Person with knowledge of decision tells AP: W Ky hires Stanford’s Taggart as football coach

AP source: WKU hires Stanford’s Taggart as coach

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A person with knowledge of the decision says winless Western Kentucky has hired Stanford assistant Willie Taggart as its football coach.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the school has not announced the decision. A news conference is scheduled for later in the day.

Taggart replaces David Elson, who was fired two weeks ago but agreed to finish the season. The Hilltoppers are 0-10 overall and 0-6 in the Sun Belt Conference. They have lost 18 straight games dating to last year, the nation’s longest active losing streak.

Taggart is in his third season as running backs coach at Stanford. He played and coached at Western Kentucky for more than a decade before joining the Cardinal.

The Hilltoppers are in their first season as a full-fledged member of the Football Bowl Subdivision.

WKU is 1-24 against FBS members since 2007 and athletic director Wood Selig cited the program’s apparent slide following its two-year transition to the FBS as a reason for Elson’s dismissal.

WKU, which plays at Florida Atlantic on Saturday, is last in the country in scoring defense and among the bottom five in total defense and rushing defense. Elson, who is 39-42 in seven seasons, agreed to a $500,000 buyout.

The move to the FBS was part of a plan to make football matter on the Bowling Green, Ky., campus. The Hilltoppers spent nearly $50 million renovating L.T. Smith Stadium, expanding capacity to 25,000.

Attendance, however, has been stagnant. WKU is averaging 16,000 fans a game and struggled to fill the seats when the Hilltoppers hosted Big East power South Florida in September, the first-ever visit from a Bowl Championship Series school.

Taggart has deep ties to the university. He starred at quarterback from 1995-98, setting 11 school records in the process and is one of four players to have his jersey retired. He stayed on following his graduation, spending eight seasons as an assistant, including serving as offensive coordinator when the Hilltoppers won the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA national championship.