Can we please stop harassing Willie Taggart for leaving Oregon?

Like many days in Eugene, when it rains it pours. While in a different context, Oregon fans are feeling a similar phenomenon as the football team is looking for a new head coach after our former head coach, Willie Taggart, announced he was leaving Oregon for Florida State on Monday.

Taggart's sudden leave has left many fans feeling hurt. Do fans have a right to be upset that he left after less than a year in Eugene? Yes. Did it take everyone by surprise? Sure. And let's admit that it did kind of feel like a break-up. But let's take a step back and recognize that he did what was best for him and his family. We hear all the time that athletes elect to transfer or choose a school based on family circumstances. We can't forget that coaches are part of that world, too.

"For me to be back home around my family and have an opportunity to win a national championship, it doesn’t get any better than that,” Taggart said during his introductory press conference on Wednesday.

I'll admit, I was shocked when I read that he had left. But after all this time, he was going after his childhood dream of working with the Seminoles.

“It’s pretty amazing how life can put you in places where you need to be and the different ways of getting there,” Taggart said. “All those years I wanted to be a Nole and supported the Noles, I never gave up on it."

Fans knew that he was a family guy from the beginning, so can we blame him for wanting to go back to his roots if the opportunity presented itself?

Now I'm not defending the way he handled it at all, rather I do think he could've handled it more openly without stringing UO along while awaiting his next move. But we're all human, and we're bound to slip at some point. That includes coaches, too.

So can we all please stop dragging him on Twitter?

While the Ducks' coaching future is uncertain, bottom line is that our program will be fine. Indeed, it did feel like a nasty break up but what's important is to look ahead to next year's possibilities. Oregon can still #DoSomething, just with a different system.

Featured image courtesy of Bleacher Report