UCLA’s loss is USF head coach Willie Taggart’s gain
Written by Ryan Wright
South Florida head coach Willie Taggart has gained a reputation for being a tough as nails head coach with a high football IQ. He turned around a downtrodden Western Kentucky program and on December 9, 2012 was hired to do the same thing with the Bulls football program.
The rebuilding process is underway in Tampa. After a 2-10 record in his first season at Western Kentucky Taggart posted back-to-back 7-5 seasons. His first season at USF was a 2-10 season which was expected but 2014 was not the big leap forward many had hoped to see. The Bulls finished 4-8 but help maybe on the way. On June 28 former UCLA 4-star recruit Asiantii Woulard announced he was transferring to USF.
Woulard, 6’3”, 210 pound, is a true dual-threat athlete that can help turn the fortunes around for Taggart and company in Tampa. The former Winter Park 4-star recruit was pushing 20 scholarship offers as part of the 2013 recruiting class before committing to UCLA. Duke, Maryland, Ole Miss, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Boston College, Cincinnati, and USF all vied for his skill set.
The Bruins now have a logjam under center starting with junior Jerry Neuheisel and early enrolled 5-star gunslinger Josh Rosen, the future of the Bruins program. Seeing the writing on the wall Woulard opted to head back towards home landing with USF.
In 2014 the Bulls did not get great production from the quarterback position in the passing game. Mike White took the majority of the snaps completing 50.4 percent of his passes for 1,639 yards with 8 touchdowns against 7 picks. Steven Bench completed just 49 percent of his passes for another 611 yards with 3 scores against 2 interceptions.
Woulard did not get to see the field for the Bruins in 2014 playing behind star quarterback Brett Hundley and Neuheisel but did show off his arm and athletic ability during practices and spring ball. The addition of the sophomore, who will have to sit out a year due to NCAA transfer rules, is a building block Taggart can recruit against going forward.
After a year going through practices with USF, look for Woulard to make a splash during the 2016 season helping the Bulls regain some of their former glory while adding to the rebuilding resume Taggart has earned thus far.
Photo credit: dailybruin.com; No. 2 Asiantii Woulard.