illinoisowl said

I listened to the post game interview. Taggart said many things need improving. He seemed shocked to see the shortcomings he mentioned. It just surprises me that he can’t see these things in practice. Schnellenberger did. I remember a few years during the 2000s Schnellenberger being matter of fact about the performance of the team based on spring camp, summer camp. He knew what he was dealing with. He was fairly blunt, when interviewed, about the team not performing to the level they needed to be competitive. In those days Schnellenberger was working with two star and less recruits. Many no star. 

Posted On: Nov 21st 2021, 1:22 PM #405358

Good post.

I think Taggart probably sees the raw talent on display in practice and just can't understand why it doesn't translate come Saturday. I agree, Schnellenberger was working with a lot less talent, and based on his experiences with Miami, Louisville, and Oklahoma, he was quick to point out the weaknesses he saw in practice. He knew however that he had to coach them up and make up for a clear deficit in raw talent. Seems like Taggart is missing this component. He knows how to recruit and he obviously has a knowledge of the game and probably decent Xs and Os guy, but just does not know how to get the most out of the talent on game day. I also wonder if he has trouble getting respect and instilling discipline. Schnellenberger was old school and like it or not, he found a way to make the young guys respect him and perform with discipline.

GO OWLS!!!

I think the loss that hurt us more than any other was Old Dominion. I think Western Kentucky and Marshall were out of reach this year.
We gave away Old Dominion, they were not that good of a team. If we had beaten ODU and were sitting at 6-5 we would be grumbling but the venom would be a lot less.

The special teams coach needs to go. The onside kick is something you need to be ready for by the end of freshman year.
The O-line coach needed to be gone already. Our qb seems to be shell shocked by getting sacked 6 times in a game.
Im glad the receivers coach has been fired. The desperate long bombs need to stop. A long bomb should be a tool to exploit an off guard defense like we did against Charlotte not the only tool in the box.

People keep dumping on Charlie Partridge, if we had a better DC in 2016 we would have been a 7-5 team that year.

Back to 2021. Mike Stoops imo is doing a good job so far , WKU is the only the time this season any team has managed to put more than 31 points against us.

Now going to back to Schnelly for a moment, his last 2-3 years angelos cut off the money. He didnt have the money retain people like Jeff Brohm. Jeff Brohm should have been the one cultivated as a potential successor.

I still think he gets one more year regardless of how this season ends but this next game and the bowl game, if we get there, will determine the length of the leash. I really hope we move on from N’Kosi and Tronti as well. If MJJ is as good as advertised, he should be playing next year. Also, one thing I’ll say about Charlie Partridge, for his lack of on the field coaching, he was building the program the right way and Lane was definitely a beneficiary of that. Solid class of high school kids coming in and taking ownership of the program not these one and done transfer portal guys that don’t work out half of the time.

I have zero insight or knowledge of this but I get the feeling WT plays favorites and sticks with those favorites….which obviously is a bad thing.

Go Owls!

I believe Taggart will get another year but he doesn’t deserve it.  We have regressed badly to the point that we can’t get the fundamentals down correctly.  The ship sunk from the UAB game as we let that game get out of our hands.  This is on Brian White,  this is his hire and it may hurt us more in the long run.  You hired a coach who has a bad track record of leaving programs and never had many successful winning seasons let alone bowl wins. 

You are better off getting a young coach that is gaining experience and cares about the school.  The Partridge hire is the biggest what if in our programs history. He started from the foundation,  guys like Lane and Taggart want ready made gigs. Charlie in theory beside Howard was our best program builder and Lane our best coach.  

Taggart is that one hit wonder song from the 80’s that plays in five bars.  Quinten Flowers got him that Oregon and FSU job.  Brian White should be accountable for this dumb hire. Soon he won’t care as he is looking for a bigger gig. Once again find an unknown gem of a coach that wants to stay, we need strong leadership to enter the American.

Appreciate this conversation…the non factual stuff (fired, trash, garbage, pathetic, etc) that is driven by frustration and our collective desire to succeed/win is OK once in a while but seems to fill up the game day threads as of late.

Guess that is to be expected, and is understood, but still.

Anyways…



Disclaimer, I like Perry, and think that he has a good head on his shoulders. He's a great leader from the pure sense of staying away from the negative public distractions, while continuing to focus on self improvement with a genuine desire to help the team progress. All while being a model in that sense. We need that.

That said, the way I see it from a historical vantage point, we signed up for a progression risk at QB. The staff might have thought that he would make headway in skill development - particularly in accuracy - and while everyone might have prematurely seen him as the second coming of Robison, it hasn't been realized as he has not shown it from a numbers perspective. Neither here, in high school (59%) or at the former UM stop (52%).

He's done here what he's done there, which is have some games that are spectacular, then others that are an area of continued opportunity.

Not blaming him for anything here though, because in all reality the Marshall game saw three dimes mishandled by the WR's - which can legitimately shift responsibility away from him for that contest. The offensive line is another.

That said, aside from one great game, he has not met the challenge to become a consistent threat. It is worth noting that he has improved here at FAU in the NCAA ranks, but the current number sits at 59.9% as of now. Also of note, he's increased his percentage every year he has played in college. But he has not hit what seems to be a "magical number" of 65% completion percentage given the standings across the nation at large and what other QB's are doing.

Every single team in the east with FIU and Old Dominion aside have a better catch percentage. The two we were in title hopes against (WKU, and Marshall) are leading the way. What does that say overall? In the west it is the same with UTSA above all others.

If you were to simply see an increase of 5% increase in efficiency, that would mean 17 more catches, and hundreds of extra yards gained by the offense with some plays having resulted in more points in all likelihood.

No, the offensive line does not allow him that opportunity on a consistent basis to be honest, so there is a collective need/gap there.

Guess what I am saying is that while recognizing that the play calling has not necessarily been the most "creative" offering, there are three things that have substantially contributed to our record this season:

1. Offensive line protection
2. Throwing accuracy in the mid range game
3. Receiver performance at critical times

Yes, Taggart is ultimately responsible for all of this. So is it technically on him? Yes. But he isn't throwing the ball, he isn't catching it, and he isn't blocking for the quarterback. Again, yes he is ultimately responsible.

If you iron out the above, you have a much more commanding position in the game, and don't need special team's play as much, which has been an issue as of late as well.

Will also say that I truly believe that the team is now stressed out and experiencing a bit of a "panic" mode, and when a significant bad play arises, or a couple things go wrong, it seems like they all "catch the bug" and it spreads. Most of these guys are used to winning.

Bottom line, if I were Coach Taggart, would look to continue to make/enable/promote change that directly affects:

1. Offensive line play
2. Quarterback play
3. WR play
4. TE utilization *

He's already promoted change for #3, so that is yet be be determined from an evaluation standpoint. But in all reality if #1 isn't realized none of them will be.

*There was talk about 12 personnel (two TE sets) prior to the season and so far that has basically been non existent. Paden has 90 yards with 10 YPC. Luft is not used at all. Maybe there is a reason for that, but they sprinkled him in at Fullerton CC to the tune of 24 YPC. Not sure of the blocking capability as no ne could see what was done at camp aside from individual drill portions of practice and still to this day. Paden is solid in blocking.

Bottom line:

Highly doubt we make a move to replace Taggart now, or at season's end.

The numbers don't align. That said, if the above areas are addressed, or not, there will be a change. What that change will be will likely be completely dependent on the win column result in 2022.

Rick said

Appreciate this conversation…the non factual stuff (fired, trash, garbage, pathetic, etc) that is driven by frustration and our collective desire to succeed/win is OK once in a while but seems to fill up the game day threads as of late.

Guess that is to be expected, and is understood, but still.

Anyways…



Disclaimer, I like Perry, and think that he has a good head on his shoulders. He's a great leader from the pure sense of staying away from the negative public distractions, while continuing to focus on self improvement with a genuine desire to help the team progress. All while being a model in that sense. We need that.

That said, the way I see it from a historical vantage point, we signed up for a progression risk at QB. The staff might have thought that he would make headway in skill development - particularly in accuracy - and while everyone might have prematurely seen him as the second coming of Robison, it hasn't been realized as he has not shown it from a numbers perspective. Neither here, in high school (59%) or at the former UM stop (52%).

He's done here what he's done there, which is have some games that are spectacular, then others that are an area of continued opportunity.

Not blaming him for anything here though, because in all reality the Marshall game saw three dimes mishandled by the WR's - which can legitimately shift responsibility away from him for that contest. The offensive line is another.

That said, aside from one great game, he has not met the challenge to become a consistent threat. It is worth noting that he has improved here at FAU in the NCAA ranks, but the current number sits at 59.9% as of now. Also of note, he's increased his percentage every year he has played in college. But he has not hit what seems to be a "magical number" of 65% completion percentage given the standings across the nation at large and what other QB's are doing.

Every single team in the east with FIU and Old Dominion aside have a better catch percentage. The two we were in title hopes against (WKU, and Marshall) are leading the way. What does that say overall? In the west it is the same with UTSA above all others.

If you were to simply see an increase of 5% increase in efficiency, that would mean 17 more catches, and hundreds of extra yards gained by the offense with some plays having resulted in more points in all likelihood.

No, the offensive line does not allow him that opportunity on a consistent basis to be honest, so there is a collective need/gap there.

Guess what I am saying is that while recognizing that the play calling has not necessarily been the most "creative" offering, there are three things that have substantially contributed to our record this season:

1. Offensive line protection
2. Throwing accuracy in the mid range game
3. Receiver performance at critical times

Yes, Taggart is ultimately responsible for all of this. So is it technically on him? Yes. But he isn't throwing the ball, he isn't catching it, and he isn't blocking for the quarterback. Again, yes he is ultimately responsible.

If you iron out the above, you have a much more commanding position in the game, and don't need special team's play as much, which has been an issue as of late as well.

Will also say that I truly believe that the team is now stressed out and experiencing a bit of a "panic" mode, and when a significant bad play arises, or a couple things go wrong, it seems like they all "catch the bug" and it spreads. Most of these guys are used to winning.

Bottom line, if I were Coach Taggart, would look to continue to make/enable/promote change that directly affects:

1. Offensive line play
2. Quarterback play
3. WR play
4. TE utilization *

He's already promoted change for #3, so that is yet be be determined from an evaluation standpoint. But in all reality if #1 isn't realized none of them will be.

*There was talk about 12 personnel (two TE sets) prior to the season and so far that has basically been non existent. Paden has 90 yards with 10 YPC. Luft is not used at all. Maybe there is a reason for that, but they sprinkled him in at Fullerton CC to the tune of 24 YPC. Not sure of the blocking capability as no ne could see what was done at camp aside from individual drill portions of practice and still to this day. Paden is solid in blocking.

Bottom line:

Highly doubt we make a move to replace Taggart now, or at season's end.

The numbers don't align. That said, if the above areas are addressed, or not, there will be a change. What that change will be will likely be completely dependent on the win column result in 2022.

Posted On: Nov 21st 2021, 11:01 PM #405368

Well said Rick!

Rick, that is an excellent analysis and agree 100%

Nice post Rick.

This season is 90% 2018 and 10% 2016.

There is a take, that is largely unwarranted that Lane won the 2019 CUSA championship and left a roster with a bunch of NFL draft picks on it.

I think we have all come to realize, that simply is not the case.  The case has been shown that Lane actually inherited what is probably the most talent in a 3 year span of any CUSA team.  Crazy looking at how many of those guys are still in the league and performing (Thank you Charlie).

The holes are what you said they are, OL WR QB….and even RB.  We simply dont have a guy who can consistently run for 3-4 yards when needed.

I would also mix in our DL and ability to get to QB.  Or any pressure whatsoever.  

Willie is ultimately responsible.

Willie was also 2-10 and 4-8 at USF his first 2 years.  Things didn't stay that way.  Something to keep in mind.

Feel like this is an import note to add into the conversation.

Coach Taggart said that he has not met with university officials since the loss, but he has talked to AD Brian White. Although, Taggart and White talk "almost every day."

#FAU Head Coach Willie Taggart says that the university administration still has confidence in his leadership despite the Owls' 5-6 record and 52-17 loss at #WKU.@BruceFeldmanCFB @Brett_McMurphy @DanWolken @NicoleAuerbach @ChrisVannini pic.twitter.com/ePrV3ZmJIq

— FAU Owl's Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) November 22, 2021