Oregon LB says Willie Taggart 'lied straight to my dad's face' about FSU

Nick Bromberg
·College football and motorsports writer

Former Oregon and new Florida State coach Willie Taggart said Wednesday he first heard from the Seminoles on Thursday.

That was five days before Taggart agreed to terms to be Florida State’s new coach. And during that time, Taggart was out recruiting on behalf of Oregon while responding to inquiries about his status with the Ducks next season by asking why he wouldn’t be the team’s coach in 2018.

Oregon linebacker Troy Dye portrays his former head coach Willie Taggart as a liar. (AP)
Oregon linebacker Troy Dye portrays his former head coach Willie Taggart as a liar. (AP)

Taggart emerged as FSU’s top choice after coach Jimbo Fisher left for Texas A&M last week. Fisher’s resignation was official on Friday – so much like Oregon wasn’t blindsided by Taggart’s departure, FSU wasn’t stunned by Fisher’s.

After Taggart said publicly that he was contacted by FSU over the weekend, Oregon linebacker Troy Dye said Taggart lied “straight” to his dad’s face.

Dye’s brother Travis is a three-star recruit in the class of 2018 and verbally committed to Oregon and Taggart.

Oregon players aren’t the only ones who felt mislead by a coach leaving this week. When Missouri offensive coordinator Josh Heupel was announced as Central Florida’s new head coach, a few Mizzou players certainly seemed surprised on Twitter.

Unfortunately, misdirections and half-truths are part of the game in football recruiting and contract discussions. That doesn’t make it acceptable, of course, but there’s also not an easy solution to prevent it. Perhaps letting players switch schools as easily as coaches would help.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!