FAU Spent Surprisingly Little Money To Fire Willie Taggart

Florida Atlantic University didn't need to break the bank to fire Willie Taggart.

Taggart was cut loose by the Owls after going 15-18 through three seasons with the program, but it wasn't an expensive decision to make.

Steve Berkowitz reported that Taggart is owed just $288,462 in buyout money.

If you can get rid of your coach for the price of a very nice luxury car or boat, the decision becomes incredibly easy.

Why can't Jimbo Fisher be fired? Because he's owed more than $85 million in fully-guaranteed money still left on his contract.

That makes firing him essentially impossible. That wasn't the case at all with Willie Taggart. He was owed less than $300,000.

That's a rounding error for an athletic department, even one of FAU's size. If your buyout is that low, your program has no incentive to not dump you at the first sign of trouble or a better option.

The entire point of a buyout is to make it so high the school doesn't want to bite the bullet. Clearly, FAU wasn't afraid to write Taggart a check for $288,462 because he's gone.

Fortunately for Willie Taggart, he was owed roughly $14 million when FSU fired him. He definitely should be fine financially for a long time.

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David Hookstead is a reporter for OutKick covering a variety of topics with a focus on football and culture. He also hosts of the podcast American Joyride that is accessible on Outkick where he interviews American heroes and outlines their unique stories. Before joining OutKick, Hookstead worked for the Daily Caller for seven years covering similar topics. Hookstead is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin.