Taggart Gives Bulls a Glowing Report at Media Day
August 04, 2015 | Football
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By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
NEWPORT, R.I., AUG. 4, 2015 – Willie Taggart expects his third season at the helm of USF Football to be a charm because of the way the Bulls have improved across the board.
With the start of fall practice just two days away, Taggart gave his Bulls a glowing status report at American Athletic Conference Media Days during a round table discussion with the league's East Division coaches.
“I think you have to change the culture of the program and I think that culture has changed to where we want it now and it has made things so much easier,” Taggart said. “I know me personally, I don't find myself getting emotionally hijacked anymore and that's because guys are doing things the right way and how we want it done. I think eventually those things add up to winning and that's what we expect to do this year, to have a lot more wins.”
Taggart has several reasons to be optimistic about the upcoming season and USF's leading man gave the national media a great glimpse of what's to come. The Bulls return 13 starters, including their top five tacklers from 2014, and American rushing leader Marlon Mack, who joined safety Jamie Byrd, punter Mattias Ciabatti and tight end Sean Price at the conference's kickoff event. USF also reeled in another talented recruiting class and added more great football minds to its coaching staff.
“Not only do we have depth, but I feel we have competitive depth, which is really going help our football team grow,” Taggart said. “I'm excited about our coaching staff. We brought some new guys in here and I feel we have a bunch of energy givers, guys that are excited about being at USF and are excited about the challenge we have in front of us.”
Taggart Talks About Upcoming QB Battle
Thursday morning's practice will mark the beginning of the most important position battle fall camp has to offer. Senior Steven Bench and sophomore Quinton Flowers are ready to compete for USF's starting quarterback spot after the signal-callers sharpened their skills during the offseason.
Taggart wants someone to seize the moment in fall camp and has made his deciding factors crystal clear.
“I think those guys got to separate themselves and not leave it up to the coaches to make that decision. I think any great quarterback out there, it's what they do. They separate themselves and show their teammates that they're ready to lead,” Taggart said. “They have to go out and consistently play at a high level. They have to take care of the football first and foremost. Nothing good happens when you get rid of the football and give it to someone else. It's taking care of that football, leading every single day and competing at a high level every single day and bringing that energy every single day. Everybody is watching you.”
Taggart said each quarterback will have plenty of weapons at their disposal in the new, up-tempo offense that made strides in spring practice.
“I think both of the guys we have competing for the job are going to be better off now because they have talent around them to help them become a better football player and a better quarterback,” Taggart said. “The big thing for those guys is to take care of the football and separate themselves by the way they play.”
Catch American Football on TV
The American continues to provide its members with terrific television exposure.
In football, nearly 90 percent of The American's conference games and home non-conference contests will be carried on national broadcasts or national cable outlets.
“We're not too different from the other conferences that are out there. We get an opportunity to go out and be on national TV and perform. Some of the coaches said it earlier, it's on us to go out, compete and win some of those ballgames,” Taggart said. “I think that's all you can ask for is an opportunity and then take advantage of it when it comes. The more we take advantage of it as a conference, the more people are going to look at us as one of those (prominent) conferences as well.”
Half of the Bulls' 2015 schedule already features games on ESPN or CBS Sports platforms with more TV designations to be announced. The American's inaugural football championship game will be televised nationally on ABC or ESPN on Saturday, Dec. 5.
“I think this conference is a lot better than most people thought when we developed this conference,” Taggart said. “It's on us to continue to progress and get better as a conference. We do that by winning those ballgames.”
Aresco Recognizes Ciabatti for Community Efforts
Media day festivities began with Mike Aresco's annual remarks and The American's commissioner took the time out to recognize Mattias Ciabatti for his community service efforts.
Ciabatti, a member of the 2015 Ray Guy Award Watch List, also is a candidate for the Wuerffel Trophy, which is given annually to the FBS player that best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.
American Preseason Media Poll Released
USF was picked to finish fifth in the East Division in The American's preseason media poll that was released Tuesday morning, but Taggart said don't count the Bulls out.
"We don't like it, we've got to change it," Taggart said. "We really don't get too caught up in preseason polls. All that is off last year's team, and this is a different football team."
Cincinnati was a near-unanimous choice to win the East Division and the Bearcats are the favorite to take home the league title. Check out the complete preseason media poll below.
2015 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
PRESEASON FOOTBALL MEDIA POLL
American Championship
Team, Points
Cincinnati, 22
Memphis, 5
Houston, 2
UCF, 1
East Division
Team (First-Place Votes), Points
1. Cincinnati (29), 179
2. UCF (1), 135
3. Temple, 116
4. East Carolina, 105
5. USF, 53
6. UConn, 42
West Division
Team (First-Place Votes), Points
1. Memphis (13), 153
2. Houston (10), 149
3. Navy (7), 148
4. Tulane, 74
5. SMU, 59
6. Tulsa, 47
first-place votes in parentheses
