Early on Sunday, the University of Florida fired Head Coach Jim McElwain. Could this possibly affect the Oregon Ducks?
McElwain, despite taking Florida to two-straight SEC Championship games, is now the first domino to fall in the yearly craze that is the college football coaching carousel. While Oregon played a role in last year’s coaching market, could they find themselves in a similar position this offseason?
After building the USF program into a group of five contender, Willie Taggart made the cross-country move to re-build the Oregon program.
Now his name is being brought up as a major factor in the Florida coaching search.
Willie Taggart now a real possibility for Gators. He’s been contacted; boosters actively discussing (Reporting w/@sportsDen_live)
— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) October 30, 2017
From a fit perspective, looking at Taggart as the next head coach of the Florida Gators would make sense. He is proven in re-building struggling programs, has proven to be an excellent recruiter, and has major ties to the state of Florida.
Even as the head coach of Oregon Football, Taggart has brought in major recruits from the sunshine state.
Given the keys to a major SEC program, Taggart could likely do incredible things from a recruiting perspective with his massive in-state footprint. All of the boxes would seem to be checked for Taggart to be the guy that Florida wants, but would he really bolt after one year in Eugene?
Many would think that Taggart taking the Oregon job last year would mean he is off the market. Not so fast. He is more available than many would like to think.
After Oregon fired Mark Helfrich three years before his contract was up, they did so knowing they would owe him a lot of money. Over the next three seasons, Oregon owes their former head coach a total of $11.7 million.
Taggart’s buyout is a surprisingly pedestrian $3 million, which means suitors like Florida would not be perturbed.
Florida is open. Willie Taggart is a proven winner, a Florida native, and his buyout makes him shockingly available. https://t.co/Wu4qEmjgeJ
— Zach Barnett (@zach_barnett) October 30, 2017
Had Taggart not received the Oregon coaching job last winter, and had remained at USF for this season, we would likely be seeing him as the next coach of Florida.
Having coached in-state South Florida from nothing into a group-of-five power would have made him a guy that was at the top of every writer and pundit’s list of coaches to succeed McElwain.
It would make too much sense not to happen.
However, having taken the job at a major program like Oregon makes the conversation that much murkier. In not having to get through Alabama and Georgia, Oregon is the easier path to get his National Championship.
With the backing of Phil Knight, Taggart and his staff have the keys to bring the ‘swag’ back to Eugene. It appears that Taggart is excited about his future at Oregon, but is that going to be enough if home comes calling?
Oregon should feel a measured amount of confidence that they will have Willie Taggart as their coach in 2018. However, until pen is on paper for the new Florida coach that isn’t him, the questions will be asked.
Buckle up.
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Oregon Football faces Washington on the road Saturday (7 pm PT, Fox Sports 1)