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How long should Willie Taggart have to rebuild USF football?

 
South Florida head coach Willie Taggart watches the game clock during the third quarter against Western Carolina at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on  Aug. 30. South Florida defeated Western Carolina 36 to 31. OCTAVIO JONES   |   Times
South Florida head coach Willie Taggart watches the game clock during the third quarter against Western Carolina at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on Aug. 30. South Florida defeated Western Carolina 36 to 31. OCTAVIO JONES | Times
Published Sept. 19, 2014

TAMPA — The unrest hasn't yet confronted him in a convenience store or howled epithets from behind a tinted window at a traffic light. Generally, folks remain cordial to Willie Taggart when he's seen in public.

"I speak to them and they speak back to me, and treat others like I want to be treated," he said.

But USF's 38-year-old football coach isn't naive enough to believe vitriol isn't lurking on Twitter feeds and talk radio and fan forums. He understands with each ugly defeat, the incendiary hashtags (#FireTaggart) sprout in profusion. Taggart has waded in such dissension before — at his alma mater (Western Kentucky).

"First of all, I understand it. And I think, having the luxury of being through it (before), you get it," said Taggart, 3-12 in his 15-game USF tenure after Saturday's 49-17 home loss to N.C. State.

"Everybody has their opinion and how they think, and that's fine. You've got to stay locked into your vision and your plan and what you do. That's the only way you can change it, that's the only way you can make it right."

So Taggart will lead his team from the southwest tunnel of Raymond James Stadium tonight and barge ahead with the same plan he has employed the previous 15 outings: a power run game to set up a West Coast-style passing attack; a speedy, swarming defense whose collective mind isn't muddled with audibles and adjustments; and sound special teams.

All he asks from his dwindling fan base is its support and trust that it eventually will work.

"I have the patience and I have the vision to see it through, and we're going to get there," he said. "And I'm excited about it."

Question is, how long should the patience be reciprocated? How much time should Taggart, who followed a 2-10 debut at Western Kentucky with consecutive seven-win seasons, be given?

What's the basic rule of thumb on a reclamation project?

"Oh, gosh, I don't really have a time frame," said Connecticut first-year coach Bob Diaco, who continues his own rebuilding effort against the Bulls. "I've seen it take as long as five or six years. Seen it go quicker than that, too. I've been on staffs like that and seen situations like that."

Temple second-year coach Matt Rhule, also trying to restore a program that reached a bowl game as recently as 2011, is more direct.

"It depends on how well the guy before you recruited," he said.

Following that line of thought, Taggart — given a five-year, $5.75 million contract two Decembers ago — would seem to warrant a little more slack than most.

• • •

Many Bulls fans can recite the recruiting deficiencies of Taggart's predecessor by rote. None of Skip Holtz's three signing classes even cracked the top 50 of the 247Sports rankings. Moreover, those classes featured only six total signees from the bay area (including Sarasota and Manatee counties).

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"I remember Urban Meyer talking and saying … he always followed guys he knew had recruited at a high level," Rhule said.

"He made sure he went places … that had the talent and discipline and structure. A cool offense and you're up and running. Sometimes you go into places where you're just down talent-wise. If that's the case, it's going to take you three or four years to get those pieces on the field, where they're old enough and mature enough."

Out of pure necessity, Taggart launched his youth movement before his campus parking permit was ratified. Seventeen true freshmen have appeared in a game during his 15-contest tenure, with nine starting.

"You're going to have some bumps and some stumbling blocks along the way," Taggart said. "Bringing that program back, that's going to happen. We're playing a lot of young guys, and then some of the older guys that you're counting on for the leadership (i.e., injured receiver Andre Davis), they're not playing for you right now."

Diaco, however, suggests a proliferation of rookies alone shouldn't absolve any coaching staff. Even if wins don't immediately surface, noticeable progress should.

Whether USF has shown any in the Taggart era is debatable.

• • •

The Bulls enter tonight's game with no victory against a Division I-A opponent in more than 11 months. In the wake of freshman Marlon Mack's 275-yard effort in a season-opening win against I-AA Western Carolina, the Bulls have totaled 172 rushing yards in two contests. The veteran offensive line, hyped as bulkier and stronger in the preseason, has been outmuscled the past two games, during which USF has allowed five sacks.

And the mercurial defense, which forced six turnovers against Maryland, gave up wads of yardage to WCU (454) and N.C. State (589). Perhaps the most visible sign of improvement is in penalties. USF, the most-flagged team in the American Athletic Conference last season (102 infractions), has allowed the second-fewest penalty yards in the league (39 per game) to this point.

"When you go out and look worse and worse, it's hard to keep the (fan base) energized," Diaco said. "You go out and you look better and better and keep moving forward … and they can see it, they can sink their teeth into it and say, 'Yeah, we're getting better and it's just a matter of time.'

"There can be some small victories there along the way until you get some big, big victories."

Small or large, be it on the scoreboard or at least the eye test, USF needs a victory. Something to indicate the process is working, that patience is being rewarded.

"I think most folks don't understand what we're doing and what we're trying to rebuild … and how we're trying to rebuild it. All they understand and know is what we've done in the past, and they want to get back there as fast as possible," Taggart said.

"But I don't think this is just a quick-fix thing. You've got to fix it the right way and build it the right way, and I think we're doing that."