Oregon football fans will see an all-new set of coaches on the sideline next season after decades of a familiar coaching staff.
New head coach Willie Taggart has yet to complete his staff, but here are the official additions so far:
Charles Clark, Cornerbacks
The native of Eustsis, Florida, began his college football career as a safety for Ole Miss. During his senior season in 2006, Clark finished with 198 tackles and three interceptions.
His coaching career began in 2008 and 2009 as an intern and graduate assistant at Duke. He left to be a defensive backs coach at San Jose State for two years, then coached the same position at Colorado, where he met Jim Leavitt, Oregon’s new defensive coordinator.
His Twitter bio reads, “Coaching young men through life lessons. #DoSomething.”
ANYTHING you do in life, you are either getting better or getting worse, NOTHING stays the same. #GoDucks #DoSomething
— Charles Clark (@CoachClark3) January 6, 2017
Donte Pimpleton, Running Backs
Pimpleton graduated from Western Kentucky 2002 and spent four years in the Arena Football League and the American Indoor Football League.
Here are some highlights of Pimpleton catching three touchdowns:
He began his coaching career at the high school level, working for three high schools across Kentucky primarily as an offensive coach. In 2010, he began coaching with Taggart at Western Kentucky. Pimpleton reunited with Taggart in 2015 when he became South Florida’s running backs coach.
“Willie, he’s been like a big brother and friend to me,” Pimpleton said in an interview in 2010. “He took care of me when I first came in ’97. … When I coached high school, he helped me a lot.”
At South Florida, the Bulls averaged 6.5 yards per carry, which ranked second in FBS.
Pimpleton is replacing Oregon coaching legend Gary Campbell, but he isn’t shying away from the challenge.
I’ve got pretty big shoes so that means I’ve got pretty big feet. Just know i eat challenges for breakfast. #CHECKMYRESUME #GODUCKS #GRIND pic.twitter.com/twuHR8bGdN
— Donte’ Pimpleton (@coach_pimp) January 7, 2017
Jim Leavitt, Defensive Coordinator
Leavitt joins the Oregon staff to fix a defense that was statistically one of the worst in the country. He spent the last two seasons transforming the Colorado defense with great success as the defensive coordinator.
“To be honest I really love challenges,” Leavitt said in 2015 when taking the Colorado job. “This is a great one, we know that. No one’s kidding themselves.”
Leavitt was the head coach at South Florida from 1996-2009, where he finished with a .625 winning percentage. His exit from the university was controversial after allegations surfaced that he struck a player at halftime during a game against Louisville. ESPN’s Ivan Maisel reported that Leavitt interfered with the investigation by telling several players and coaches to change their stories, and that was the biggest factor in the decision to fire him.
Leavitt played as a safety for Missouri from 1974-77. He worked as a graduate assistant on the defense shortly after that. His assistant coaching stops include Iowa, Kansas State and the San Fransisco 49ers, where he coached with Jim Harbaugh, one of Taggart’s mentors.
Jimmie Dougherty, Wide Receivers
Dougherty comes to Oregon after a year of being an offensive analyst at Michigan, and his ties with Harbaugh go back even further. He coached various offensive positions at the University of San Diego from 2004-08 under Harbaugh.
He moved on to coach wide receivers at Washington from 2009-12. After Washington, he spent two years as an assistant head coach and passing game coordinator.
Follow Jack Butler on Twitter @Butler917
