All right, hello and welcome.
This is what we call on the solid verbal, a bit of an emergent pod in case you're listening, in case you're unaware of why we're doing a show on a Tuesday evening. No, it's not in lieu of any show on a Wednesday evening. It's because we've got major breaking news. I can play the sound later, but we should talk about what's transpired in the world of college football. The big news of the day, Dan, your boy Willie Taggert leaving Oregon after a seven and five season only
three hundred and sixty one days on the job. He has, in fact decided to return to his home state of Florida and take over at Florida State.
How are you feeling? A lot of things? Ty, are going going through my tiny little noodle. I feel okay. I feel there's a part of me because this has been in the works for a few days. It seems right. So I've been able to process things in the college football part of my brain. I think pretty well and sort of compartmentalize what I think of his extraordinary, extraordinarily short tenure in Eugene and what Oregon can and should
do moving forward. And just the sort of bigger picture, like how I would have looked at something like this happening had I not been an Oregon fan.
Sure.
Sure, we sort of looked at with Lane Kiffin and Tennessee leaving a really big program to go to the quote dream job. Yeah, the dream jan Sure, the short idea of Todd Graham going to pit for a year and leaving for Arizona State in a very short amount of time, and so like thinking about how I looked at those instances and now sort of making peace with it happening at my school. It's been interesting.
It's well, look, it's not a surprise, right, because we've heard rumors about this. This stems back to gosh, this goes back even before the Jimbo Fisher rumors. But Jimbo Fisher, this is sort of what brought it all on. Right, if he's still at Florida State, there's not an opening in Tallahassee. Jimbo Fisher was rumored to be interested in A and M. That's when we started hearing rumblings about, well, if in fact Jimbo leaves and takes some deal, maybe not as big as the one he took in college
station which direction would Florida State look. The obvious answer that everyone seemed to gravitate towards was Willie Taggert. He's a Florida guy. He's done wonders at Western Kentucky at USF, He's familiar with the area. He seems like a natural fit for Florida State. If the position is open, perhaps that's the direction they would look.
Now.
The one hurdle, at least logically, that seemed to stand in the way of that was the fact that he just got to Oregon and he was doing well at Oregon. He's a good coach, and though he's got a forty seven and fifty record as a head football coach, he is regarded around the college football ether as someone who could turn to turn things around quickly.
Now here we are, the news has broken.
Despite the fact that Willie tagger tweeted out late on I Guess Saturday night now that he was looking forward to getting back out there on the road and building towards twenty eighteen as an Oregon duck lo and behold, it's broken that he is going to jump back to Florida.
He is going to take that Florida State job and a big part of the reason why we're doing this show, Dan is because even though we cover college football, we are fans at heart as well, and so I'm hoping that we can use however long this goes to not only help you process, but maybe a bit of a cathartic experience for you. We're going to have Jeff Schwartz on yeah a little bit. I know he's your texting buddy during some of these Oregon football games. We're going
to get his response as well. So yeah, let's just
use the space however we see fit. I care first and foremost about you, though, Daniel, I really think you, so I would back up to the start of this just in terms of how I'm thinking about it, because Willie Taggart came in with the reputation of a rebuilder, a restructurer, a reinvigorator, a recruiter, so all the res and so under the guise of that, he came into Oregon immediately filled out a recruiting class that was sort of decimated after Mark Helfrich was fired with kids from Florida,
but also had and here's one of the things I think when you're a little bit angry and sad that your coach has left for another job.
What looks to be a better job is that you maybe tend to gloss over the parts you didn't like and just think about the recruiting and how good Oregon looked when Justin Herbert was healthy and the general hope that Oregon had that they were back on their path to success. But the fact is when he arrived it was pretty rocky. His co offensive coordinator got a DUI pretty quickly into his time in Eugene and was let go.
They lost another assistant who I think was also in that car to UCLA, and that was sort of I think he was sort of pushed out and then he had the rabdo thing with his strength coach, and that sort of poorly reflected it was. It was rocky at the beginning, wasn't it. It was rocky? Yeah, And he he as a figurehead, looked very raw dealing with public perception he had. You know, he got into the fight
with Andrew Griefe. I think is how he has his last name, I always forget, the Oregonian beat writer, and he was saying I'm not going to talk to him anymore. He was It was a very raw beginning to his tenure, and that was a little unusual considering he had been a head coach before at USF and Western Kentucky and then hired super well. You know, that's sort of highlighted by Mario Christoval and Jim Levitt, who did a great job. Spring was fine. You know inherits a very promising young
quarterback in justin Herbert summer. You know, recruiting is you know, you have excitement around Oregon, which is sort of how the program is structured that you have certain programs, you you know, Michigan, Notre Dame, Alabama who can sell tradition and this is what you know, these legends did at our program throughout the century of college football. And you go other places and it's like, here's the blue collar
we have a lunch box on our sideline. Like Oregon marketed itself wisely so as sort of an outsider, as exciting and fresh and flashy whatever. And so Willie Taggart as a younger guy, somebody who's very active on social media, somebody who recruited very well, and there were hashtags, there
were all sorts of pictures of him. I don't know if you ever saw those pictures of him holding up like half an O with one hand and a recruit holding up you know, half an O with the other hand, and they put it together in some sort of like Captain Planety type way. Yeah, but there were there were those things, you know, there were there. They were just very active in ways that you know, Mark Helfrich and Chip Kelly and Mike Bolatti certainly were not and that
was great that. I think that was a refreshing thing for Oregon. So there is this sense that he is somebody who himself is excited about about being in Eugene and excited about building something towards the future. And when he leaves, you're sort of left with the like, we get it, but you feel a little bit played and how much of it was and he was doing it while negotiating or his agent was negotiating with Florida State, so it leaves you a little chapped, right.
Well, there are so many Tailor Swift songs that we could apply to this. I think it goes without saying, and you can bring up a picture. I know it's a little bit off topic, but my favorite subplot in this whole Willy Taggart drama has been the constant reuse of a non Willy Taggart photo that apparently was mislabeled.
Oh yeah, Michael Johnson, the wide receivers coach. That's been my favorite subplot. But you're right, and look, here's the thing.
I haven't been there recently, but lord knows, we've covered plenty of these coaching searches and plenty of fan bases. In their reaction to these coaching searches, people tend to go a little bit out of their gourd because, yeah, there is this natural score, and there is this natural feeling of oh, we got play.
I guess where I go next.
Just as someone who maybe doesn't have a skin in this game, but I think where a lot of fans would go when a coach leaves to go to another position is, oh my god, are we now a stepping stone job?
Right?
Okay, Oregon's done a really good job in the last decade building up that football program. But whenever you have a situation where a guy goes elsewhere to no doubt, a more traditional power in Florida State, I think that's a question that deep down, as a fan, you're asking yourself, is that something that you've thought.
Of sort of not necessarily in the context of just the clean and cut stepping stone thing, but thinking about the challenges of succeeding at a place like Oregon that is far away from and even though the recruiting has gotten better, the talent has gotten better in the Pacific Northwest. One of the other issues is it's not necessarily always
the playing talent, but it's the coaching talent. And you can attract coaches to the West Coast, I think in the short term if they're not from the West Coast, so if they're from the Midwest, from the south. I mean, Chip Kelly was unique because from the Northeast, and so there wasn't necessarily a tie to a major college football
region because that upper part of the Northeast. You know, he's from New Hampshire, so like Vermont and Maine, and you know, apologies to Connecticut and New York, but they're not they're not hotbeds. They're not I have to return home and play in front of the adoring college football masses. So that was that seems like an exception. And so Mike Bollati is from I believe he's from California. Chris
Peterson's from the West coast, Clay Helton is not. And you know, certainly now Chip Kelly has football routes on the West coast at UCLA, and rich Rod is not. But you know, came to Arizona on the sort of descending part of his star after Michigan, and I don't even know what to make of herm Edwards, So I'm not even gonna But like Kyle Whittingsham is local to Utah, So in bringing somebody like Willie Taggart across the country, even with his couple of years at Stanford, is a
pretty calculated risk. So I don't think Oregon is a stepping stone job. But I think Oregon is a very good job, made very good by a very good specific coach. And I don't think it stands alone like Notre Dame, Michigan, Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Florida, Miami. You know what I'm saying that it doesn't necessarily you can't say Oregon is a special job for anybody because it's still far away from where
a lot of coaches come from. And I was thinking about and I went through all the Power five schools, like how many West people that grew up on the West Coast have gone east or to the south or midwest whatever to a big job actively currently and it's basically just Derek Mason at Vanderbilt, which not a big job. Apologies to the Doors and Tom Herman to Texas and that's it, right, yeah, right, And so that's just a challenge.
I love the West Coast. I wish everybody loved the West Coast and had to have the ability to spend time there. But it is, you know, I hate the phrase, but that is what that is. So it's it's not a stepping stone job job, but it is a tricky job made great by the correct, great candidate coach. That's that's how I sort of feel about it, if that makes sense. Here's what I want you to do.
Yeah, I want you to remove the I guess normal guardrails that you and I put up when we do a podcast where we're familiar, intimately familiar with the fact that we've got different makes and models of fans listening to our show.
I just want you to be an Oregon fan now. And I want you to vent. Yeah, I want you to vent.
I want you to talk to me like you talk to people on text message. I want I want, I want the pure raw nerve here to come through, because again we are fans like this happens to our teams too. Just because it hasn't happened to Notre Dame doesn't mean it won't happen soon.
Well, you've had Notre Dame emotions. I mean you've had emotions, but bad extensions, not in the coaching realm, and not recently. Not to say recently, but I mean I can bring up Charlie Weiss, I can bring up Ty Whittingham, I can bring up Bob Davey, and I think there's still open wounds there.
Let me pull a Mark McGuire man. I'm not here to talk about the past. I'm here to talk about this. Let's talk organ What do.
You want to talk about?
I want you to be raw and unfettered here.
So my general opinion is Oregon needs to hire somebody who fits. Doesn't have to be the Willie Mold in terms of being young and you know, crazy on social media and bringing in a top three, five seven class or whatever. But the Prospect and our pal Bruce Feldman tweeted this out of bringing in Jim McElwain or Mike Leach or I saw Jeff Hedford, all of them who have done good, interesting things relatively recently at schools of
varying size. That's fine. But to me, if you are going to project yourself in that way Oregon, in Oregon's way, you have to bring in somebody or you know, maintain a relationship with somebody like Mario Cristobal that I think I'd be okay with, you know, Kevin, someone is out there and it doesn't excite me in a way that you know, it's it's impossible because like I'm still deeply in love with the Chip Kelly era and I can't tell you I'm not. So I need to be convinced, ty,
I need to be wowed. I need to be showed the love that I want to that I want to feel. And it's just a girl in the world. He needs one, just a girl in the world. So No, here's honestly what I think is, Oregon needs to spend money. They
need to give money to a head coach. They need to open the coffers for the assistant pool and they somehow and you know, the Oregon had the advance, all the advantages in the world in terms of continuity before and having you know, Mike Bloody and his staff, and that carried over with Chip Kelly and Mark Helfrich and they could sort of break about that, they could recruit to the fact that these guys aren't leaving, and now they've regressed to the mean they you know, having three
head coaches. I suppose in a year right with uh with with hell Fritch, Taggart and whoever is going to come in or stay in Eugene. That's rough. You're gonna lose guys, and that sucks, and that sucks for and I honestly like the like people tweeting, man, how do you fault Mark? How do you excuse me? How do you fault Willy Taggart for going home? How do you fault to the job has only come open once in forty years. He's gonna make five million dollars to coach football. Like,
let's not. I don't have Willy Taggart on my fantasy Happy four team. Like there are there are guys getting their heads bashed in because Willy Taggart told them to fly from Florida to Oregon to play for him. Oregon's very different from Florida, and so it sucks and I
I have a lot of shortcomings. And when I think about it like that, like when I look back at how I felt about lanekiff and leaving Tennessee or Todd Graham leaving Pitt, I don't think we and I can only speak to myself spend enough time saying, Man, that sucks for those dudes on that team who wanted to play for Todd Grammer Lane Kiffin. That sucks that they're just left in the lurch again twice in a year. So that's what like to me, It's like, man, Willy Taggert abandoned a lot of dudes.
I'm not an Oregon fan. I'm a college football fan. If my team ended up hiring Jeff Tedford, even though he's done a really good job at Fresno, yeah, I'd put my hand through the wall in front of course, I go right through. That just does not have the sex appeal. Mario Cristoball is a good coach. By all County's a good coach. He's the interim coach now for this Las Vegas ball that Oregan's got coming up against Boise Mary. Christoball doesn't have the sex appeal of a
Willy Taggert. Might be a good hire, might end up working out if he's the guy, but you can't help but feel a little underwhelmed if he's the guy who's named you.
Know, Christaball was let go, and you know, some people look at, you know, the relationship that Christaball had with the ad and said that, like Chrystaball is unfairly marred by the experience of what happened at FIU. I'm at the point where I just want to be able to look at the Willy Taggart era for what it was and then figure out what's best moving forward, because obviously
what I think is so important. But no, I mean, at the same time of all of this, of being let down by you know, all of the like enthusiasm unknown to mankind and hashtag do something, and like all of these like platitudes that turned out to be very temporary. I would like to see, like Willy Taggart went seven and five, his starting quarterback got hurt, and Oregon was dreadful. They were very bad on offense. They really could not
get it together. They beat Utah, otherwise they were really bad against some pretty average teams in Washington, who is very good most of the time. So I'm not This isn't losing Chip Kelly to Florida State. It's not losing Mike lottyt to UCLA when he interviewed but didn't go. So I want to be very careful about Like Willie Taggart, there was a lot of hope, there was a lot of good that we saw hopefully in the future, but it didn't accomplish a ton. So look, here's what we're gonna do.
We're gonna call your texting buddy, Jeff Schwartz, former Oregon Duck, former offensive lineman in the NFL, and I just want to sit back.
And listen to you too. Really have a few minutes if that's okay, Yeah, Jeff, just let me know what you're thinking right now, what is going through your head.
I'm not that disappointed, considering this is basically the only job what I felt Taggart would lead by a way for it needs to be his dream job. I'm just more upset that Jim Levett might be done cheating and the recruiting class that he's built up he's also probably gonna leave. And I just never felt that organ would be a program to how to coach there one year and now we're another upheaval and I was really excited with the direction of the program. Now I don't know how to feel.
And you never when you were at Oregon, there was never like a major major change. There was an assistant or coordinator swapping out. Chip Kelly came for your for your senior year. But what at this point, when there is like two changes in a year, what is what is it? What do you guess it's like around a program?
Well, you have to start over. And that's why I think they're really going to hire from within, because they don't want to start over again. The cryst of Ball seems like a natural fit at least for now. Maybe he doesn't do well. Maybe he does. But you have to change everything about your program, even me head coach and me, he's just as simple as changing the slogan, right they went from when the they to do something, it's just totally everything. Everything is different. You have to
change teams again, maybe have to recreat differently. In this way, if you hire from within, you don't do very much to change it.
Is that your preference?
I think at this point, I mean the names of the turnout already. Jess, Jeff Hedford pass on that Mike Leach. As much as I love Mike Lynch as far as him in the media and what he says, I don't think he's a sad all I'll ever see Rgan getting to part off with Mike leachester head coach novel. Just I would Memphis, yep, I just I think Wayne Chiffin's probably not gonna be hired by Oregan' a guy that go after. I saw will Cox possibly even well at
Cal this year. But I don't know, really, no really excite me, all right?
And so if if it is Christaball hypothetically, what is it about the makeup up and you've played for a lot a number of offensive line coaches, both college and in the pros, what is there specifically about an offensive line coach when he is an offensive coordinator, when he is a head coach. Is there something specific to that sort of makeup of a coach that either is good or are not so good? For a head coach.
Well as an offensive line coach, at least from schematically, you have to know almost everything. I think people believe that we just have to know the run game and whatnot, But typically you have to know a lot more about the offense than the other posish coaches a wide receiver. Coaches don't know what what the officiat is doing. And this defense is well for almost a semantic point if you like it, as far as just some personality offensive lineman.
And we have to work harder. Yet we are at certain points of our life, you know, we get along with this. Everybody we have that really that that work with attitude and you know, now you might be in the spotlight he's away being a head coach, but you know, spotlight for us is not that big of appeal, and so I having it be a great to keep him on and keep that greasingness, especially offensively. And if Leven leaves, hopefully you know, bring someone in or somebody.
What is your what do you think your lasting opinion will be of Willie Taggart almost spending a year in Eugene, which you know obviously is a special place for you, is a special place for me. But the fact that he does leave after you know, eleven months and change
for a dream job. But also you know, recruited kids from across the country and you know, didn't last a full cycle and really like made a lot of money to coach a huge team like his life would not have been terrible if he didn't take the Florida State job. What is your lasting impression you think?
I think a lot of that depends on where the program goes. If the program takes a nose dog for three years, and I think it'll get a lot of blame for that. If the program continues to go back to where tickets can, then he probably won't be forgardfon anestly because he's only doing like you said, eleven months and maybe the guy that's not the program of new energy and the new life. But if thinking to win,
people won't be upset. But you know, I'm worried about what's going to tank from many years now because we hire a wrong coach. I wasn't sure about Packard at first, but I heard about his attitude and they saw the changes run away. They were maybe this is the program and if so, how we hire someone else and that doesn't happen. There was will Well for a couple of years. I think a lot of fans will rightfully be upset with with Willy for leaving.
Do you think Oregon is a Do you think Oregon is a great job? One of the things I said was Oregon is a great job with a great coach, but the challenges are still such that it's easy to screw up as well.
I'm probably more on the side of it's not a great job. I mean, I think it's a maybe a fifteen to twenty job, maybe less twenty twenty five best job. I'm probably a little bit more skeptical of how great a job is the most organ fans. I think recruiting is very hard. Yeah, because there's no talent in Oregon. There's not much of the talent in Washington, and then you go to California. You have usc L to Kelly Stamford. Stafford's always going to recruve the best office delignment in
the West Coast. Cal's gotten better, so really did a good job of getting kids from other states, and Chips started that as well, getting her from other states come in. But I just think it's a it's a recruiting challenge and a small school city. Now. They love football, and don't get me wrong, I mean Jene loves her football, the cheek the player as well, But I don't think it's a top fifteen jobs.
Final question, what percent chance? Zero to one? Hundred do you give Oregon, you know, the the administration athletic director, whoever the boosters Phil Knight. What percent chance do you give them of hiring somebody great that sort of keeps the upward trajectory and what percent? I guess do you think that like they just bomb this higher the time?
I mean, I mean, I think it's almost it almost fifty fifty. Right, you promoted chip Kelly, but it's fantastic. You know, they've always done a promotion, right, they promoted Balati, they promoted chip Kelly was all great, and promoted health it can go very well a lot of and Taget went well. So if they you know, they don't promote crystal Ball, I think it's fifty. Campon knows well. I think that they'll do it with the right attention. I don't think that the search process will be something that
they don't do thoroughly. So I have faith they'll do a thorough process. But I think every head coaching hire is very unique, and I can't say with certainty they're going to head out a part of me. They might try to get a count of bring aas and those guys might say no. But I got to the coach. They might be a small time guy that you don't think he's good to start out and ends up being great. Might hire a big cat it is not very good. So I think it's really fifty to fifty.
Is your early vote right now? Crystal Ball? Then for continuity, Yeah, unless Chris Peterson wants to come, unless Pete Charlestone with Seattle.
I don't know who else realistically at this point in the year who would be good fit in organ I was Frost too, but you got a job in nebraskyar fair.
All right, Jeff, thank you say hi to your kids for me. I will, all right, Dan, So there you go. That is Jeff Schwartz from the pit of Hell. Yeah wherever. I think he was picking up his kid at like a swimming glass or something. So that's the noise for Oregon fans out there who might be in the pit of hell right now learning of this news.
Thank you for tuning into our broadcast. We are a college football show. We normally broadcast around this time of year every Wednesday and Sunday, talk about other relevant coaching news and bowl games. Now, everything that we've got coming up in the coaching circuit will put out a new show tomorrow in which I don't know. Maybe we'll announce a live show in Atlanta. Maybe we'll talk about other Bowl games and other coaching news and things of the like.
Where should people keep their eyes so they can learn all of these things?
People should keep their eyes peeled right here on the Facebook page where a lot of you are listening. Stay tuned to our Twitter account at Twitter dot com slash solid Verbal. We've also been pretty active this year on Instagram as well. You can find us in all the usual hotspots, as well as a subreddit that was created by our listeners for our listeners at reddit dot com slash are slash Solid Verbal. But the larger point here is I just wanted to give you a chance to vent,
to get this all out. Willy Taggert has been announced as the new Florida State football coach. He is going home, so to speak. And this is one of my other favorite subplots. We saw it with Scott Frost, gonna see it now with Willy Taggert.
But whenever, I mean, we've seen it all over I mean in previous years too. We see Paul Chris leave after what two or three years from Pitt back to back to Wisconsin. We said, we do see this.
No, no, no, what I'm saying, and you're right, going back to the alma mater, going back to the home state. But what I'm talking about specifically is the welcome home hashtag, the welcome home banners, the welcome home memes that you see floating around the internet.
You know what, if Oregon hires Justin Wilcox away from Cal, that's exactly what hard to have. You'll be flying the banner over Audson. There are pictures of Justin Wilcox playing Thanksgiving football with Justin Herbert when Herbert was like nine, apparently he and his family. God, could you imagine the fantasy that might be number one overall fantasy if if Justin Wilcox takes the Oregon job after just a year
at Cal, just bringing everything full circle. Can I ask you a couple of names from the outside what you would think? Yeah, sure, if Oregon hired them. Okay, so we talked about Mario cristaball a bunch. Obviously, the other big name coordinator name with Oregon is is Jim Levit. Jim Levit. So if they were to hire Crystal Ball or Levitt, what would your reaction be, I'd be underwhelmed.
And I know what Jeff said, Jeff knows a lot more about football than you and I. The continuity is important, whether it's through crystal Ball or Levitt crystal Ball short term, you know crystal Ball. Both of them have head coaching experience in the state of Florida, and it sounds like Jim Levitt may be headed with Willy Taggart down there to Florida State. So if it does end up being
crystal Ball, look, he's a good coach. Can't help but feel a little bit underwhelmed coming from Chip Kelly a couple of years back and most recently Willy Taggart, who was you know, builds the next next great thing.
If it were both chrystal Ball, say it head coach and a big race to Levitt at defensive coordinator. Again, you like the continuity.
I think if you get both, you feel better about that that the program's not going to bottom out.
But you know, I still think scorned a little bit more.
By the departure of Willy Taggert, then I would be relieved at the continuity of keeping those guys around.
Yeah, And the other thing is if Mario Christaval is awesome for two years, three years and who knows what job opens up South Carolina Georgia Tech certainly doesn't look like a job in Florida. A big job in Florida is opening up. But if a big job opens up in the southeast, would, I mean, you're going through it all over again. So there is that that calculated risk again.
Mike Norvell just signed an extension, so it doesn't appear that he will be his stay in put yep and he like Weirdly, there were like rumblings of, you know, teams sort of growing cold on him when they did more vetting. Kevin Someone, Kevin Someone's interesting to me.
Okay, I think he got a bit of a raw deal at A and M and I know the results weren't there on the field the way they wanted, But the SEC West is crazy hard. Sure, I still like what he did there. I know it went downhill a bit after Johnny Manziel left, but he's an exciting coach.
He's a great recruiter.
I don't know to what degree He's got a comfort zone in the Pacific Northwest, And though I don't think it's quite as excitable a hire as a Willie Taggart.
I think that's a good option. Yeah, well, Willy Taggart is certainly more of an unknown from a Power five perspective. He's been a Power five coach for again eleven months. Sure, whereas we know more about Kevin Summer, we know more about his record, the ups and the downs in the in betweens, and who knows what tex A and M looks like if he and the coaching staff and everybody
involved didn't screw up the Kyle Allen Kyler Murray thing. Sure, you go from two five star quarterbacks to no five star quarterbacks very quickly.
I just and so you know, I mean, the thing with him is the SEC West, the SEC in general. People are driven crazy by the fact that Nick Saban is coaching in the same conference. Everybody wants to find the Nick Saban, and the second they realize that they don't have him, they're more inclined to just toss aside whoever is whoever is head football coach and going in
a different direction. That may be true to some extent with someone at A and M. I still think he's a really good football coach, and if he is the guy, if he is someone that Oregon is interested in. They probably have the personnel to run that system.
Sure, I don't think what Kevin someone has traditionally done. You know, he hasn't always been consistent in the way that he's run the ball, and so you know, he's a Mike Leech guy, I believe. Maybe, no, he's Yeah,
he was at Oklahoma with him, I believe. But what he did at Houston setting records through the air with case Keenum and obviously what he did at Texas A and M and recruiting, and you have to assume that coming into a situation with Justin Herbert, who when healthy is you know, probably one of the best eight quarterbacks in the country, has to be very enticing to people
because that will just make you look good. So that's interesting to me from a Kevin Somelin perspective, who you know, coached and played at Purdue, We coached in Minnesota and Wyoming, Oklahoma, Texas, so he's not necessarily as tied to a specific region as it seemed Taggert was. What about Brian Harson much more regional? Wow? Uh, who I believe interviewed or had conversations last year around this time.
Yeah, I like Brian Harrison, and I like him because for a long time it was believe that his dream job was Boise State. So if he could pluck someone away from their supposed dream job, maybe you're more inclined to keep someone around for a longer period of time. A Mountain West dream job, A Mountain West dream job. Sure, So yeah, I'm okay with that.
Yeah. See, that's I think the general it peaks at okay.
You're gonna feel okay with pretty much anyone at this point.
I would needed somebody, somebody needed to What about buy a picture on the wall. What about Jim mcklewain, You know, from a seeing what he did and how that his tenure ended in Gamesville recently, it feels like way more of a downslope, way more of a dissension whatever than Kevin someone would be because even when they won the SEC East, it was just sort of like they were the best worst team in the SEC. I guess like
that's all it really felt like. And it seemed like his interpersonal and public dealings would be a pretty big shift from Willie Tagger and even like Chip Kelly, they're like the Jim mcklewain thing does not at all excite me, and I don't think it would excite many Oregon fans.
He wouldn't receive the bizarre, unsubstantiated threats, right Eugene that maybe got at Florida.
I think we could say that.
But the danger with him is he came in to Florida I think thought of as a bit of an offensive guru, a quarterback guru. He had some history with Nick Saban and did wonders at Colorado State in a very short period of time. He's a good football coach and he still has that to his credit.
I would concerned that there were recruiting concerns about him in Gainesville, Sure, sure, and sort of porting that to Eugene. It's sort of troubling too well.
And my larger point here is he has a quarterback at Oregon. If he ends up going there, if he steps into that job and the offense isn't any good, if the quarterback position is a dumpster fire, then all of a sudden you've got a crisis.
And what we saw, I mean, Oregon has a blue chip quarterback committed right now I think from Arizona, and it looks like he's still gonna come, I have no idea. I don't pretend to know what recruits are thinking. But beyond Justin Herbert, as we saw this year, it is thin pickings. And you know, hey, good luck to Willy Taggert who last year Jimbo struggled with a backup quarterback. And now Willy Taggert goes there and we'll see what
happens with the Florida state quarterback job. But you're not wrong, You're not at all wrong. Can I give you I'm trying to think of any more names. So like Justin Wilcox. Justin Wilcox would be promising moments at CAL. Yeah, local to Eugene. I would make moments you do like that movie? I would like that move. Yeah, I think you can spin it optimistically. I've spoken to somebody who has spent a bunch of time with him this season who sort of said, I don't know if Justin Wilcox would take
that job. Don't well, I don't think Justin would leave after a year or something like that from what he's done at Cal. He hired well at Cal. He just lost his defensive line coach, Jerry Asinaro to UCLA and Chip Kelly. But I could be talked into it just seeing how he was able to recruit. But and I like the fact that he has coached at Tennessee and Boise, in Wisconsin and USC and Washington, like he's been all over. He has connections, you know, not just to recruiting, but
to hiring assistance. So that to me is a positive thing. But it's not it's not electric, Tie, I gotta tell you, it's not electric. And I don't know if there is an electric option. Well, Greg Chiano is the electric option. Dan, you know that it's more like an electric fence. You What do you feel about Mike Leach. I feel that Mike Leach has a very fun public veneer in press conferences, in scrums, and is also sort of low key, kind of problematic and gets along with people in tricky ways
or doesn't get along with people in tricky ways. So I think there's some interpersonal stuff that's to be desired. And when you sign up for Mike Leach, you sign up for a very specific system, rain or shine. And I don't know if I like the lack of adaptability. I don't know if I like that. And he's had
a ton of success and he has beaten everybody. And at the same time, you know, the recruiting thing scares me a little bit that he's not going to be able to recruit in the way that Oregon envisions themselves as able to to Doeah, I just it would feel like be minus C plus.
I always feel about Mike Leach, and I don't know if I've used this analogy on the show before. I feel about Mike Leach the same way I do Coldstone Creamery like I like it and there are times where I definitely have an appetite for it. Yeah, but it's not the go to every time I'm interested in ice cream.
Yeah, I was gonna say milkshakes. We've talked about milkshakes before, and that's how we became friends with Adam Amin. I have maybe one or two milkshakes a year.
You could take it in doses and it's a lot of fun. It makes it better that you take it in doses and not all the time. But there's something about I think that system, that personality. I could see that wearing thin on you. If you're a fan and it's not consistently good. If that makes sense, No's that's totally right.
I uh, you know, it's if you throw you like, you have a group of friends and everybody loves hanging out and this guy, this girl whatever, they make hanging out real fun. Do I want to be their roommate? I don't know. But do I like playing golden tea? Do I like, you know, going out and playing and like pick up basketball at them?
Yeah?
They're great. I just every day every day with Phil.
I don't know.
So any other options that you see, you know, as connected to the West Coast, because like in my like, there are big names out there. You know, Mike Gundy spoke with with Tennessee and then he got to raise at Oklahoma State and you know who I would have loved y because this is a timing thing. Sorry, sure, my dream, my dream of dreams, would have been like Bob Stoops still at Oklahoma and just nab Lincoln Riley
after year two. I was thinking about that a couple of years ago when I was, you know, sitting through the end of the Mark Helfrich era and I was like, what Riley. He seems fun, he seems like he's young and can put up yards. Let's get him to Eugene. But alas he now is coaching in the playoffs.
Ask you a very personal question always, are you at all active on Oregon message boards? Not necessarily as a poster, but maybe just as a lurker.
I have. Yeah, I don't post a lot, and I actually I don't even post period, but I am familiar with conversations that happen.
Who do you think is the most improbable candidate that someone on the message boards will trot out for the organ position?
Improbable? I've seen Chris Peterson. Yeah, I don't think Peterson's going there is about Yeah, it's not like people say, like throw ten million dollars a year and like, no, I don't don't think it's a money thing.
What kind of odds can I get? And you're going to have to police this. I don't know if this is going to be a thing or not. What kind of odds can I get on someone on an Oregon message boards trotting out Brian Kelly?
Oh, zero point zero? I mean there's you would get ten thousand to one odds.
And that I'll take twenty five to one odds and I'll make that bet with you. Well, so here's the complicated thing that came up when Chip was going to UCLA is Brian Kelly is now entrenched at a former Adidas current under armour school. I don't know if there's a push pull because I apparently this is the alleged thing that Phil Knight and Oregon sort of see Adidas as like, well, they've been around forever, and like, you know, we think we're a lot higher than Adidas, but you know,
we acknowledge that they exist. The under armour thing is like this weird craw and that. I don't think it was an actual meaningful standing in the way situation at UCLA for Chip Kelly and his relationship. But I think Chip Kelly probably made a phone call and was like, listen, here's what's going on, Kevin. Someone's an Adidas you know, has been at an Adida school for a while. Brian Kelly. That under armour thing, I don't think it's going to happen.
But that's another aspect of this this search. It's another aspect. I'm talking purely in the realm of the hypothetical. Don't take what will happen. Will happen twenty five to one odds is what I want. Will you make that bet with me? Twenty five to one? Yeah, twenty five to one people out there listening, police very quietly, your local Oregon message board. And if Brian Kelly's name pops up, let us know. Please don't be the one to do it. This is like a reverse don't be the one to do it.
Where we're going with honesty? Here the honesty? What's what's the policy I'm going for? I'm I'm out of at the honor the honor code. Yeah, there it is, honor code.
I will give you a singular dollar bill at our live show in Atlanta next month. If in fact, I'm assuming Oregon should have a coach by then, If in fact Brian Kelly's name does not appear.
I assume Oregon. Well, signing day is what two weeks from tomorrow? I really hope. So all right, Well, well, I think we'll leave it at that. More to come on this story. We will cover it the way we do so many other coaching breaks that have gone on here in the early going of the college football postseason. Now on our Wednesday podcast, which you can find at
soliverbal dot com. We're also on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Overcast, Stitcher, tune in, literally everywhere you could find a podcast you can find the solid verbal We are free. Will be twice a week until after the bowl season, at which point we still broadcast year round, but we'll start up on a once a week Wednesday schedule, talking college football the full year through.
Daniel keep us posted. All right, we'll do for that gentleman over there morning, as Willy Taggart has gone on too, Florida State, Oregon now back in the throes of a head coaching search. His name is Dan Rubinstein. For myself, Ty Hilda Brand, thanks for tuning in to this special addition, Willie Taggert panic Pod, a merger pod, whatever you want to call it.
Can we do it for Notre Dame someday?
Oh my god, it will take on a much darker tone when it happens.
I can't wait to be on the other end. We'll catch you all soon. Take care, peace,