Now is a good time to do an FAU Owls end of season review. They finish playing this Saturday against offensive juggernaut Western Kentucky. The Owls could conceivably win the game as they are 4-1 at home. Earlier this year after a win against Rice, Coach Willie Taggart said that the players have tried so hard to win that they have found a way to lose. The Owls are 1-5 on the road and are 5-6 on the season. A closer look at the Owls shows that this team has had high roster turnover in the last few years. The program is developing maturity by learning to prepare to win on the road. Taggart needs to “coach his behind off” in the next two years and not think about leaving for his benefit and for the program.
Team is young
Taggart was hired in December 2019. Then Covid hit in March 2020 and the team went 5-4 in a shortened season. His recruiting classes have been according to 247sports.com as follows:
- 2019: 34
- 2020: 31
- 2021: 27
- 2022: 24
So these recruiting classes are “on him.” He should take responsibility for the performance of these classes. In looking on the FAU website at the roster, approximately 34% of the roster is made up of freshman and redshirt freshman, 30% of the roster is made up of sophomores and redshirt sophomores. There are 19 juniors and redshirt juniors and no seniors. There are 7 graduates on the team. In 2021, the team was 5-3 before they went on a four game losing streak to end the season. This season, the team has been up and down. A great win against Rice and UAB, followed by the defense letting UTEP get a game winner, a dominant win at FIU followed with a shellacking at Middle Tennessee.
Youth has learned hard lessons
Most notably the defense has been overwhelmed and without a doubt, it is because of their youth. Against UTEP, the score was tied 21-21 when the UTEP offense drove down the field on a 13 play drive that led to the game winning field goal. There are promising players on both sides of the ball to help the program grow. Larry McCammon is a junior that is #2 in Conference USA with 871 yards rushing. Zuberi Mobley, a redshirt freshman from Miami Northwestern is #15 in the conference with 518 yards rushing. LaJohntay Wester and Jamal Edrine are in the Top 20 in Conference USA in receiving touchdowns. Some notable players on the defensive side that have played with distinction are Dwight Toombs and Teja Young. Toombs is a Redshirt Sophomore safety and has three interceptions and five pass breakups (#2 in Conference USA.) Teja Young is a Redshirt Junior and has two interceptions and four pass breakups. It is obvious that in the next seasons, these hard lessons will turn the young players into “battle-tested” veterans.
Comparison with Lane Kiffin
Taggart has had to compete with the long shadow that Lane Kiffin left when he was coach at FAU. In 2017, the FAU team won Conference USA in Kiffin’s second year. In looking at the roster on the FAU website, Kiffin had a lot more maturity on that team. He had the following:
- Freshman/Redshirt Freshman: 51
- Sophomore/Redshirt Sophomore: 28
- Junior/Redshirt junior: 22
- Senior/Redshirt senior: 13
- Graduate: 1
The basis of this team won Conference USA Championships in 2017 and 2019. But in a 2019 article in the Sun Sentinel, Kiffin admitted that many players at FAU entered the transfer portal. Particularly, offensive linemen and wide receivers. Although FAU had its greatest success under Kiffin, they could do better. Ole Miss is now dealing with Kiffin’s wanderlust. Read more in Kevin Perry’s article on Kiffin here. Taggart has not been successful as a head coach in three schools. Where would he leave? and who would want him? He could and should reverse his “body of work” by developing these players.
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