Football Knight: Willie Taggart hopes new offense will power more USF wins

[Brad]

Willie Taggart hopes new offense will power more USF wins

 

Joey Knight, Times Staff Writer

Sunday, August 30, 2015 11:37am

 

TAMPA — Seventeen years after his playing career ended, the quarterback reared in option principles still is perfecting the pitch.

 

Just last week, a day shy of his 39th birthday, Willie Taggart was delivering them with a well-honed blend of timing, authority and crispness.

 

"Fast. Exciting. Big plays," USF's preeminent pitchman said when asked to describe his redesigned offense. "Sell tickets. Get (fans) to come here, and love coming here and love being at RayJay saying, 'Hey, I want to come back and watch that again.' That's what we're planning to do."

 

If any singular mantra has prevailed on Fowler Avenue this preseason, it has been the one involving offensive pace. Over the summer, Taggart scoured the state dispensing the benefits of briskness, trying to make "up" and "tempo" as synonymous with USF as green and gold or commuter and school.

 

Out with the huddle, in with the high-octane.

 

The offense "is a lot more fun," reigning American Athletic Conference rushing king Marlon Mack said. "More tiring, too."

 

So the Bulls will get plays off more expeditiously, that much we know. Throughout preseason camp, they typically snapped the ball with double digits remaining on the Morsani Complex's makeshift play clock.

 

"Get to the ball and next play, next play, next play and keep on rolling," senior center Brynjar Gudmundsson said.

 

But aside from speed, what are the other specifics? In the wake of the power-based, pocket-passing scheme of the past two years, exactly what will Taggart's new spread-style offense look like?

 

A guy who sees it from the other side every day may have dropped the most telling clue.

 

"I think explosive," senior "bull" (weakside defensive end) Zack Bullock said last week. "I think we're finally running something ....

 

Link to rest of report

[Brad]

Knight's use of "commuter and school" is about as funny as the Times use of beat and writer.

[SANJAY]

CWT and I are hoping for the same thing.

[Bulls On Parade]

These next 7 days are going to take forever.

[Who'sYourData?]

Tice is pretty quick on the uptake, "the spread just helps spread out everything."  

[Sellular1]

Taggart scoured the state dispensing the benefits of briskness, trying to make "up" and "tempo" as synonymous with USF as green and gold or commuter and school.

What a POS.

Edited August 30, 2015 by Sellular1

[Bull-Hornz]

Taggart scoured the state dispensing the benefits of briskness, trying to make "up" and "tempo" as synonymous with USF as green and gold or commuter and school.

What a POS.

Hahahaha....thx JK. Thx for showing everyone what I espoused in an earlier thread...your slant. Commuter school please...this is so tired and false I am not even going to get into it.

On the other hand I really enjoyed the article. Thx for the effort. Even if you stayed true to form with your little back handed slights.

[Joe]

I get why people take offense to the commuter school tag, but I never have. Yea, we have a good, but still smaller portion of our undergrads that live at their parents houses and/or locals that are going back to school to complete their degrees.

Every university in a major city has that issue.

[Bull-Hornz]

I get why people take offense to the commuter school tag, but I never have. Yea, we have a good, but still smaller portion of our undergrads that live at their parents houses and/or locals that are going back to school to complete their degrees.

Every university in a major city has that issue.

Because you have students who commute to school does not make it a commuter school... a town doesnt need to be centered around a uni to make it a non-commuter. You can say USF is young, lacks tradition that older uni's etc but the fact that the town doesnt completely revolve around the uni was a draw for me.

[Skingraft]

JK=****.