Willie Taggart finalized his first staff as Oregon Ducks head coach Thursday with the hiring of a ninth assistant, Raymond Woodie.

Woodie will coach special teams.

Woodie has been with Taggart since 2010, when Taggart took over as Western Kentucky's coach and Woodie coached the WKU defensive ends. Over the course of the past four seasons at South Florida, Woodie coached linebackers, special teams and was defensive coordinator in 2016.

In 2015, USF's special teams ranked sixth-best nationally with 26.6 yards per kickoff return.

Woodie was a linebacker and safety for Bethune-Cookman and played in the CFL with British Columbia in 1996 before spending the next 13 years as a high school coach in Florida. Like Taggart, Woodie grew up in Palmetto, Florida.

Of Taggart's nine full-time assistants, three come from USF: Woodie, running backs coach Donte Pimpleton and co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach David Reaves. Two others, defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt and co-offensive coordinator Mario Cristobal, are former head coaches at the college level.

Quarterback is the only position without a dedicated position coach, and an Oregon spokesman said he did not immediately know who would lead the QBs, whether Taggart -- a former college quarterback -- or anyone else.

-- Andrew Greif

@andrewgreif

agreif@oregonian.com