Canzano: Oregon Ducks got played by Willie Taggart... and Phil Knight can't be happy

Phil Knight has been around sports his entire life. He knows that you win some and that you lose some. But what Knight doesn't ever like is getting played. And the University of Oregon and its No. 1 booster had just that happen in losing football coach Willie Taggart to Florida State.

Taggart is now an ex-Oregon coach.

OK to unbuckle?

Why the Ducks didn't structure Taggart's initial contract in a way that ensured that he wouldn't easily use them as a stepping stone is puzzling. Knight can't be happy about it. Athletic director Rob Mullens said on Tuesday of the Taggart defection, "I was disappointed. We sat down a year ago and we made a commitment to him, he made a commitment to us.

"We did everything to support our commitment. And I'm disappointed."

The narrative will be that Taggart went 7-5 in his first season and he and his agent, Jimmy Sexton, baited Oregon into a bidding war with Florida State that resulted in a six-year, $30 million windfall. But the reality is, the Ducks didn't do enough in structuring the original contract to protect themselves. That inept contract, and not a wonderful game of poker by Camp Taggart, is what allowed the Ducks to get leveraged.

Taggart is a mercenary. Look at his history. He's qualified for four bowl games in his career, and only coached in one of them. Three other times he's bolted during bowl season for a better job. In the last 365 days, Taggart has now been the head coach at three different programs (South Florida, Oregon and Florida State). The Ducks needed to play better defense here, and while this won't cost Mullens his job at UO, another less than positive outcome could be problematic.

Mullens must get this hire right. Oregon badly needs some stability. And the contract of the next coach must include protection that makes it impossible to be ditched less than a calendar year into the deal. It was a long shot that Jimbo Fisher would leave and the Florida State job would open, but it should have been an impossible shot that Taggart could so easily wiggled out of his five-year contract in week No. 52.

Mullens said on Tuesday that he offered Taggart an early extension prior to the Civil War. It was too late by then, though. Sexton, who also represents Fisher, knew jumping to Florida State would be a possibility for his client. He also knew UO's contract with Taggart was ripe for leveraging. It was just a matter of waiting for the pieces to fall into place.

Couldn't have been an easy position for Mullens to be in on Tuesday. He had to stand in front of the media and explain how it all went wrong. It was a rough act. He looked shellshocked. In fact, his entire weekend must have stunk. Because Oregon got caught in a situation where it was leveraged, and even if the Ducks had retained Taggart this week, they were going to pay a premium and look like suckers.

Now, a coaching search, right?

But first, a fact.

Let's be straight on what Oregon lost with Taggart's departure to Tallahassee. He was a great recruiter, but a game manager who was routinely out-foxed. He was especially bad with adjustments in the second half of games against decent opponents. So it's not Taggart, the coach, everyone is up in arms about losing. It's not even Taggart, the personality, even though he was a fun guy.

You know what people are most upset about losing?

That No. 1 recruiting class.

Because for the first time in history Oregon mattered on the national recruiting landscape in college football. Fans were ticked to lose that class. Some of the staff at UO was steamed about it. And losing that class has to pain Mullens most of all, because recruiting was the entire reason he hired Taggart over coaches with better coaching records a year ago.

Mullens had the right blueprint when he searched for Mark Helfrich's replacement. Mullens holed up in Dallas, interviewing candidates last December. He wanted Eugene to be a destination for talent. He wanted a coach with a brilliant living-room act. He wanted someone who could be engaging on social media. He wanted someone smart, and warm, and energetic. He needed the absolute best recruiter that $2.9 million a year could buy. And the plan was to take a pool of another $4.5 million and surround the hire with gifted assistants like defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt and offensive coordinator Mario Cristobal.

Right plan. Smart plan. It might have worked, too. Except that Oregon got foolish in finalizing the deal. It didn't consider that a transient head-hunter like Taggart represented by a cut-throat agent like Sexton would require shrewd contractual protection. It was a misfire. One that Mullens is probably kicking himself for missing on.

People are upset about Taggart essentially turning in an act first perfected by the likes of Lane Kiffin, Nick Saban and Bobby Petrino. But that's who he is. He won seven games, the telephone rang, and he's off for another challenge because his contract was too loose. But if we're being real about the emotions, it's not Taggart anyone is really going to miss. Rather, it's his recruiting class.

Oregon can recover from it. But Mullens and his team must make sure it doesn't happen again.

Mullens wouldn't say it on Tuesday, but you have to think the Ducks will move quickly to make a hire. Include Kevin Sumlin, Washington State's Mike Leach, TCU's Gary Patterson, and former Florida coach Jim McElwain as coaches of interest. Throw Boise State's Bryan Harsin in there, too. Also, others. Oregon is an attractive job. It just shouldn't have ever been such an easy stepping stone.

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