Failed CFB coach Willie Taggart joins Ravens staff

Willie Taggart can be considered a longtime college football head coach because he has 13 years under his belt in that role for multiple programs.

To call Taggart a successful college head coach, though? Well, that would be a stretch. Either way and no matter your thoughts on his tenures at Western Kentucky, South Florida, Oregon, Florida State and Florida Atlantic, Taggart is now going to try his hand in the NFL.

He won't be a head coach — not even close — but the Baltimore Ravens have announced that Taggart will be the team's new running backs coach.

"We are excited to welcome Willie to the Ravens as our running backs coach," head coach John Harbaugh stated in a release. "Willie has been a highly successful and respected college assistant and head coach. He has a proven track record for developing players as a position coach, as an offensive coordinator and as a head coach. A leader and a highly effective motivator, Willie's reputation for building strong relationships with his players and fellow coaches will serve our offense well moving forward."

Harbaugh is, of course, putting a bit of a spin on Taggart's resume. While he may be a stellar positional coach, recruiter or coordinator, only his 2016 season at South Florida — when the team went 10-2 — could be used as evidence that Taggart is a good head coach.

That 10-2 season got him the job at Oregon, where he stayed only one season and went 7-5 before skipping town and going to Florida State. He was expected to do a bang-up job of replacing Jimbo Fisher in Tallahassee, but he instead went 9-12 in two seasons, and FSU ended his tenure after only 21 games.

Taggart tried to rebound at Florida Atlantic but never had a winning season. He was fired after three seasons with a 15-18 overall record. 

Once thought of as a young up-and-comer in the college ranks, Taggart failed at basically every turn. That's not to say he won't be a good positional coach for Harbaugh and the Ravens, but he's certainly not a hire worth writing home over.