Willie Taggart Comments on Oregon Players Hospitalized After Workouts

Fresh off a successful national signing day but still facing concerns about his handling of player safety, Oregon head football coach Willie Taggart took a somewhat defiant stance on the problems that have enveloped the program since his hiring.

"They understood who we were, and they understood it was a bogus story," Taggart told John Canzano of The Oregonian when asked what he told recruits regarding the controversy.

Oregon suspended strength coach Irele Oderinde for 30 days after three Ducks players collapsed during an offseason workout in January. Taggart previously offered his "sincere apologies" in a meeting with the three players and took responsibility for the situation.

"As the head football coach, I hold myself responsible for all of our football-related activities and the safety of our students must come first. I have addressed the issue with our strength and conditioning staff, and I fully support the actions taken today by the university," Taggart said in a statement, which has since been removed from the team's official website.

Oregon President Michael Schill said he was "very upset" about the player hospitalizations, per Andrew Theen of The Oregonian. Taggart, with weeks of reflection under his belt, seemed to be directing his anger toward how the story was covered.

"I'm not blaming the media," Taggart told Canzano. "I'm blaming the story."

Taggart later categorized himself as "mad" at the "negative attention" on the program, though he seemed to take back part of his previous comments.

"I don't blame anyone. I don't make excuses. I don't work that way," Taggart said. "You do the best you can do and you do things the right way. Of course, you get mad when there's negative attention brought to your program and negative things said about your program when you know it's not true."

Taggart, who replaced Mark Helfrich after spending the last four seasons at South Florida, has also taken some criticism after assistant coach David Reaves was arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants. Reaves has been placed on administrative leave, and the school plans to fire him with cause, per Andrew Greif of The Oregonian.