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Former Stanford Assistant Willie Taggart hired by Oregon

Can Toby Gerhart’s former running backs coach get the Ducks turned around?

By nickdempsey
NCAA Football: East Carolina at South Florida Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN’s Brett McMurphy is reporting the Oregon Ducks will name Willie Taggart as their next head football coach. SB Nation has also confirmed the hire. Oregon was in the market for a new coach after firing Mark Helfrich who went 4-8 this season featuring a blowout loss to Stanford and a loss to rival Oregon State.

Taggart played football in college for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. After graduation he became an assistant coach for the Hilltoppers working for Jim Harbaugh’s father, Jack. When Jim Harbaugh took over the Stanford Cardinal he hired Taggart to be his running backs coach at Stanford. Taggart spent two seasons on the Farm coaching Toby Gerhart to a second place finish in the Heisman race.

Taggart would go on to become the head coach a Western Kentucky turning around a struggling program into a bowl eligible team. He would eventually do the same for the South Florida Bulls. Now Taggart will be tasked with doing the same for the Ducks.

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