Is Willie Taggart worth $7.5 million annually, the same amount Jimbo Fisher will haul during his tenure at Texas A&M?
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Maybe to Florida State — or at least that's what the current Oregon head coach's agent hopes.
Taggart is the current favorite to land the vacant Florida State job.
Taggart is currently at -175 (4/7) at the sportsbook BetOnline to get the job. The only other coach currently under +1000 (10/1) is Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente, who is at +600 (6/1). Perhaps to little surprise, Taggart and Fuente were the first two connected with the Florida State job after it was officially announced by Florida State that Fisher had resigned.
Taggart might be the best possible candidate for the Seminoles, as he has proven his clout at South Florida and even so far in his one year at Oregon. Taggart also has experience recruiting the area, and at 41, he would be an injection of (relative) youth that could help a Florida State program that could use it after a dreadful year in 2017.
Taggart has a 47-50 career record as a head coach, which is really only a testament to the jobs that he's done at South Florida and Western Kentucky prior to that. Both of those teams were 2-10 in Taggart's first season, but Taggart turned each program around, which includes his 10-2 record in his last year at South Florida before jumping to Oregon.
Fisher's connection to Texas A&M comes in the form of Scott Woodward, who knows Fisher from their days at LSU. Fisher was at LSU between 2000 and 2006, coaching under Nick Saban and Les Miles.
The A&M job was open after the firing of Kevin Sumlin. Sumlin was 51-26 in his career at Texas A&M, but the administration had grown tired of Sumlin after his apparent failures to build upon the 11-2 record in his first season at the school.
Fisher was 83-23 in his eight seasons in Tallahassee, including one national title that he won with Jameis Winston in 2013.
