Taggart finds offensive coordinator

 

After the departure of offensive coordinator Walt Wells and quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan, USF football coach Willie Taggart tacked on more NFL experience to his staff.

Paul Wulff, former San Francisco 49ers senior offensive assistant, will leave California and head to the east coast to help Taggart with an offense that struggled last season. The Bulls were third to last in the NCAA in total offense.

Wulff will be leaving a 49ers team that advanced to the NFC Championship game Sunday led by head coach Jim Harbaugh, who coached alongside Taggart at Stanford before Taggart became the head coach at Western Kentucky.

Taggart and Harbaugh have remained close since they’ve went on different paths, the 49ers coaching serving as a valuable asset to Taggart when it comes to finding coaching talent in the NFL.

Harbaugh spoke positively of Wulff both on and off the field.

“Coach Wulff is a great coach, fine person and a good friend who has the respect and appreciation of all with the San Francisco 49ers organization,” he said in a press release.

After serving on the 49ers staff from 2012-13, in which the team made it to the Super Bowl as the second best offense in the NFL in terms of total yards, Wulff becomes the third USF assistant with experience on the professional level.

In a press release, Taggart said Wulff’s experience is a
key strength.

“His experience working
closely with Jim (Harbaugh) gives him a good understanding of our philosophy,” Taggart said. “He’ll bring some different ideas and will be a great teacher.”

Before coaching at the NFL level, Wulff served as head coach from 2000 to 2011 at Eastern Washington and then Washington State.

Wulff’s four-season stint with Washington State ended in November 2011, when he was fired after totaling a 9-40 record with the team, having no winning seasons.

While Wulff’s most recent experience as a head coach was less than impressive, in eight years as Eastern Washington’s head coach, he helped an Eagles team to two Big Sky Conference titles with an 53-40 overall record.

Before coaching, Wulff played for Washington State and started as center and long snapper after redshirting in 1985. There, he featured on a team that won the 1988 Aloha Bowl.