Willie Taggart credits Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh for putting him on the path that brought him to Oregon.Taggart was introduced as the Ducks coach Thursday following a 4-8 season and the dismissal of coach Mark Helfrich.In 1994, Taggart was recruited to play at Western Kentucky by Harbaugh, who was then an unpaid assistant under his father, longtime Hilltoppers coach Jack Harbaugh.Jim Harbaugh remained a constant in his life. He hired Taggart as his running backs coach at Stanford and was the best man at Taggarts wedding.Ever since I met Jim Harbaugh, my life has gone nowhere but up, he said.Taggarts last two head coaching jobs have been rebuilding projects. He has been coach at USF for the past four seasons, guiding the team from a 2-10 record his first year to a 10-2 mark this year and a spot in the Birmingham Bowl.Before he arrived in Tampa he spent three seasons at his alma mater, Western Kentucky, inheriting a winless program that he turned around with back-to-back winning seasons.Taggart, 40, is the first coach Oregon has hired from outside the school since 1976. The Ducks previous three coaches -- Mike Bellotti, Chip Kelly and Helfrich -- were assistants who were promoted.Good coaches fit just about anywhere and Willie has proven that the past couple of years, Stanford coach David Shaw said.Harbaugh said on Twitter: From the newest Duck fan, Congrats to (at)CoachTaggart & The U of Oregon! From Manatee to Eugene, Ive always been your fan! Happy for you!Taggart was 16-20 at Western Kentucky, becoming coach when it was first transitioning to FBS. He went 7-5 in his last two seasons with the Hilltoppers and then moved to USF, not far from where he grew up in Bradenton, Florida.It took two seasons and a change in offensive philosophy from more pro-style, West Coast schemes to a spread, but he now has the 25th-ranked Bulls rolling. They finished second in the American Athletic Conference East Division to Temple and will play South Carolina on Dec. 29 in the Birmingham Bowl.When asked what his offense would look like at Oregon, Taggart said: Itll be fast. Itll be tough. Itll be exciting, for sure.After taking over when Kelly left in 2013, Helfrich went 37-16 in his four seasons. He signed a contract extension in early 2015, and had an $11.6 million buyout.Just two seasons ago, Oregon went to the first College Football Playoff championship game, led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota. But the Ducks struggled this season with a five-game losing streak -- the programs longest since 1996 -- and finished at the bottom of the Pac-12 North with just two conference wins.Taggart leaves USF with four seasons remaining on a five-year, $9 million contract. The deal he received last winter included a provision for a $1.7 million buyout.Oregon President Michael Schill introduced Taggart at the news conference Thursday. His said his only advice was to go find a great defensive coordinator.The Ducks had tried to switch their defense this season, going to a 4-3 scheme under first-year defensive coordinator Brady Hoke. But Oregon finished the regular season ranked 126th out of 128 FBS-level teams for total defense, allowing opponents an average of 528.4 yards per game. Oregon allowed an average of 41.4 points per game, ranked 125th nationally.It was unclear whether Taggart would retain any of Oregons staff.For now, Taggart will need to reach out to Oregons recruits. Defensive back Deommodore Lenoir and defensive end Langi Tuifua both withdrew verbal commitments. Offensive lineman John Vaka tweeted Tuesday he was no longer committed.Taggert quoted one of Jim Harbaughs favorite sayings when he said that everyone in his program would attack with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.But Taggart also said hed be his own man.Im going to be me, he said. I dont know how to do it any way else.---AP Sports Writer Josh Dubow in San Francisco contributed to this report.More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org Swell Flaske 500 Ml . LOUIS -- Valtteri Filppula assisted on three of Tampa Bays four goals, and the Lightning beat the St. Swell Flaske Norge . Only three players drafted by NHL clubs were included on the Czech selection camp roster on Wednesday. Those players were Dallas Stars 2012 first-rounder Radek Faksa, Winnipeg Jets 2013 fourth-rounder Jan Kostalek and Phoenix Coyotes 2012 seventh-rounder Marek Langhamer. http://www.swellflaskenorge.com/ . Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the April 15 race in an area packed with fans cheering the passing runners. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured, including at least 16 who lost limbs. Swell Bottle Butikk . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. Swell Traveler Mug .C. United of Major League Soccer. United chose the defender in the second round of the 2013 MLS re-entry draft. Brisbane Roar coach John Aloisi has called for the A-League to bring back retrospective punishment for acts of simulation.Throwing the issue into the spotlight ahead of Fridays clash with Melbourne City - whose midfielder Neil Kilkenny has been roundly criticised this week for diving - Aloisi said there had to be a strong stance taken by Football Federation Australia to eradicate it.Kilkenny was labelled pathetic by Fox Sports pundit Mark Rudan for falling to the ground in apparent agony after Adelaide Uniteds Isaias rubbed his hand in his face last week in an attempt to have the Spaniard sent off.Aloisi said he was sure referee Peter Green would be alert to any similar tactics at Suncorp Stadium.Im pretty sure if (Kilkenny) didnt get the message, the FFA, I know theyre not happy about any simulation, he said.I was in Europe for a long time, I know that in certain countries you actually practice it, players to go down a little bit easier.Thats not in the Australian culture, we dont want it in our game. The referees analyse games like we do, Im sure it will be stamped out very quickly.Aloisi said the best way to punish culprits would be after the fact, using video replays.Yoou get suspended for a bad tackle, for trying to hurt the opposition, and for me this is just as bad, he said.ddddddddddddTwo A-League players, Patricio Perez and Michael Baird, were retrospectively banned for diving back in 2010 but FFA hasnt taken similar action since.City coach John van t Schip said hed personally spoken to Kilkenny about his incident.We all know that its part of football but were not supporting those actions and Neil knows, he said.Look, there was clearly a hand in his face but maybe he over-reacted there.On the other hand, I dont think we need to make a big deal of it. Enough has been said about it.Meanwhile, Aloisi drew attention to pinning tactics used by City captain Bruno Fornaroli on opposition defenders, which he suspects might also be illegal.He likes to pin players around the box. What I mean by pinning, he actually holds you and I dont even know if thats allowed, but he does, and he uses his body well, he said.Weve worked on how we can defend against that and hopefully the players will be able to defend against it. ' ' '