Calibull

Taggart dug his feet into the dirt and has appeared to shift the momentum of the team in the right direction. We, the individuals who care enough about USF Football/athletics to visit forums and research and follow recruiting online- the dedicated- we see the change, and we see the foundation Taggart is building. That's a good accomplishment, to get (most) of us on his side. The next thing he needs to do is convert the casuals. The people who don't pay much attention to the behind the scenes, but hear about the hype from everyone else. "Show me the money" type of stuff. This! Great observation! For those of us who followed the program last season was not a shocker. The deterioration was not a shocker as we saw it coming with crap recruiting. Taggart many times last year said "I'm not straying. I know what needs to be done. I've been here before and I have my plan. It's not what the fans want but it is what I'm doing and I'm sticking to it." I like that he doesn't placate to a fan base who knows little about what goes on behind the scenes. The casual fan comes along and speaks in generalities and not know who has come in over the past 5 years into the program. I know the name of every single recruit that we have brought in over nearly the past decade. I watched tape on every guy like most who belong to all of the sites. I've met and talked to coaches etc.... I think him digging his feet in and standing his ground was the only way... we had to break the players. Just like breaking a private in the military. This is what he was doing: Taggart inherited a train wreck from Skip Holtz last season and saw his Bulls finish 2-10 behind an offense that ranked 120th in scoring. "I know our guys can play better, but our priorities have to be in place; they were not last year, and that's a big reason we were not the team we wanted to be," Taggart said. "Since the offseason, my job has been to make sure our priorities are right. We can't let our guys do it. We have to show them how to do it, and we are not going to waver. You are going to do it our way or find somewhere else to go to do it your way." Taggart quarterbacked Manatee High to consecutive state finals, helped Western Kentucky win the I-AA national title as its offensive coordinator and returned there in 2010 to resurrect a program that was among the worst in major college football. The USF football team had a laundry list of misguided priorities. They involved taking care of business off the field, working out, being on time, being dedicated and doing well in the classroom. "It's a reason we were not strong and too slow and too small," he said. "Florida teams should not be slow. The kind of ball we want to play you've got to be big and strong." Another priority for Taggart is doing things his way while incorporating advice from people he trusts. "I am sticking to my plan and I am not veering off. I don't listen to the outside," Taggart said. "If I do that, then I can't do my job. They hired me to coach this team and get it right. I have to do it my way." Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2014/06/25/5224402/commentary-head-football-coach.html#storylink=cpy here: http://www.bradenton.com/2014/06/25/5224402/commentary-head-football-coach.html#storylink=cpy

I'm sure the three years of garbage recruiting and under developed players didn't attribute to our lack of success at all. If you're a power running coach, you can't deviate from your system to fit personnel. He would have literally had to have run the spread and he doesn't know the spread. I mean short memories here... I sit and watch people post and I'm like have you guys been around the past 4 years... did you see what happened between 2010 and 2013? I guess most forgot about Holtz... What? Did you think that after 7-5, 5-7, and 3-9 that there was going to be some sort of undefeated season with a first year coach who was given a crap team? Recruiting sucked under Holtz, player development sucked under Hotlz, S&C sucked under Holtz, player's attitudes sucked under Holtz.... this is silly talk. I don't think it's fair to look at what Taggart has accomplished in year 2 but I bet the biggest thing he will accomplish is finishing a season better than the last one. We've won 6 games since the Pitt game in 2011 when we got thrashed. We had 3 crappy recruiting classes. What has Taggart accomplished? Well in 2014 we had the 39th ranked class and in 2013 49. We haven't seen recruiting classes like those since CJL. What else? Well he's certainly turned the attitude around on the team and based on the guys he's been getting to visit and commit to the program, he's changing the perception of USF again. I remember what guys like Fullwood, Bronson, and Sawyer said about Skip. He did something that Skip couldn't do the entire time, get quality QBs top come into the program. Mike White and Quinton Flowers would not have been there if not for Taggart. Period. He's brought in more guys rated four star on the services in a single class than Skip managed the entire time he coached. The coverts were dry in the skilled positions. I've followed the program and recruiting for the past 9 years and I saw the drop in recruiting and the affect it has on play. It hasn't shown in wins but I'm sure it will. Skip came into a team that should have won the conference and went 7-5, beat Clemson... a team that underperformed though. As the CJL talent left, the team got worse. This time the coach receives Holtz players from a team that should have gone 0-12 and mange to pull 2 games out of their @ss. No doubt in my mind this team will be better... but then you'll just find something else to complain about. We have forward momentum and excitement. Taggarts biggest accomplishment so far is having people actually interested again. I also watched as many of you criticized and trashed B.J. only to discover he was the only thing holding the team together. Without saying anything I remember some of you actually saying Bobby was better. Now I remember why I never commented on anything here, some of the people don't have realistic expectations and evidently extremely short memories. I think this will be the case once again with Taggart and you'll hate every second of it I'm sure. He was pointing out that it does make sense to call plays/schemes based on the personnel you have and that he's in favor of that. Not sure why that's such an issue. He could have implemented his power run system and threw in some plays that cater to some of our players strengths. It doesn't take a genius to run a few plays that are considered "Spread". At this point I'm glad he stuck to his guns and stayed with his offense so that all the bumps and bruises can now be out of the way. But, if those issues are not fixed this season again it's all out the window for me. I do agree with a lot of what you said, but Mike White's second best offer at the time of his commitment was like Eastern Illinois wasn't it? Not sure if Taggart should be praised for that one. But, Taggart has shown he's an incredible recruiter having pulled in that good of a recruiting class coming off a 2-10 year in the AAC. Can't wait to see what he'll do with a decent season. Not sure about the forward momentum and excitement part either from the general fan base. I would argue after a 2-10 season excitement may possibly be at an all time low.. I guess we'll find out from attendance early in the year. With you on the B.J. issue as well. Wasn't just people on here, it was students and other fans. They are realizing how wrong they were now. Lord... do you really know that much about recruiting. First most didn't know if White was even going to play football in college and then he committed and shut down his recruiting. What you don't know is he was offered by Mississippi State, La Tech, and Houston. He wasn't the typical recruit in that once he committed he shut it down and stopped taking calls. So saying White's best offer was from Eastern Illinois tells me you don't really follow recruiting. Secondly he tried different plays to get the power game going but without the threat of play action and blocking from the offensive line it's for nada. Our offensive line was waaaay undersized and too weak to run a power offense. I don't think you know what that takes. Do you think that it's a coincidence that the line has gained almost 15 pounds per man across the board this year? It has increased in strength and size. This year we are made to run the power offense. Our line from tackle to tackle was 287, 305, 273, 312, 310 and all very weak and coming from a spread system. This season we're looking at the biggest line in school history that looks to line up 308, 332, 295, 321, 320... that's what it takes to execute this offense. I don't think people believed him when he said "we have to get bigger and stronger... we need bigger bodies.. people movers." I mean you can only run so many reverses and gadget plays. We were drastically undersized on both sides of the ball and that was Skips doing. Taggart ragged on the guys about it and they took it to heart. He said they didn't look like Division I football players and they were not strong enough nor were they fast enough. I guess people ignored that hoping for a12-0 season. You are saying he should have run different running plays in a "power offense" with no power. If nobody noticed, the offensive line got pushed around last year. Even by our defense in practices, spring ball, and fall camp... this year not so much. So I stick to what I said.. unless he ran the spread, he didn't have the personnel to run the offense. Shaw is not the typical back he wants for this offense. McFarland went up to 260 because he was too small... he trimmed Price out so he looks like a TE not a fat boy with wheels. I mean I get what you want to get at but look at the entire picture. This was an 0-12 team last year and Taggart did a decent job with crap. The QB recruiting under Holtz was so bad that a true freshman had to come in and play and that's sad. In regards to a the penalties and long plays... there is a reason that no true freshman has started in this offense, it is complicated and takes a while to learn the entire scheme. Any time Andrew Luck has to redshirt in this offense it's tough. Taggart did everything he could to keep White off the field because he wasn't ready... but he was the most talented guy we have. Also he grades high as hell... He's not 6'4 210 and that kid looks the part. Just for a little perspective. As I said there were too many unrealistic expectations last season. This is the year where you can start judging Taggart. Not a year with little talent and players not constructed to run the system. If you don't see the momentum that is being built you're either so far away from the program you can't or you're jaded after years of failure. As a donor and Alumni I see it. Things are happening and I'm sorry you're not a part of it but that appears to be of your own volition. This is the first time I've looked forward to football since fall 2011. Excitement was at an all time low last season. One we open up things will be just fine.

I'd be inclined to agree with everything you said... except we went 8-5 the year CJL left and Skip went 8-5 his first year (7-5 if you aren't counting Bowl games).

I'm sure the three years of garbage recruiting and under developed players didn't attribute to our lack of success at all. If you're a power running coach, you can't deviate from your system to fit personnel. He would have literally had to have run the spread and he doesn't know the spread. I mean short memories here... I sit and watch people post and I'm like have you guys been around the past 4 years... did you see what happened between 2010 and 2013? I guess most forgot about Holtz... What? Did you think that after 7-5, 5-7, and 3-9 that there was going to be some sort of undefeated season with a first year coach who was given a crap team? Recruiting sucked under Holtz, player development sucked under Hotlz, S&C sucked under Holtz, player's attitudes sucked under Holtz.... this is silly talk. I don't think it's fair to look at what Taggart has accomplished in year 2 but I bet the biggest thing he will accomplish is finishing a season better than the last one. We've won 6 games since the Pitt game in 2011 when we got thrashed. We had 3 crappy recruiting classes. What has Taggart accomplished? Well in 2014 we had the 39th ranked class and in 2013 49. We haven't seen recruiting classes like those since CJL. What else? Well he's certainly turned the attitude around on the team and based on the guys he's been getting to visit and commit to the program, he's changing the perception of USF again. I remember what guys like Fullwood, Bronson, and Sawyer said about Skip. He did something that Skip couldn't do the entire time, get quality QBs top come into the program. Mike White and Quinton Flowers would not have been there if not for Taggart. Period. He's brought in more guys rated four star on the services in a single class than Skip managed the entire time he coached. The coverts were dry in the skilled positions. I've followed the program and recruiting for the past 9 years and I saw the drop in recruiting and the affect it has on play. It hasn't shown in wins but I'm sure it will. Skip came into a team that should have won the conference and went 7-5, beat Clemson... a team that underperformed though. As the CJL talent left, the team got worse. This time the coach receives Holtz players from a team that should have gone 0-12 and mange to pull 2 games out of their @ss. No doubt in my mind this team will be better... but then you'll just find something else to complain about. We have forward momentum and excitement. Taggarts biggest accomplishment so far is having people actually interested again. I also watched as many of you criticized and trashed B.J. only to discover he was the only thing holding the team together. Without saying anything I remember some of you actually saying Bobby was better. Now I remember why I never commented on anything here, some of the people don't have realistic expectations and evidently extremely short memories. I think this will be the case once again with Taggart and you'll hate every second of it I'm sure.

He wasn't robbed last year. He missed 4 field goals on the season and the guy who won it missed one while making more field goals than Kloss. He also had a higher touchback rate than Kloss did and broke an ACC record. I mean Kloss made some long field goals last year but he shanked four... the two misses in the UCif game is what cost him the award. While I think Kloss was in contention, he wasn't robbed. The FSU guy had better numbers, scored more points, missed fewer kicks, had more touchbacks, and though Kloss had more kicks longer than 50 yards, Aguayo's longest field goal was of the season was better than Klosses career long. I mean the misses at ucif cost him the award. He lost it with those misses... but Aguayo had better numbers to be honest. Even I can admit that.

That's cool... second year in a row. Now all he has to do is win the starting spot... because he's not a lock to win it and some think he may not be the best kicker on the team. But it is his senior year though I don't think that matters. It would be nice to see him win the job and the award.

In 2015. McCants and maaaaaybe Bronson will see the field this season. They are playing catchup and a lot of our passing game is timing and reads. They won't have the offense down fast enough and the guys in front of them (Davis, Dunkley, and Adams) are all really good. It's not going to be that easy. WR is deep and getting deeper... but Dre and Dunkley will likely start with Adams and McCants playing. Bronson might be used for two reasons... he's a matchup problem at 6'4 and he has a ton of speed. In terms of straight line speed he's likely going to be our fasted WR. See his track times.... kid is a freak of nature.

Dunkley is going to have a monster season.

He's never had an injury problem and if something happens, Ruff has come on strong. But you don't see many injuries at center so that isn't a big concern. On a different note I love that he is 295 pounds now. It's been a long time coming. Reiter should flourish this year in this system with that size. Our offensive line will be the biggest in school history this season. No matter how you flip the lineup... Bigger, stronger, faster. Ausin is the key to that line, has he goes they go. That's why I'm pleased with the added weight and strength. I'm more happy about that than the actual award watch list.

What hard hitters? Cincy? Well they lost to us last year... Ucif? Should have beaten them actually and they still haven't found a QB to replace Bortles. Maryland? The were not that good last year. NC State? 3-9... not too much better than us. Houston? Almost beat them too. The only team you could call a "Hard-Hitter" is Wisconsin. Those other teams are very average. So I'm buying... we have a schedule full of spread teams and one power team. Our offensive and defensive systems are kryptonite for the spread. Every game we were in and our wins were against teams that were running the spread. This year we'll be big enough to be a power running team. Nobody on our schedule that we can't beat. Nobody wants to lose to any team so saying they don't want to lose against a team that went 2-10 last season means nothing really. If anything, they are inclined to overlook us. If that happens, we'll pull off a big upset early in the season. I like us to open the season 4-0 or 3-1 and go from there. I think that is very doable.

That trailer is compost now... and thank god it is.

I'm pretty sure the white helmets will be back. Don't be shocked if they roll out a white helmet this year for a game.

The helmets are sick!!! I love them

We don't need those trailers back. We just need to win some games. We need to get on a roll this season. I must say I do feel much better about this season than I did going into last. I looked at the team last spring and wondered if we'd win a single game. After spring this season, I really think this team can be good, especially in this conference. We have a system built to feast on spread teams and we're the only non spread team in the conference. We might have problems with Wisconsin but the other games on our schedule are very winnable. So I'm in a wait and see posture this year, though I know we will be a lot better.

Thanks... I was just wondering.

Silly question... does the school run this site or is it just a public site set up by someone?

Amen... say it again!!!!

Just saying Go Bulls in one beat will be weird and empty at the end. It's fine the way it is. I like it.

I love smoking pot. I'm self employed and I don't plan on pissing myself anytime soon so I don't worry about the rules... besides pot is legal where I am. While I don't agree with pot laws, you know the risk when you indulge. I think they are stupid and antiquated but they are on the books in a lot of states. In regards to Durden... he was average at best. He was a guy who got his big chance last season... Now the younger and more talented guys are ready to step in. Hey, we can use that scholarship too. Best of luck to him but hey... this is the nature of the game. The charge was an excuse, Taggart got rid of his problem children and made a statement. Durden picked a bad time to get in trouble.

A couple of things. Mayes actually went to prep school for 1 semester not JUCO. He was missing credits and they thought he fulfilled those at the Prep school but the NCAA clearing house declared him a partial qualifier. His grades and test scores were actually fine, he was missing credits. In terms of Blackwood... It's not the actual grades that are the issue. I'll leave it at that because it isn't supposed to be out there why. Blackwood was always expected to report to campus in July or early August... He's redshirting anyway because he's physically not ready but he had some things to take care of in with school. I'll leave it at that. But they fully expect him on campus at the end of July. His date was always later than the other guys... I'm surprised that nobody ever noticed that. That's my insider tidbit... I don't think people should be panicking a screaming JUCO. He's not going to JUCO, he is on schedule be in school this fall.

Yup... I agree

I think the general consensus is he can't win for us now. People forget this isn't a simple offense. Flowers will be brought along at a slow pace. You don't want to rush him and also he'll likely not know the playbook sufficiently to contribute with the exception of a gadget play. He wouldn't be a big impact so why waste a redshirt when you don't have to? That's just crazy.

The new helmets are dope! I'm guessing a lot of the older people don't like them but amongst players, guys just coming in, and recruits they are popular. It does make a difference...

Good point, our LB's are SS sized this year. Very worrying. Harley weighs 240, Holman 235, and Sanchez 245... those are the middles. Outside Cliett is up to 225, Harris is around 215-220, Jackson 255, Whitehurst 218, and Bullock 225. This will likely be one of the biggest LB core we have had in 6 years. It is going to be one of our biggest defenses in a really really long time. When you look up front you are going to see DE Watson 289 an Hill 270 with Chandler at NT at 312... NT Senat 320, NT/DE Calloway 295, DE Love 245, Perry 261... etc... we're actually going to be bigger than we were last year on defense and we only play 1 power running team the entire season... Wisconsin.

You have one middle and 3 outside. The other guy in the middle will likely be Legrand Harley who's at big kid also at 240 pounds. Also Nick Holman and then there are others like Swain, Whitehurst, and Bullock who all saw some time in the middle. But you'll likely not see Bayes, Harris, Cliett and Sanchez on the field at the same time because you have two players who play the same position (Will LB) and you'd be missing a middle.