taggart, would agree is tantamount for the new coach.

He is young and energetic which could/should rub off on the team and program in general, which is something this team has been missing since Chip left.

He has a history of solid D, although this past season wasn't particularly impressive but there are mitigating circumstances with losing his DC. He needs to nail the DC hire as that can be his undoing.

Having endorsements from the Harbaugh's and Dungy certainly can't hurt either, given their track records of success.

Maybe this is just me trying to talk myself off the ledge but I am starting to support the hire. I just want him to be in Eugene and see what his vision of the program is and how he starts to craft it. He is going to have to hit the ground running though because he needs to salvage this recruiting class and hopefully flip a few targets that Oregon has missed. From what I have read, he was able to build a solid local recruiting base around the USF campus so hopefully he can do the same in Oregon and maybe flip a few of the in-state guys we have missed out on.

Great post. I understand being dissapointed by not getting Chip but it shouldn't make us turn off our brains regarding Taggart. I'm really excited honestly. He's the Dana Altman type hire some wanted.

[Phenom]

I'm in the "blah" category. There are 5 or so names that I'm far more comfortable with that it doesn't sound like Oregon even made a run at.

I've spent my morning listening to various interviews of Taggart and it's hard for me to imagine him matching wits with Peterson, Leach, RichRod, MacIntyre and others. He's closer to Mora and Todd Graham in that regard, and to me that's not likely to get the job done.

Based on what?

[UofDuck]

2 very important things jump out at me; 1 - Tough Guy, 2 - Good, relentless recruiter. Those are 2 pieces this team desperately needed. I've felt for a while now we need new, energized blood.

Concern - DC. This is so important. I think Taggart will get the kids to play hard, but needs a scheme that works and a guy to manage it. Taggart needs to get this piece right. If he does, we might have captured something great.

[Juice]

LOL at the people who thought he was just a rooney rule

I'm all on board. Yeah the chip stuff got us all feeling some type of way last night but the fact that we have to fall back on taggart doesn't leave me with the punch to the gut feeling that some of us have right now.

As stated before he's turned around two s***box programs and has endorsements from two pretty damn good coaches. His D sucked last year, but the year before they were right around NA standards (lol)

I'm excited about the hire, but obviously I am really interested in who we hire as the DC.

The sky is not falling. This is a good hire.


Also I would like to know where the tweet/article that says Shaun King is his first hire?

[Phenom]

BTW, I think this means we can move away completely from Chip now.