Oregon Football: 5 reasons why Willie Taggart is the answer, long-term
3. Fresh eyes
Taggart comes into Eugene with a fresh set of eyes. Helfrich served as offensive coordinator for four seasons before his promotion to head coach. Chip Kelly spent two seasons as the program’s offensive coordinator before a four-year stint as head coach. Mike Bellotti spent five seasons as the Ducks’ OC before steadily rising through the athletic department ranks.
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The former South Florida coach joins the program having no previous affiliation with the program other than as an opponent. Also, he has previous head coaching experience, unlike Helfrich, and he has a history of turning around programs (more on that later).
Moreover, he came in and hired the most coveted coordinator in the conference in Jim Leavitt, fresh off an outstanding campaign as defensive coordinator at Colorado.
He also brought in Mario Cristobal from Alabama to be the Ducks co-offensive coordinator. His co-offensive coordinator is former Cal and NFL offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo, someone with familiarity in the Pac-12 who can also sell recruits on knowing what it takes to get to the NFL.