Willie Taggart to become 10th head football coach at Florida State

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After a speedy courtship and contract negotiation, Willie Taggart will become the 10th full-time head football coach at Florida State University.

Taggart’s expected hiring comes less than a week after former head coach Jimbo Fisher resigned to take the same position at Texas A&M. Even before the news of Fisher's departure broke, FSU had been vetting candidates to fill the spot. It became obvious last week that the Seminoles had their sights set on Oregon's 41-year-old head coach.

The Bradenton, Fla., native comes to FSU with eight years of head coaching experience. He turned around floundering programs at both Western Kentucky and South Florida before being hired by the Ducks in December 2016.

His football career started at Bradenton Manatee High School, where he threw for over 3,000 yards in his two seasons as starter. He went on to become a star quarterback at Western Kentucky before getting his first coaching opportunity with the Hilltoppers in 1999.

It didn't take long for Taggart to rise up the coaching ranks. After eight seasons as an offensive assistant with Western Kentucky, he was hired by Jim Harbaugh at Stanford to coach running backs. After three seasons with the Cardinal, he returned to WKU as the Hilltoppers' head coach in 2010.

** How Taggart's hiring will create shockwaves in recruiting **

His overall win-loss record of 47-50 as a head coach isn't impressive, but Taggart took over massively struggling programs at both Western Kentucky and South Florida. In both instances, the young coach turned things around quickly. The Hilltoppers were 0-12 the year before his arrival, but went 7-5 in his final two seasons. At South Florida, the Bulls had a 3-9 record in 2012 under Skip Holtz, the year before his arrival. After two rebuilding years, the Bulls went 8-5 and 10-2 in Taggart's final two seasons in Tampa.

Taggart will have some enormous shoes to fill in Tallahassee. Florida State's last two head coaches -- Bobby Bowden and Jimbo Fisher -- combined to win 15 conference championships, three national championships and had a whopping 23 10-win seasons. The duo's combined record of 399-120 represents the best winning percentage (76.9 percent) for any college team during this 42-year period.

Salary is expected for approximately $5 million per year. Further details TBA.

Taggart is expected to bring some of his current staff with him to Tallahassee. That could include well-regarded offensive line coach Mario Cristobal and defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt.

Both have strong Florida ties.

The new coaching staff will have to hit the ground running in recruiting. For the first time in history, there's an early signing period in recruiting that begins Dec. 20.

A press conference to officially announce Taggart's hire is expected to take place Wednesday.

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