By Matt Kupec
November 5 2019
Florida State University made big news today when they announced the firing of Head Football Coach Willie Taggert even though there still remain three games left to play in the season. Coming of a terribly disappointing performance in a loss to Miami, and standing at a record of 4-5, the Seminoles administration made the decision to fire Taggert because as FSU President John Thrasher said, “we had no choice but to make a change.”
So, Coach Taggart gets fired just 21 games into the tenure of his six-year contract at Florida State. He didn’t even get to finish his second season as the coach.
Why fire the head coach when the season isn’t done yet?
Don’t we preach to our student-athletes that we should never give up, never stop working and fighting to get better? The game isn’t over until the final whistle we have heard countless times? Don’t we believe in comebacks?
What is the purpose of a six-year contract when the Coach gets only 1 ¾ years to right the ship??
These are very important questions we must ask the leaders of higher education. Below you will find some of the reasons why in-season coaching changes are made in football. At the end of the day, it all comes down to money! Big money at the Football Bowl Subdivision level!
Don’t cry for Coach Taggert. His six-year contract was for $30 million, yes, $5 million per year. In addition to the two years worth of compensation he has already received, Coach Tagger is due approximately $20 million for the remainder of his contract. Oh, by the way, Florida State had to pay the University of Oregon $3M to buyout Coach Taggert’s contract from Oregon. And, FSU was also responsible for an additional $1.3M to the University of South Florida left on a buyout when he jumped ship early to take the Oregon job.
To read the full article, go to: http://mattkupecsports.com/matt-kupec-why-fire-a-college-football-coach-during-the-season/
About the Author
Matt Kupec is a fundraising professional with 32 years of significant higher education development experience. He has directed three major university fundraising campaigns and nearly $5 billion has been raised under his leadership. He has led the fundraising programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Hofstra University, Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute and HelpMeSee, a New York City based non-profit. He is currently serving as Senior In-House Fundraising Counsel for Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.
Matt is a former record-breaking four year starting quarterback for the UNC Tar Heels. During his career he set 19 season and career passing records. Two of which still stand — most consecutive games with a TD pass and most wins as a starting QB. Matt also set the ACC record for TD passes his senior year at UNC. Matt was named MVP of the 1977 Liberty Bowl and the 1979 Gator Bowl becoming the 1st player in Atlantic Coast Conference history to be named MVP of two bowl games.
Matt Kupec 