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By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, MARCH 13, 2014 – Willie Taggart wants the Bulls to do big things in 2014, so it was only natural for USF’s second-year football coach to bring in a man that knows a lot of about building a program back up.
Taggart welcomed his former head coach, mentor and “father away from home,” Jack Harbaugh with open arms at USF spring football practice last weekend to oversee the operation and benefit the Bulls with great football advice.
“It was good to have him out here and see it from a different perspective, and it will be even better getting him up there watching some film with us,” Taggart said.
Taggart and Harbaugh have enjoyed each other’s company while watching football film for years dating back to the 1990’s. Taggart, 37, was then a very young, dual-threat quarterback that was beginning what would become a record-breaking career at Western Kentucky with Harbaugh at the helm.
“We were at the very lowest of the roll. In fact we had lost our program in 1992, they threatened to take it away from us and then we got it back a month later,” said Harbaugh, who coached at Western Kentucky from 1989-2002. ”Willie came (in ’94) and I’m talking about a young freshman from Manatee High School, who literally lifted the program on his shoulders.”
Taggart went on to set 11 new programs and finished as Western Kentucky’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns (47), while his 3,997 rushing yards were the most in NCAA Division I history at the time for a quarterback. Taggart also ranked second at WKU in points (286), pass efficiency rating (127.71) and fourth in TD passes (30) while helping the Hilltoppers get the program rolling in the right direction at a rapid pace.
“We were making runs, getting into the I-AA playoffs and we were winning some football games,” Harbaugh said.
Taggart returned to WKU as an assistant coach in 1999 and he was by Harbaugh’s side as an offensive coordinator by the time the Hilltoppers won the Division I-AA national championship in 2002. Taggart was promoted to assistant coach in 2003 and stayed with the program until 2007, when he joined San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh at Stanford.
Willie ended up becoming like brothers with Jim and John Harbaugh, who has won a Super Bowl coaching the Baltimore Ravens, in the years following Jim’s recruitment ring to the Taggart household.
"My sister said a guy by the name of Jim Harbaugh called and he wanted me to call him back. I called him back, it was Jim Harbaugh and I couldn't believe it," Taggart said.
"The only Jim Harbaugh I know plays for the Chicago Bears," a young Taggart told Harbaugh during the returned call. "He said, 'That's me,' and I was like, 'Yeah, right.' "
Taggart wound up being Jim’s best man at his wedding and returned to his alma mater after two seasons at Stanford to follow in his mentor’s footsteps of building the program back up. Under Taggart, WKU posted 14 wins in 2011 and 2012 after the program had won four games in the previous three seasons combined and an opportunity at USF soon followed.
“I see that look in his eye now that I saw back in 1992. Willie Taggart will get it done (at USF),” Jack Harbaugh said.
Every eye was on Harbaugh when he spoke to the team after Friday’s practice about his relationship with Taggart and the 74-year-old is still razor-sharp when it comes to evaluating the talent he watched during the action.
“He way saying earlier, ‘You know what? Your offensive line looks impressive,’” Taggart said. “He sees a difference out there, and I think more than anything the synergy that we’re having, especially offensively with guys playing well and playing together.”
Harbaugh gave the Bulls as a whole a glowing review while chatting with reporters with a USF cap on his head and the same smile Jim and John sport today.
“The thing I’ve always felt about coaching is you need a vision of where you see the program, where you want to see it at its very best and have a plan in place for that, and patience. Of those three things I think patience is the greatest of all those qualities,” Harbaugh said.
“The thing that excites me is being here at the end of practice the enthusiasm that I see,” Harbaugh continued. “You can see the players now after the first year are buying into the enthusiasm, buying into the philosophy and buying into Willie and the vision he sees for the program.”
Having Harbaugh next to him on the sideline again was a sight Taggart won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
“He’s been my father away from home, not just football but life in general,” Taggart said. “To be able to still have that relationship with him and have him here is amazing.”
