Willie Taggart
| Willie Taggart | |
|---|---|
| Sport(s) | Football |
| Current position | |
| Title | Head Coach |
| Team | Western Kentucky University |
| Conference | Sun Belt Conference |
| Record | 9–15 |
| Playing career | |
| 1995–1998 |
Western Kentucky |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1999-2002 2002-2006 2007-2009 2010-present |
Western Kentucky (QB) Western Kentucky (OC) Stanford (RB) Western Kentucky |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 9–15 |
| Bowls | 0–0 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| As a player Retired Jersey, WKU |
|
Willie Taggart is an American football coach and the head football coach at Western Kentucky University.[1] He was named the Hilltoppers head football coach on November 23, 2009. At age 35, Taggart is the youngest division one college football coach and is considered one of the brightest young coaches in college football. He was recently ranked by Athlon Sports as the fourth best FBS hire in 2010.[1] Taggart was the Assistant Head Coach at WKU in 2002 when they won the 1AA National championship. In 2009, He was the Stanford running backs coach when Toby Gerhart won the Doak Walker Award. In 2011, he's led WKU to its first Home win since 2008 and the schools first five game winning streak since 2005.
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[edit] Harbaugh connection
After graduating from WKU in 1998, he stayed on at the school as an assistant through 2006, notably serving as co-offensive coordinator under Jack Harbaugh on the Hilltoppers' 2002 Division I-AA national champions. Taggart also worked alongside Harbaugh's son Jim,[2] who had been an unpaid consultant under his father in the final years of his NFL career.
[edit] Stanford years
When Jim Harbaugh was named head coach at Stanford following the 2006 season, he hired Taggart as his running backs coach. Taggart served in that role for the next two seasons, notably developing Doak Walker Award winner and Heisman runner-up, Toby Gerhart, into a star during that time. The younger Harbaugh also gave Taggart responsibility for recruiting in Taggart's home state of Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, and Riverside County, California.[2]
[edit] Playing career
Taggart had been a star quarterback at WKU from 1995 through 1998, being one of only three WKU players in the previous 50 years to be a four-year starter at the position and one of only four Hilltoppers players to have his jersey retired.
[edit] Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Rank# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (Sun Belt) (2010–2011) | |||||||||
| 2010 | Western Kentucky | 2-10 | 2-6 | 9th | |||||
| 2011 | Western Kentucky | 7-5 | 7-1 | 2nd | |||||
| Western Kentucky: | 9-15 | 9-7 | |||||||
| Total: | 9-15 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title | |||||||||
| †Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches' Poll. | |||||||||
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.athlonsports.com/college-football/ranking-new-coaches-2010
- ^ a b "WKU Names Willie Taggart New Head Football Coach" (Press release). Western Kentucky University Department of Athletics. 2009-11-23. http://www.wkusports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=204838864&DB_OEM_ID=5400. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
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