As you all have heard by now, coach Willie Taggart (and this will be the last time I call him coach) has officially announced that he will be leaving WKU and heading to USF. Either (1) other schools had permission to speak with him, or (2) he went behind the administration’s back. Either way, we were lied to in some form.

Taggart talked so much talk about having that commitment to Western and supporting the team, even going on record bashing students for wearing University of Kentucky apparel on campus at the beginning of the school year. Taggart bashed these students and our institution by belittling them, saying that our students could not even get into UK. Really? Really!?!? If you are butt-hurt that people were wearing UK stuff on our campus, you will be going to a school that is way down the line in popularity. Florida, Florida State, Miami… are you ready to call out those students for wearing that stuff on campus when you move there?

If you do look at it from a standpoint of money, why stay? But I would want to think that there should have been more of a sense of loyalty when it came to William’s decision. Maybe he had an inner-struggle with his decision. Maybe the fact that our fan base as a whole was enough to say, “Screw it… I am outta here on the first plane I can get down south.” If it is the money, are we going to keep the ball rolling forward and actually spend money needed to hire a coach that has a name, reputation and a record of positive notability?

Speaking of fan base, how can we make a name brand for our school if our school doesn’t even know how to act like a Division 1 school? We started losing games and we went from 22,000+ to having more like 2,200 at our last two home games. Tailgating is something that WKU is clueless about. It should be like a carnival atmosphere and last all day long. Here, it is more like showing up 30 minutes before kick-off and paying for an over-priced beverage at the concession stand.

So, WKU…what are you going to do now? We will be playing this bowl game without our General. Are you now willing to put the money forth to bring in a name that will get fans excited for next season right now? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to show the football world that WKU is more than just a team to book as a warm-up game? Or are you going to hire someone just to fill the position? We, The Hilltopper Nation, are awaiting your answers.

So long, William Taggart. May USF be everything that you ever hoped for and that they give you the red carpet treatment like you had here. But before you leave…take your jersey down and take it with you. We have no use for it here.

-Doug Hurt

Glasgow junior