Slowly but surely, Willie Taggart is piecing together his first coaching staff at USF. And, not so surprisingly, he’s reaching back to his old staff to do it.
USF announced Thursday evening that Taggart has hired Walt Wells and Nick Sheridan to his Bulls offensive staff. The former will serve as Taggart’s offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, the latter as quarterbacks coach and passing-game coordinator.
Both coaches were members of coach Taggart’s staff at Western Kentucky and will remain with the Hilltoppers through WKU’s bowl game.
“Walt Wells and Nick Sheridan are great teachers and great mentors,” Taggart said. “Both played a critical role in building the foundation at WKU. They understand the way we will run our offensive system and our program.”
Wells had spent the past 10 seasons at WKU, while Sheridan continues his meteoric rise up the coaching ladder.
Sheridan played quarterback at Michigan from 2006-09 and graduated from UM in 2010 before embarking on his coaching career at the high school level. After just one season at his alma mater -- Saline High School in Saline, Mich. -- Sheridan joined Taggart at WKU in the spring of 2011 as an offensive grad assistant. He was promoted to quarterbacks coach and passing-game coordinator a year later, and has now moved on from high school to the Sun Belt to the Big East in just three short years.
Wells and Sheridan join Raymond Woodie (defensive assistant) and Larry Scott (offensive assistant) as members of Taggart’s initial staff. Woodie was also a member of WKU’s 2012 staff, while Scott is the lone holdover from the Skip Holtz era.