Willie Taggart will be the new head coach at Oregon, sources told FootballScoop Tuesday. Taggart was offered the job Tuesday evening and wanted to let his players know before word got out.
ESPN's Brett McMurphy first reported the news in the early morning hours.
Taggart is in his fourth year as the head coach at South Florida, where he led the Bulls to a 10-2 regular season and a co-championship in the American's East Division. USF has increased its wins in each of Taggart's four seasons, rising from two in 2013 to four, eight and now 10.
Prior to South Florida, Taggart was the head coach at Western Kentucky, where he again instigated a turnaround. The Hilltoppers leaped from 2-10 in Taggart's debut season of 2010 to 7-5 in 2011-12.
Running the football has always been a hallmark of Taggart-coached teams. This year's Bulls club ranks sixth in rushing offense, averaging 292 yards per game and 6.71 per carry with 44 touchdowns.
Taggart is a long-time disciple of the Harbaugh School of Coaching. He was a player and an assistant under Jack Harbaugh at Western Kentucky and served as running backs coach under Jim Harbaugh at Stanford before returning to WKU as head coach.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.