EUGENE — Willie Taggart has been congratulating successful Oregon sports programs for “doing something” frequently of late, including the record-setting women’s track team, the undefeated softball team and the basketball teams during their respective NCAA Tournament runs to the women’s Elite Eight and men’s Final Four.

Now it is time for Taggart to get back on the field to begin the process of returning Ducks football to national prominence.

Oregon, coming off a 4-8 season that led to the offseason purging of coach Mark Helfrich and his assistants, will open spring practice on Wednesday.

The 14 practices and the spring game on April 29 will be educational for fans, players and the new staff.

“I told our coaches, when spring ball is over with, I want to be able to say we’re good at something,” Taggart said recently. “We don’t have to put everything in, but when it’s over with we’re going to be able to say we’re good at this or we’re good at that, and this guy can help us and that guy might have to play another position.

“I think after spring ball we’ll have a better understanding of our entire football team academically, socially and athletically. We’ll know where we’re at, and then you can really put a nice plan in from that point on.”

Taggart did not plan to spend parts of his first winter in Eugene putting out public relations fires.

Strength coach Irele Oderinde served a one-month suspension without pay after three players were hospitalized because of exercise-related injuries.

Taggart apologized for the incident but stands behind Oderinde. The former South Florida coach said he is still amazed at the lack of brawniness on the Oregon roster he inherited.

“I’m excited about the way our kids work. They don’t mind working and they’re not complaining about anything,” Taggart said. “We’ve got to get stronger, we’re not a strong football team. That was surprising. When we worked the guys out and did our max, I was really surprised at how weak we were.”

Two members of Taggart’s original staff, co-offensive coordinator/tight ends coach David Reaves and wide receivers coach Jimmie Dougherty, did not last long at Oregon.

Reaves, who was arrested on Jan. 22 on charges of DUI, reckless driving and reckless endangerment, resigned on Feb. 3.

Dougherty was a passenger in the car Reaves was driving but did not face any charges from the incident. Still, he left the program on Feb. 8 to join UCLA’s staff.

The attrition allowed Taggart to add Marcus Arroyo and Michael Johnson late in the process.

Arroyo, who has play-calling experience in college and the NFL, is Oregon’s co-offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and tight ends coach.

“He’s someone with experience who has coached at the highest level,” Taggart said of Arroyo, who served as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers interim offensive coordinator after Jeff Tedford stepped away with health issues. “Arroyo is a guy I was trying to hire at South Florida but didn’t have the budget to do it at the time. He’s a smart coach and he has climbed the ladder fast, very similar to myself, and that played a big part in it.”

Arroyo played quarterback at San Jose State, where he was later an assistant for Dick Tomey, who also worked with Taggart as an assistant athletic director at South Florida. Arroyo has also been the offensive coordinator at Wyoming and Southern Mississippi, the passing game coordinator at California and most recently the running backs coach at Oklahoma State.

“Just seeing his growth and where he’s gone, he has so much knowledge of the game,” Taggart said. “He’s passionate about the position he coaches and about his players.”

Johnson adds 10 years of NFL experience, including a stint as the San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator. He was the UCLA interim head coach for the Fight Hunger Bowl in 2011 after Rick Neuheisel was fired.

“We’ve helped ourselves big-time,” Taggart said of adding Johnson as wide receivers coach. “He was a steal for us, and I feel like an upgrade. He’s another guy that has coached at the highest level.”

Johnson was going to step down as the head coach at the King’s Academy in Sunnyvale, California, where his son was one of the nation’s top quarterback prospects, to be an offensive analyst for Jim Harbaugh at Michigan.

Then Taggart came calling with the offer of a full-time position. Now Michael Jr. will be playing at Eugene’s Sheldon High.

“Like all these guys, he’s really excited to be here,” Taggart said of Michael Sr. “It wasn’t really like pulling teeth trying to get them here. They felt like I did about the University of Oregon and what we can accomplish here.”

Taggart’s first hire, on Dec. 16, was defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt, the former South Florida coach and 49ers assistant who helped turn Colorado’s fortunes around.

Even UO president Michael Schill weighed in on the program’s defensive woes after the Ducks finished 126th out of 128 FBS teams in points allowed (41.4) and yards allowed (518.4) last season.

“I remember during my press conference, president Schill got up and spoke and he said, ‘I don’t know much about football, but I do know we need a defensive coordinator,’” Taggart said. “I knew then what I needed to go do. I tried to find the best one out there and felt like we did that with Jim.”

The Buffaloes finished eighth nationally in yards allowed per play (4.69), 13th in passing yards allowed (182.5 ypg), 17th in total yards allowed (328.3 ypg) and 18th in scoring defense (20.5 ppg) en route to winning the Pac-12 South Division title in 2016.

“Everywhere he’s been they’ve had good defenses,” Taggart said. “The job he did at Colorado was remarkable. He really helped that team come around. I think it’s going to help our guys tremendously just having someone so passionate who understands the game of football and defenses.

“I’m a big believer that your team plays like your coach’s personality. I think they will reflect his personality.”

Leavitt will coach linebackers during Oregon’s transition back to a 3-4 base defense. He will be assisted by veteran defensive line coach Joe Salave’a, cornerbacks coach Charles Clark and safeties coach Keith Hayward.

Salave’a spent the previous six seasons as a Pac-12 assistant with Washington State (2012-16) and Arizona (2011).

“I always think there’s something to that when you’ve trained and worked and been in their shoes and to the place where they all want to go,” Taggart said of Salave’a, who played nine seasons in the NFL. “When you talk about things it resonates a little more and they kind of take to it a little more. He’s a really good football coach but a better person. He truly cares about the kids, and that was important to me.”

Clark coached under Leavitt at Colorado, and Heyward is a former Oregon State player whose recent coaching stops have included USC (2014-15) and Louisville (2016).

“Coach Clark understands the defense and he can help bring the defense together from the back end to the front end,” Taggart said. “Coach Heyward has been part of a good defense at Louisville. They’ve both recruited out West. They’ve meshed so well together, it’s been good.”

Taggart also lured co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Mario Cristobal away from Alabama and brought running backs coach Donte Pimpleton and special teams coordinator Raymond Woodie with him from South Florida.

Cristobal, the former head coach at Florida International, won national championships as a player at Miami (Florida) and as an assistant under Nick Saban with the Crimson Tide.

Pimpleton and Woodie helped Taggart rebuild Western Kentucky and South Florida. Now it is time to do something similar under a brighter spotlight at Oregon.

“I’m watching those guys grow even more and I can see their excitement now being around an all-star staff full of pros,” Taggart said. “Those guys have been with me and they understand what it takes to turn around a program. It takes a lot of work and consistency and accountability. And probably more importantly, it takes discipline.

“They understand how we do it and how I am. That’s why those guys have always been with me, because they know what it takes.”

“I’m excited about the way our kids work. They don’t mind working and they’re not complaining about anything. We’ve got to get stronger, we’re not a strong football team. That was surprising.”— Oregon football coach Willie Taggart