Head coach Willie Taggart introduces his coaching staff at the signing day reception Wednesday night, Feb. 3, 2010. According to Rivals.com, Taggart recruited the number one class in the Sun Belt Conference. TANNER CURTIS/HERALD

Brandon Doughty said Head Coach Willie Taggart’s West Coast Offense is a perfect fit for him.

But even as the highest-rated quarterback in Taggart’s 2010 recruiting class, the Rivals.com three-star quarterback won’t be guaranteed the starting job right away.

Doughty and junior college transfer Matt Pelesasa, along with sophomore Kawaun Jakes and redshirt freshman Courtney Dalcourt, made Western’s quarterback race tighter after Wednesday’s National Signing Day.

Doughty will have to compete with Jakes, who started nine games for the Toppers last season, and Courtney Dalcourt, a Franklin-Simpson High School player who sat out injured all last season.

Doughty said he’s ready to accept that challenge.

“Coach Taggart told me that it’s a new system with new players, and no one has the advantage right now,” Doughty said. “I’m really excited about that — having a full opportunity to come and compete early.”

Taggart said Wednesday that he’s looking for a leader in his quarterback more than anything.

“We want a guy that is confident, has a little swag to him,” Taggart said. “No matter what the situation is, he needs to lead the team — good or bad — and a guy that can do that consistently.”

Doughty’s head coach at North Broward Prep, Derrick Mays, said Doughty fits all those qualities.

“I know his work ethic,” Mays said. “I know his leadership abilities. I know how he’s already excited about getting out and throwing with some of the guys and establishing relationships with the wide receivers and running backs. He’ll be an impact player there.”

Mays said his team ran a similarly-styled offense to what Western will run and that Doughty excelled in it.

“He’s one of those rare commodity quarterbacks that can make every throw,” Mays said. “We were traditionally a spread offense but would sometimes switch to a pro-set, and Brandon could make every single throw.”

Taggart said Doughty can throw an accurate deep ball and has good anticipation when under center.

And as a signed Topper, Doughty kept repeating how excited he was to be a part of the Western football program, saying he and Taggart had a “natural connection.”

“I can just see myself playing there,” he said. “I stepped on the field, and I kind of got goosebumps. It was just the right fit.”

Doughty also said he wants to help turn around Western’s program — one that currently holds the nation’s longest losing streak at 20 games.

“I think our class as a whole is going to change this program around,” he said. “I have full belief in Coach Taggart and the things that he’s doing. I see us winning many championships. Hopefully the fan base gets going and we get the student body on our side and supporting us out there.”

View Football Signing Day: Class of 2010 in a larger map

Head Coach Willie Taggart’s first Signing Day didn’t come without anxiety.

“I tell you what, earlier today (Monday) I was saying, ‘I hope these guys can run faster than these faxes are coming back,’ because they weren’t coming back fast enough for a while,” Taggart said.

But then 16 faxes finally came in, and Taggart officially inked the Sun Belt Conference’s top recruiting class, according to Rivals.com.

The 2010 class marks the second straight year that Western has ranked atop the Sun Belt in recruiting.

“I’m happy with what we were able to do in a short amount of time,” Taggart said. “All the credit goes to the coaching staff and support staff.”

The class showcases five Rivals.com three-star players and 10 two-star players.

And although Taggart said their faxes traveled slowly, the theme of this year’s class is speed.

Defensive tackles coach and recruiting coordinator Eric Mathies called the class of 2010 explosive.

“They just don’t have the ability to run — they have the ability to explode,” he said.

The class is highlighted by three-star quarterback Brandon Doughty from Coconut Creek, Fla., three-star defensive back Jerome Speights from Tampa, Fla., and three-star offensive lineman Cameron Clemmons from Lebanon, Tenn.

Tampa Bay Technical High School coach C.C. Culpepper said Speights is a smart football player that may end up being one of the best defensive players in Western history.

“He was the quarterback on our defense,” Culpepper said. “He made all our calls for us. He was a kid that was a very aggressive hitter and made very good plays on the ball.”

Much of the buzz heading in to Signing Day surrounded four-star quarterback recruit Brion Carnes, from Bradenton, Fla.

After South Florida pulled its scholarship from Carnes last week, several reports stated that Carnes would commit to Western. Throughout the weekend, conflicting reports emerged saying that Carnes would sign with Nebraska instead of Western.

On Wednesday, Carnes made it official that he wouldn’t be coming to the Hill in the fall.

“He committed to us, and he had a change of heart,” Taggart said. “That’s part of recruiting. We all know that’s why we sit around for that fax on signing day. You just never know. These kids will break your heart.”

Carnes would’ve been the highest-rated player in Western’s 2010 class.

“We wanted him, but he felt like Nebraska was a better place for him,” Taggart said. “Sometimes you finish, and sometimes you don’t. But you’ve got to learn and move on.”

Even after failing to sign Carnes, Western put together the 89th-ranked class in the nation, according to Rivals.com.

Only one home-state player, wide receiver Rico Brown from Berea, signed this year.

Brown, a two-star player, said the family atmosphere is what sold him on Western.

“They made me feel welcome when I came down there,” he said. “They communicated well with me and made me feel like I was already a part of the family.”

Brown said he’s looking to make the most of his situation on a new team, as is Taggart, who inherits a team with 20 consecutive losses.

“I told them I don’t have any evidence we’re going to win, but you need to have faith in me,” Taggart said. “I tell you this, I’ve won all my life. I’m not a loser. Everywhere I’ve been, we’ve won. I don’t plan on stopping now.”

View Football Signing Day: Class of 2010 in a larger map

Florida has become college football’s recruiting hotbed in recent years, and programs across the nation have dipped into the state’s talent pool.

Head Coach Willie Taggart jumped right into recruiting Florida players in just more than two months on the job, as his 2010 class features 10 commitments from the Sunshine State.

“Going back to day one, not settling, we said we were going to go after the best ones,” Taggart said. “Having that mindset really helped us get to where we’re at in this class.”

Out of the 10 players from Florida, quarterback Brandon Doughty, safety Xavius Boyd and cornerback Jerome Speights were all Rivals.com three-star recruits.

Taggart said he used his home-state connections, most notably defensive ends coach Raymond Woodie, to steer recruits from Florida to Western.

Woodie, a Florida native, served as head coach of Bayshore High School and Palmetto High School before joining Taggart’s staff this past winter. Woodie suggested that prospects from the south have a competitive advantage.

“There’s a lot of competition in Florida high school football,” Woodie said. “I don’t know if it’s the weather or not, but kids down there are just strong and fast. Football is life in Florida. All other sports come after that.”

Woodie recently coached in a Florida all-star game in which he got to better know some of the players.

“He’s been coaching there for years, so he knew a lot of the coaches, knew a lot of the kids, and I think just from a personal standpoint he’s good with people,” Taggart said.

Western’s 2010 schedule will provide plenty of opportunities to impress future Sunshine State recruits, too.

The Toppers will play Florida International and Florida Atlantic in Sun Belt Conference play, and Western will also make a non-conference road trip to Tampa, Fla., for a game against the Big East Conference’s South Florida.

Woodie said those games will “very much” provide an impact when it comes to signing a 2011 class.

Recruiting coordinator Eric Mathies said Western was fearless in recruiting the nation’s best players.

“We weren’t taking a backseat to anybody,” Mathies said. “If we can get these kids on campus, no matter where they’re from, we’re going to make an impact.”

Early Wednesday morning, Head Coach Willie Taggart learned one of his first lessons as a Football Bowl Subdivision head coach.

He watched a coveted recruit walk away after a change in the 11th hour.

In the days leading up to National Signing Day, it seemed all but done that Rivals.com four-star quarterback Brion Carnes was going to sign to play for the Toppers.

That’s the thing. It was all but done.

“He committed to us, and he had a change of heart,” Taggart said. “That’s part of recruiting. We all know that’s why we sit around for that fax on signing day. You just never know. These kids will break your heart.”

Carnes was in Bowling Green this past weekend to make an official visit to Western, which happened just hours after South Florida pulled their offer to the Bradenton, Fla., prospect. The result was a four-day frenzy that continued until Wednesday morning, when by 8 a.m. it was out the Carnes was going to Nebraska.

Carnes had a good connection to Nebraska, as his cousin Tommie Frazier led the Cornhuskers to two national championships in the 1990s when Carnes was in diapers.

Frazier is a legend in the heartland, and Carnes could have come to Western to become a legend of his own under Taggart.

Western was going to haul in a class that just with Carnes would have brought excitement.

Once again, it was a decision late in the game that cost Western a victory. This time in recruiting.

Taggart’s 2010 class is full of Rivals.com two-star recruits, as well as a three-star quarterback and a trio of three-star defensive backs.

The first-year head coach had no easy task, selling a program in transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision that has lost 20 straight games with no real end in sight — or until Western at least reaches the October portion of their schedule.

Carnes’ situation was one where it seemed Taggart had the advantage. The two have known each other for quite a few years, and had Carnes come to Western, there would have been an immediate trust between the two.

So now, Taggart must work with what is left.

And by all measures, given the circumstances Taggart did a good job.

Taggart must be commended for the work he and his staff were able to do in the two-and-a-half months they’ve been on board.

Now the challenge begins for Taggart. He’s proven himself over time as an excellent recruiter, and this class once again proved that.

Now he must repair the on-field product in spring practices.

And as good as the start of his career has been, remember: It’s about finishing.