Report: Deion Sanders hiring former Florida State head coach, assistant to Colorado staff
The past couple of days across the college football landscape have been tough to wrap your head around. The transfer portal is flying at an absolute fury right now with the FBS window officially open as of Monday, December 5. Plus, the coaching carousel is in full swing as programs look to secure their next head coach prior to the Early Signing Period.
READ MORE: Former Florida State wide receiver declares for NFL Draft
Colorado made one of the splash hires of the offseason on Saturday when the program announced Deion Sanders as its next head coach. Sanders is wasting no time filling his inagural staff with the Buffaloes. He's already made a couple of impressive additions that should be useful on the field and on the recruiting trail.
On Monday, Sanders reportedly added a couple of names that will ring a bell for Seminole fans. According to On3, Colorado will be hiring former Florida State head coach Willie Taggart and former wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator, David Kelly. Taggart's role is still undetermined while Kelly is expected to serve in a player personnel role.
Florida Atlantic fired Taggart after a third consecutive season where the program failed to achieve a winning record. Prior to his time in Boca Raton, he was the head coach at Florida State for less than two full years. He went 9-12 with the Seminoles, including an 0-5 record against Florida, Miami, and Clemson. Taggart was ousted following a 27-10 home defeat to the Hurricanes.
Taggart holds a 71-80 overall record as a head coach at the FBS level for FSU, Florida Atlantic, Oregon, Western Kentucky, and USF. The Seminoles still owe him a final buyout check next year.
While this will mark the first non-head coaching job for Taggart since 2009, Kelly has spent his time in a variety of on-field and off-field roles. He was Florida State's wide receivers coach in 2018 before being moved to recruiting coordinator in 2019. Kelly has worked directly with Taggart over the last five years, serving as Director of Player Personnel at USF, Assistant Athletic Director for Football Operations at Oregon, and Director of Player Personnel at FAU.
Kelly has over 30 years of experience at the college level that includes stops at Georgia, LSU, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Duke, and USC as a position coach.
Colorado may be outside of Sanders' typical recruiting footprint but he's pulling out all the stops to try and make the program nationally relevant once again.
READ MORE: Two Florida State defensive tackles no longer with program
Stick with NoleGameday for more coverage of Florida State football throughout bowl season.
