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The Baltimore Ravens have hired longtime college coach Willie Taggart to oversee their running backs, the team announced Wednesday.

Taggart is the former head coach at Florida State, Oregon, Western Kentucky, South Florida and Florida Atlantic, which he led for the past three seasons before being fired in November. He had been set to join Colorado’s staff under coach Deion Sanders but instead will take on an NFL job for the first time.

Taggart will take over for Craig Ver Steeg, who has coached the Ravens’ running backs for the past three seasons. Ver Steeg, who has been on the Ravens’ staff since John Harbaugh’s first season in Baltimore in 2008, could get reassigned to a different role.

“We are excited to welcome Willie to the Ravens as our running backs coach,” Harbaugh said in a statement. “Willie has been a highly successful and respected college assistant and head coach. He has a proven track record for developing players as a position coach, as an offensive coordinator and as a head coach. A leader and a highly effective motivator, Willie’s reputation for building strong relationships with his players and fellow coaches will serve our offense well moving forward.”

The Ravens return top running back J.K. Dobbins, who is entering his contract season. After missing the 2021 season with a knee injury, Dobbins averaged 99.3 yards rushing and 7.0 yards per carry in his last four games this past season.

The Ravens also announced that wide receivers coach Tee Martin will now be the team’s quarterbacks coach.

Baltimore could make additional changes to its offensive staff under new coordinator Todd Monken.

Taggart, 46, went 15-18 at Florida Atlantic after a 9-12 record in less than two seasons at Florida State. He’s 71-80 overall as a college head coach, including a 10-win season at South Florida in 2016.

Taggart played for and later coached under Jack Harbaugh, the father of Ravens coach John Harbaugh, at Western Kentucky. He also worked for John Harbaugh’s brother, Jim, at Stanford from 2007 to 2009 before landing his first head-coaching job at Western Kentucky.

The 2009 season marked Taggart’s most recent as an assistant — he coached Stanford’s running backs that fall. A star quarterback for Western Kentucky, Taggart began his coaching career working with wide receivers at his alma mater in 1999.

ESPN’s Jamison Hensley contributed to this report.

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who lost his starting job earlier this week, will not be returning to the team, he announced Thursday night.

Castellanos, who started 12 games last season and retained the top job under new coach Bill O’Brien, wrote on X that “unfortunately, all good things come to an end, even though it’s sooner than I would like.” He did not mention the transfer portal in his departing message and has not officially entered it. The junior from Waycross, Georgia, started his career at UCF and appeared in five games in 2022.

O’Brien said Tuesday that Grayson James, who replaced Castellanos in last week’s win against Syracuse, will start Saturday when Boston College visits No. 14 SMU. Castellanos “wasn’t real thrilled” with the decision, O’Brien said, adding that the quarterback decided to step away from the team for several days.

Castellanos had 2,248 passing yards and 1,113 rushing yards last season under coach Jeff Hafley, passing for 15 touchdowns and adding 13 on the ground. He had 18 touchdown passes and only five interceptions this season, but his accuracy dipped in recent weeks, and he completed only 2 of 7 passes against Syracuse before being replaced.

In his statement, Castellanos thanked both coaching staffs he played for at Boston College and wrote that he had “some of the best experiences of my life in the Eagles Nest and I will truly cherish these memories forever.”

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Gators’ Lagway ‘ready to play,’ will start vs. LSU

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Gators' Lagway 'ready to play,' will start vs. LSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is “ready to play,” coach Billy Napier said Thursday on his weekly radio show.

Napier removed Lagway from the team’s injury report and penciled him in to start against No. 21 LSU in the Swamp on Saturday.

Lagway practiced every day this week while progressing from a strained left hamstring. The highly touted freshman was carted off the field against Georgia on Nov. 2. Tests revealed a “less significant” injury than initially feared, and now he’s back in time to face the Tigers.

The Gators (4-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) need him. They have to win two of their final three regular-season games to become bowl eligible.

LSU (6-3, 3-2) has struggled mightily against dual-threat QBs, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, who ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns last week.

Lagway returns after walk-on and Yale transfer Aidan Warner started in his place against Texas. Warner threw two interceptions and was 12-of-25 passing for 132 yards in a 49-17 loss.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

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Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

No. 12 Georgia will be without leading rusher Trevor Etienne for Saturday’s showdown against No. 7 Tennessee.

Etienne was downgraded from questionable to out on Thursday night’s SEC availability report.

Etienne left Georgia’s win over Florida with an upper-body injury on Nov. 2 and did not return. He played limited snaps in last week’s 28-10 loss at Ole Miss, carrying the ball six times for 24 yards.

Etienne leads the Bulldogs with 477 rushing yards and seven touchdowns this season.

The loss is another blow to Georgia’s banged-up backfield. Cash Jones is also listed as questionable while Branson Robinson remains out after missing the past three games with a knee injury.

That leaves true freshman Nate Frazier as the only healthy Bulldogs running back who has played meaningful snaps this year. Frazier is second on the team with 333 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

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