In the dizzying merry-go-round that is the hiring of head coaches in college football, Willie Taggart is an island of one. He is the only Black head coach to serve four Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) major-college programs: Western Kentucky, South Florida, Oregon and Florida State.
While White head coaches hopscotch the nation in search of wins — and more money — the same employment pattern usually doesn’t apply to Black head coaches.
Taggart’s feat puts him in the same league as Nick Saban, who has been a head coach at Toledo, Michigan State, Louisiana State and currently Alabama.
And how about Urban Meyer — who held head-coaching positions at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State?
Bottom line: For Black head coaches in college football, getting a fourth chance is as rare as Halley’s Comet. And getting a second or third shot as a Black head coach is akin to Steven Spielberg directing a bad movie. It can happen, but not too often.
Yes, coaches such as Charlie Strong and Tyrone Willingham have held three head-coaching positions, but the recycling game has usually bypassed Black head coaches the past 20 years. During those two decades, some Black head coaches were in set-up-to-fail scenarios at major schools for various reasons, ranging from a lack of practical preparedness on the part of the coaches to lack of full administrative support.
