Willie Taggart

Head coach, Florida Atlantic, 2020 to 2022
Before: Florida State

Now

Career arc

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerFBS medianWestern KentuckySouth FloridaOregonFlorida StateFlorida AtlanticMiddle TennesseeMiddle TennesseeUCFUCFDynastythe sport's summitBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelWestern Kentucky when he took over: 11.0 (Regional Program IV), its final 2009 readingtook overWestern Kentucky, 2010: 2-10, Regional Program IVWestern Kentucky, 2010: 2-10, Regional Program IV20102-10Western Kentucky, 2011: 7-5, Regional Program IV20117-5Western Kentucky, 2012: 7-5, Regional Program IVWestern Kentucky, 2012: 7-5, Regional Program IV20127-5+1.6South Florida when he took over: 30.7 (National Program II), its final 2012 readingtook overSouth Florida, 2013: 2-10, National Program IIISouth Florida, 2013: 2-10, National Program III20132-10South Florida, 2014: 4-8, Regional Program I20144-8South Florida, 2015: 8-5, National Program III20158-5South Florida, 2016: 10-2, National Program IIISouth Florida, 2016: 10-2, National Program III201610-20.0Oregon when he took over: 66.0 (Power Program I), its final 2016 readingtook overOregon, 2017: 7-5, Power Program IOregon, 2017: 7-5, Power Program I20177-5-3.1Florida State when he took over: 71.1 (Blue Blood), its final 2017 readingtook overFlorida State, 2018: 5-7, Blue BloodFlorida State, 2018: 5-7, Blue Blood20185-7Florida State, 2019: 4-5, Blue BloodFlorida State, 2019: 4-5, Blue Blood20194-5-3.8Florida Atlantic when he took over: 24.2 (Regional Program I), its final 2019 readingtook overFlorida Atlantic, 2020: 5-4, Regional Program IIFlorida Atlantic, 2020: 5-4, Regional Program II20205-4Florida Atlantic, 2021: 5-7, Regional Program II20215-7Florida Atlantic, 2022: 5-7, Regional Program IIFlorida Atlantic, 2022: 5-7, Regional Program II20225-7-3.5best: 2018gray dashed: rival programs · ○ the program when he took over · Dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Bowls and playoffs: 0-2

South Florida2015Miami Beach BowlL 35-45Florida Atlantic2020Montgomery BowlL 10-25

Report card

Below the median on both sides of the ball — 47th percentile offense, 48th percentile defense.

Florida Atlantic, every completed season graded against the whole field, then averaged.

Offense

C+
of which —47th
efficiency — 47th percentile success rate, 2020–22
C41st
Standard-downs success
B62nd
Passing-downs success
B-59th
Trench push (line yards)
D26th
Red-zone scoring rate
C+48th
Power-success (short yardage)
B-57th
Ball security (giveaways per game)

Defense

C+
of which —48th
48th percentile SP+ defense, 2020–22
B-58th
Front-7 havoc
B+72nd
Secondary havoc
B-58th
Stuff rate (run defense)
B-59th
Takeaways per game

Each season is his team’s percentile among every team with that stat (the share it beat), averaged over his completed seasons here; a mid-season takeover year and the season in progress aren’t graded. Letters: A+ 90th percentile and up, A 80, B+ 70, B 60, B− 50, C+ 45, C 40, C− 30, D 15, F below.