Coach Willie Taggart searched past National Signing Day for a complete staff, but on Wednesday the first-year head coach may have inked his biggest prospect yet.

Clint Bowen, who spent the last 12 years on the University of Kansas’ staff and the last four as defensive coordinator, will now serve as Western’s defensive coordinator.

“We got a great hire,” Taggart said. “From day one, I wanted to take my time and make sure we got the right guy, the right fit.”

Taggart said Bowen fits everything he was looking for in a defensive coordinator and can get the team to “play football like they’re supposed to play football.”

Taggart said there’s some stability around the program now that he has all of his staff in place.

“We finally got the guys on board,” he said. “Things are getting a little better. We’ve got to get the right guys on the bus and put them in the right seat. Now it’s time to see that bus ride. I’m going to see how far I can drive that bus.”

Bowen helped lead Kansas to three bowl wins in his tenure, peaking with a No. 7 national ranking in 2007.

Three candidates interviewed for the defensive coordinator position, but it was obvious that Bowen was the right fit, Taggart said.

“I wanted to stop the interview halfway through and say we don’t have to go anymore,” he said. “I’m just blessed to get a guy of Clint’s caliber to come here and help us turn this program around.”

Bowen’s landing at Western seemed like destiny, he said.

Eric Mathies, defensive tackles and recruiting coordinator, was the first to bring Bowen to Taggart’s attention.

Soon after, Taggart said he got a call from current Stanford Head Coach Jim Harbaugh, where Bowen’s name came up again.

“I just thought something’s got to be behind this,” Taggart said. “His name kept coming up from different places and different angles. Everyone kept telling me ‘you’ve got to get Clint down here.’”

Bowen said Western was the right fit for him, both football-wise and for his family.

But he added that Taggart as head coach was one of the first selling points.

Like Taggart, Bowen said he wants to change the team’s attitude into a winning one, especially on defense.

Bowen already plans to play with a four-man front, moving away from the 3-4 defense of years past. But Bowen said his main focus will be getting the Toppers to play hard.

“They’ve got to play with unbelievable effort,” Bowen said. “We want guys flying to the ball and to be very physical and very tough. We’re going to have a variety of things.

“The way offenses are now, if you sit in one thing down after down after down, offensive coordinators have ways to beat you and adjust, so you can’t give them the same look.”

Western’s spring practice begins March 23.

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

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.