Taggart pleased with preparation
There was plenty of newness for the FAU football team when it kicked off camp this week.
A new coaching staff and head man in Willie Taggart, who’s only the Owls’ fifth hire as head football coach, leads the team as it prepares for its 20th season.
The players used new practice fields in the Schmidt Family Complex after training at the Tom Oxley Center for the past 20 years.
And there were plenty of new safety protocols, with coaches and players wearing face coverings due to the novel coronavirus pandemic that canceled FAU’s planned spring practices in mid-March. This week is the first time Taggart and his staff have been able to work with the team since he was hired in December to replace Lane Kiffin, now at Mississippi.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to do it in the spring,” Taggart said during a conference call with reporters Thursday. “So having the time to do it with the guys and actually doing football has been really good the last two days.”
With the new protocols came a different structure for the practices. Players have been split into two different groups and practiced a couple of hours apart in the mornings.
Taggart said the team will use the first week-and-a-half of practices focusing on fundamentals and techniques, since players didn’t have the opportunity to do so in the spring.
“Our guys have done a great job of taking care of themselves away from here,” Taggart said. “Our guys have done a great job of wearing their masks when they’re around here. They haven’t complained about anything. They kind of just bought into the way we’re doing things and follow the protocol.
“We have to do a great job of taking care of each other. If we want to play football, we got to do those things and adjust to the new change.”
Although he compared FAU’s current practice setup to OTAs, Taggart admitted this year’s practices feel differently than any camp he’s been a part of before.
“It’s abnormal to what we’re accustomed to,” Taggart said. “For so many years, you’re doing things you’re programmed to do things routinely and now there’s been a sudden change.”
Taggart didn’t comment on the departure of Chris Robison, who had been the team’s starting quarterback for the past two seasons and received first-team All-Conference USA honors for the 2019 season, saying he wants to focus on the players currently on the roster.
“We don’t have a No. 1 [at quarterback],” Taggart said. “The guys have been working really hard and [are] excited to compete for the job. For me, I want to see what those guys can do.
“I haven’t had a chance to coach them yet, and now just getting into training camp has allowed us to see what they can do. We finally get a chance to evaluate our guys.”