Taggart defends Dowling, questions rule. Williams says hit unavoidable

Western Kentucky head football coach Willie Taggart said safety Jon Dowling did not intend to hurt anyone on the helmet to helmet hit he made in last week's game against Southern Mississippi receiver Tyre Bracken.

Taggart questions rule

Dowling was ejected after the play and according to Sun Belt Conference rules, an injected player must sit out the next game. The league rejected an appeal WKU made on behalf of the former Southeast High standout.

“It is a new rule the league is implementing and Jon fell victim to it. He did not try to do anything maliciously,” said Taggart, the former Manatee High quarterback great. “Jon did not try to go helmet to helmet and there is no way to stop guys who are trying to do their best and playing hard. The league needs to look at this rule because there are a lot of kids who play hard and are not trying to hurt anyone. You can’t expect them to change overnight.

“Unfortunately the ruling is in. I didn’t expect it to be overturned on the appeal. We’ve just got to learn from it and move on.”

It means the Hilltoppers will face Sun Belt Conference defending champion Arkansas State without their best defensive back.  Dowling is tied for the national lead in FBS with two others for the most interceptions.

It also means he will be back with the scout team this week after playing all of last season with the scout when he was forced to sit out after transferring from Florida.

Tyrone Williams, a former Green Bay Packer defensive back who played for Manatee, said the head to head collision was basically unavoidable because Bracken is 5-8 and Dowling is 6-3.

“Dowling is tall and the receiver is short and the defender goes down to make a hit and this is going to happen. You could tell he did not mean to do it,” Williams said

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Taggart said he was not surprised that former Manatee High standout Leon Allen turned his best game last week. The true freshman running back ran for a career high 132 yards in the Hilltoppers 42-17 victory over Southern Mississippi.

“Leon showed in training camp what he could do and last week against Kentucky we didn’t play him enough,” Taggart said. “He is a very strong, powerful runner and keeps his feet moving. He has been everything we thought he would be and is very fundamentally sound.”

Ben Axon, another former Manatee High standout, had his best collegiate game at the Division I level with 31 yards on six carries.

Axon did not play football last year and joined the WKU football team late this summer. Taggart said he is still working out the kinks and trying to get back into football shape.

“Ben has been helping us quite a bit on special teams and was able to get some carries. The more he plays, the better he will become,” Taggart said. “He understands we are not giving anybody anything. We have guys who have been here long before Ben was here. He is working work and has been on the kickoff and punt return teams.”

 

 

Taggart says Ben Axon ready to go against top ranked 'Bama

Coach Taggart says Axon ready to go

Nothing has ever come easy for Ben Axon
The talented running back from Manatee High missed Western Kentucky's season opener because of a concussion, said Hilltoppers head coach Willie Taggart.

Taggart, another Manatee great, said Axon has been cleared to play this Saturday. That would normally be good news, but WKU is at Alabama, the defending national champions and current number one rated team in the country.

It's not that Axon is afraid of any competition. But it would've been nice if he had a tune-up game. Last week the Hilltoppers steamed rolled Austin Peay in their 2012 opener.

By the way, Albama has been listed as a 40-point favorite by most entities that delve in the business of college football prognosticating.

Axon will likely share he running load with another Manatee graduate, freshman Leon Allen, who made his college debut against Austin Peay with a team leading 93 yards rushing on 13 carries. It was a great game for a true freshman, but everyone knows running against Austin Peay is not the same as toting the ball against 'Bama.

WKU is Axon's fourth college since he walked through the gradution line at Manatee in 2009. He has overcome a lot of obstacles and says he is ready to go.

Brian Poole gets highest rating among recent local football grads

Bucs new running back Doug Martin

Friday's column in the Bradenton Herald sports section referenced Phil Steele's college preview publication and how he evaluated Tampa Bay Bucs first round draft pick and running back Doug Martin when he came out of high school five years ago.

Here is a look at how he rated some local products to come out of Manatee County the  last couple of years.

His highest rating went to 2012 Southeast graduate and University of Florida bound Brian Poole, who is ranked the #7 best defensive back in the country by Steele.

Some other familiar names that received a high rating from Steele in the class of 2011 include Manatee High running back Mike Blakely (#11 ) and Punta Gorda Charlotte standout Mike Bellamy (#5). In the Class of 2010, Steele had Southeast defensive back Jon Dowling at #19.

 

Ironically none of the last three are at the college they attended out of high school. Dowling went from Florida to Western Kentucky, Blakely from Florida to Auburn and after a season at Clemson, Bellamy became an academic casualty and is in junior college.

Dowling pulls a "Babe Ruth Moment" in predicting his game winning pick

Remember when Babe Ruth called his famous home run before launching into the stands in one of baseball's most memorable moments.

Well our own Jon Dowling apparently has gone into the prediction business and proved to be a success though somewhat on a smaller scale.

Our witness to this is Minnesota Vikings defensive back Mistral Raymond, the Palmetto High product who was standing on the sidelines at Western Kentucky's spring game last Saturday.

Dowling, a safety for the Hilltoppers, was voted game MVP in part because he intercepted a pass and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to account for the final score and give his Red Team a victory.

Dowling, the former Southeast star, predicted what would happen just before he went on the field and made the play, according to Raymond.

"He came up to me and said if it was a perfectly thrown pass he knew where it was going and he was going to intercept and return it for a touchdown. That is exactly what happened," Raymond said via phone on his way to Minnesota.

Jon Dowling earns MVP honors in WKU spring game

It didn’t take Jon Dowling long to show Western Kentucky it got prize package when he decided to transfer from Florida.

The former Southeast High star earned MVP honors in WKU’s spring game Saturday doing what he does best___ Intercepting passes.

The defensive back made the play of the game on his second interception, which he returned for a 34 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter giving his Red Team a 16-10 victory.

It was Dowling’s first live action for WKU after sitting out last season because of NCAA transfer rules and his diversified set of special skills was evident.

The 6-3, 195 pound sophomore picked off WKU starting quarterback Kawaun Jakes in the first quarter and returned it 15 yards. His second interception also came off Jakes with 10 minutes left in the game and accounted for the final score.

Dowling wasn’t the only Manatee County product to shine for the Hilltoppers.

Southeast High grad Boe Brand caught three passes for 22 yards and returned three kickoffs for 63 yards, including a long of 25 yards. His former Southeast teammate, linebacker Terran Williams, was credited with a quarterback hit and had a solo tackle. Palmetto High grad Ty Scott also had one solo tackle.

Former Braden River standout Willie McNeal, who missed all of last season for WKU with a torn ACL, caught one pass for six yards.

Sarasota Riverview High product John Evans, who is fighting for the running back job, had 107 all purpose yards. He ran for 10 yards on three carries, caught five passes for 30 yards and returned two kickoffs for 67 yards.

WKU head coach Willie Taggart, the Manatee High legendary quarterback, was pleased with the effort and job turned in by Dowling.

“All three of the backs did a good job of running. Jonathan Dowling had two picks-one for a touchdown. You always love that,” Taggart said. “Overall both teams did some good things. We still have some work to do, but I am pleased with the progress we made this spring.”

Woodie piling up awards as one of nation's top recruiters

When you are hot you are hot.

That's the best way to describe Ray Woodie, the former Palmetto High and Bayshore head football coach who is piling up honors as an elite recruiter at Western Kentucky.

After getting named the top recruiter in the Sun Belt Conference by ESPN and Scout.com/Fox Sports the Palmetto native was cited by Rivals.Com as one of the top 10 recruiters from the non BCS schools.

Woodie has no fear and is "stealing" kids that coaches from the BCS schools probably thought belonged to them. But no more, Woodie and WKU Willie Taggart are reeling in some of the top talent in the country and it doesn't appear things will slow down.

These two guys are revolutionizing the way recruiting is done. They pitch honesty and success and refuse to take a back seat to anyone.

WKU's Willie Taggart deserves "Miracle Worker" tag

Willie Taggart is fast becoming one of the hottest coaching commodities in college football.

He is as close to a miracle worker as you can get in college football and is just getting started.

Troubles in Gainesville? Hey about this guy. He helped turn Stanford into powerhouse and has Western Kentucky on a ride no one expected.

What the Manatee High legend has done in less than two full seasons at Western Kentucky borders on miracle worker status.

When Taggart took over the program at WKU in 2010 it had lost 20 straight and was the laughing stock of college football. The Hilltoppers started this season with four straight losses and were 4-36 before he took them on their current four game win streak.

Taggart isn’t new to Believe It Or Not feats. He was part of Jim Harbaugh’s staff at Stanford that performed the miracle on turf in 2007 when the 40-point underdog Cardinal recorded the biggest upset in NCAA history by beating Southern California.

“The only people who have to believe are the guys in the locker-room,” said Taggart who was the running backs coach and part of a reconstruction project at Stanford that now has that program fourth in the BCS standings.

This we know about Taggart.

He knows offense (the West Coast is his specialty), he knows people and he knows players and how to motivate. We also know if he keeps this up there is going to be some major program in this country that wants him.

It could happen right here in Florida.

Those rumblings in Gainesville are getting louder and the Swamp is getting more treacherous.

Taggart could recruit the heck out of the Sunshine State. He already has done that at WKU for a non-BCS program that is in the Sun Belt Conference.

He has also become a college football poet-laureate.

“All it takes is for one olive to come out of the jar and the rest come out pretty easy,” is one of many Taggartisms floating around the Bowling Green campus.

The best part about Taggart is his stubbornness. He doesn’t believe he can’t win. He didn’t believe it at Stanford, which was 1-11 when he arrived.

The first thing he did at WKU was change the culture of the football program, which went 2-10 last year and had never won a game as an FBS program until Taggart’s arrival..

“Find the bull and find the snake and chop their heads off,” Taggart said. “The most important thing is to stay positive and have everyone hold themselves accountable. Coming here they had nothing but negative stuff to say about our kids. We tried to stay positive and stay the course. What helped me a lot was my experience at Stanford.”

Taggart says he adopted the blueprint used to turn Stanford around. What he adds is the ability to make believers out of naysayers.

“We are just a blue collar, hard-nosed, tough program that is doing things in a first class manner,” Taggart said. “We tell our guys to support our cause, which is being the best in the Sun Belt Conference.”

Taggart keeps in regular touch with Jim Harbaugh (now the 49ers head coach) and his dad Jack Harbaugh, who coached Willie at WKU. They bounce ideas off each other every week.

Believing at WKU is not easy just like believing Stanford could beat USC in ’07. Taggart says it has to start with the head coach. He has gotten his kids to believe they can win their conference where they now stand 4-1.

“I am not surprised to be in the conference race. From day one that has been our goal,” Taggart said. “We were in all these ball games last year and a lot of them were up for grabs until the fourth quarter when we let them get away. With that and knowing what our guys did during the off season, I felt there was no reason for us not to be in the race.”

Taggart implemented the West Coast Offense upon his arrival ditching the spread it had used. He had to teach the system and find players who would fit that style, which is still an ongoing process.

Taggart found a few gems. One is true freshman Boe Brand from Southeast High who caught a crucial two-point conversion that enabled the Hilltoppers to eventually win their game last week in overtime against Louisiana-Monroe.

“Boe is coming along nice. Athletically he can get it done, but he came here at 138-140 pounds soaking wet and had to get bigger,” Taggart said.

Taggart is one of the lowest paid coaches in the country. Now you can make the argument he is the most under-paid.

If WKU wants to see this miracle come to fruition, it’s going to have to open up its purse strings or find some wealthy boosters. They are getting a bargain now with Taggart and that is not going to last.

Boe Brand helps Willie Taggart make some history at WKU

What Willie Taggart has done in his second year running the Western Kentucky football program might be classified as something close to a miracle.

Inheriting a program that had lost 20 straight before his arrival, the former Manatee High great has the Hilltoppers on a four game win streak, 4-4 overall and 4-1 in the Sun Belt Conference

Last Saturday's 31-28 overtime victory over Louisiana-Monroe was a game for the ages with 22 points being scored in the final 59 seconds of regulation play.

Taggart got some help from some local guys he recruited. Freshman Boe Brand (see left) from Southeast caught a two-point conversion with 38 seconds left in regulation that enabled WKU to withstand a ULM touchdown with six seconds left that sent the game into overtime.

WKU's final touchdown was set up by a 79 yard kickoff return by another freshman andSarasota Riverview High product John Evans.

Willie Taggart gets "Uncle Mo" riding high at Western Kentucky

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Western Kentucky coach Willie Taggart says it's good to have "Uncle Mo" rolling with the Hilltoppers after they won their second straight game.

WKU (2-4, 2-1 Sun Belt Conference) has plenty of "Uncle Mo" — Taggart's moniker for momentum — heading into Saturday's game against Louisiana-Lafayette. The Hilltoppers beat Middle Tennessee State two weeks ago and shut out Florida Atlantic 20-2 last weekend.

The wins were the Hilltoppers' first back-to-back victories since 2007.

"You always want 'Uncle Mo' on your side," Taggart said. "Whenever he's on our side, good things will happen. As soon as he jumps to the other side, you go, 'Aw, man.'"

The former Manatee High standout quarterback and the Hilltoppers know that feeling all too well.

Western Kentucky was coming off a win over Louisiana-Lafayette that ended its nation-leading 26-game losing streak when the Hilltoppers folded in their 33-6 homecoming loss to North Texas.

"We had a young football team that couldn't handle all the things that were going on off the field," Taggart said. "I thought we let them get too involved in that and had a lot of pats on the backs."

They get a shot at homecoming redemption on Saturday.

WKU plays Louisiana-Lafayette in its homecoming, but the Ragin' Cajuns are a better team than the one the Hilltoppers beat last year. However, a win over the Sun Belt leaders would push the Hilltoppers into contention for their first league championship.

That has been the well-advertised goal of Taggart and his players. It started becoming a reality, Taggart said, after they parlayed a 44-16 loss last month to Indiana State into fixing what was wrong with the Hilltoppers.

"We were banking on it to be because it was a bad time for our program and everything that we were trying to build," Taggart said. "It was good for our football team to come together and believe in each other more than anything."

WKU won again last weekend despite some special teams miscues. Kickers Casey Tinius and Monte Merrick combined to miss three field goal attempts and an extra point.

With kickers a combined 2 of 20 this season — the worst percentage in the Football Bowl Subdivision — Taggart plans to turn to freshman Jesse Roy against Louisiana-Lafayette.

The kicking gaffes didn't matter as WKU 's defense produced a shutout, which included holding the Owls to 121 yards of total offense.

Defensive lineman Kenny Martin said the Hilltoppers are "confident."

"Right now, we got a lot of belief on the team," Martin said. "Everybody's feeding off of each other's energy. Everybody's loving everyone. We've never had it before. Everybody's happy with what's going on and ready to keep it going."

WKU hasn't won at home win since September of 2008 in a losing skid that dates back to September of 2008.

A home win would put a stop to talk of losing streaks — and also ensure "Uncle Mo" is staying on the Hilltoppers' side.

"After we won at MTSU I definitely felt (momentum) then," said defensive back Kareem Peterson. "To come out and shut out FAU — it's rolling now. It's rolling and we aren't going to stop."

Willie Taggart gets first win of season for Western Kentucky

Taggart's Western Kentucky Hilltoppers got their first victory of the season before a national television audience Thursday night when they edged Middle Tennessee 36-33 in double overtime.

WKU got the winning points when Kuwaun Jakes connected on a 7 yard TD pass to Bobby Rainey. On the previous possession of the second overtime period Middle Tennessee went ahead 33-30 on a 23-yard field goal.

It was fulfilling victory for Taggart, the former Manatee High great who took over the program last year after it had two consecutive winless seasons. He coached the Hilltoppers to a 2-10 record and was hoping to get off to a better start this year, but WKU lost its first four games.

"I told our team heading into overtime that this is when big-time football teams step up, and if they wanted this win to go out and get it," Taggart said. "For our young team to come into a hostile environment and fight through adversity, it can be a big confidence booster moving forward. I'm really proud of these guys and really happy to get this win for Hilltopper nation."

The Hilltoppers took a 23-16 lead when Sarasota Riverview product John Evans returned a kickoff for a 90-yard touchdown with 9:10 left in regulation.

Boe Brand, a true freshman from Southeast, caught two passes for 29 yards, including a 24-yard reception, to help the Hilltoppers.

Boe Brand tops WKU receivers in collegiate debut

Playing in his first collegiate football game, former Southeast High standout Boe Brand made his presence felt by catching two passes for 33 yards to lead Western Kentucky in receiving yardage.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as WKU dropped a 14-3 decision to Kentucky Thursday night making the second year season of the Willie Taggart rein begin with a loss in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPNU.

Brand's 25 yard catch was the longest one of the night for WKU, which struggled all game with its offense. Brand caught the pass in the second quarter and it gave the Hilltoppers a first down at the Kentucky 21. Unfortunately they missed a 34 yard field goal attempt to the end drive.

Brand also caught an eight yard pass earlier in the second period, which gave WKU a third and two at the Kentucky 24 in a drive that was capped off by 41 yard field goal.

Former Southeast standout Terran Williams, another true freshman, also played in the game at linebacker and on special teams, but did not record any tackles.

"Our defense has been doing this since spring ball. They made the choice to be one of the best defenses in the country, and they came out with that attitude," said Taggart, the former Manatee High quarterback great. "If we play great defense, we will have chance in every game we play just like this game. We're mad that we lost."

Taggart optimistic as he begins second season

Local legend Willie Taggart begins his second season as head football coach at Western Kentucky tonight in a nationally televised game against Kentucky.

The game will be televised on ESPNU with a 9:15 kickoff.

The former Manatee High quarterback great, says the difference between the first and second year is like night and day.

"Everything last year was new each week and a lot of that involved the players and what we were trying to teach them and what we could expect," Taggart said. "Now we know what to expect from them, what the team is capable of doing and how they respond to certain things."

Taggart said he is relinquishing a lot of duties he had last year such as putting his West Coast offense in so he can concentrate on overseeing the entire program.

"I changed things last year to the West Coast offense, but now my coaches know it and I am going to let them teach it so I can oversee everything in more detail. Now it's more about doing things right and how I want it done rather than just teaching."

For the second straight year, WKU had the highest rated recruiting class in the Sun Belt Conference and have quite a bit of experience back.

"We are looking to win the conference this year," Taggart said.

Manatee County football prospects visit Western Kentucky

Western Kentucky University continues to be a popular place for Manatee County football players.

Three players from the county recently visited the WKU summer weekend football camp.

The trio making its way out there was comprised of Manatee High’s 6-5, 215 pound receiver Robert Gordon , 6-2 receiver Tre’ Laws from Southeast and Palmetto High’s new quarterback Trenton Miller.

Laws and Gordon are two big receivers with athletic skills, who have the potential to be among the top pass catchers in the state this season. They are both transfers.

Miller is a transfer from Williamsville East High in New York State. The 6-0 190 pounder won the All-Madden Offensive Breakout Athlete Award at the IMG Football Academy last year and this year moved to Palmetto.

“Trenton is a developing pocket passer. He can move his feet well within in the pocket. He has the opportunity to develop into a big time prospect,” said IMG Maddon Football Academy director Chris Weinke.