FSU fires Taggart
Willie Taggart is looking for a new job.
The former USF coach, who led the Bulls from 2013-16, was fired by FSU on Sunday after an embarrassing 27-10 loss to Miami on Saturday.
Taggart posted a 9-12 record as coach at FSU, including a 4-5 record so far in 2019. The Seminoles’ 5-7 performance last season was FSU’s first losing season since 1976 and ended an NCAA-record 36-year bowl streak, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
“I think very highly of Coach Taggart and wish him well,” Florida State president John Thrasher said in a statement obtained by the Times, “but in the interest of the university we had no choice but to make a change.”
Taggart’s buyout at FSU does not come cheap: The Seminoles will pay him $17 million to depart.
Following his less than two-year tenure in Tallahassee, Taggart’s overall record as coach is six games below .500 at 56-62, including a 24-25 record at USF.
After departing the Bulls before the 2016 Birmingham Bowl, Taggart was coach at Oregon for one season, leading the Ducks to a 7-5 record before leaving Oregon for the FSU job before the Las Vegas Bowl.
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