A week ago, while Oregon fans were gearing up for the basketball team's Final Four trip, and UO students were away on spring break, new Ducks football coach Willie Taggart was looking at blueprints.

More specifically, Taggart was visiting the spring camps of other programs, including reigning national champion Clemson. Dabo Swinney took over as head coach of the Tigers midway through the 2008 season and methodically built them into a powerhouse, losing the College Football Playoff National Championship game after the 2015 season before winning it all this past season.

Taggart, who is attempting to right Oregon's ship following a 4-8 season, would like to follow a similar blueprint to the one Swinney laid out for Clemson back in 2009.

"They're just starting to reap the benefits of those changes," Taggart said. "It's a culture that changed under Dabo, and they all understand that."

Taggart has been implementing a cultural change with the Ducks in meetings and winter workouts the past few months. The next step in the process is spring practice, which begins Wednesday morning for the Oregon football team.

"Hey hey, it's Christmas time around here, right?" Taggart exclaimed as he bounded into a press conference Tuesday to preview spring camp. "Finally! Finally, finally, finally."

In a half-hour meeting with reporters – twice as long as originally scheduled – Taggart offered few specifics about his depth chart, Oregon's injury situation and what his expectations are for the month of drills that culminate with the spring game April 29. But he noted that reporters will be able to draw their own conclusions during the four open practice sessions this month, and portions of each of the other spring practices that will be open to media.

And Taggart avoided delving too deeply into specifics because his primary focus right now is cultural – creating a culture of competitiveness and camaraderie that he felt was lacking.

"We have some players on this football team," Taggart said. "Guys who can play at a high level, and have shown that. I think the key is for our kids to play for each other. When I watch the film from last year, I didn't see a team that cared for each other. I personally believe if they did, we probably would have won more ballgames."

The Ducks return their starting backfield from 2016, including sophomore quarterback Justin Herbert and senior running back Royce Freeman . Four sophomores return along the offensive line, as does senior Tyrell Crosby following a season lost to injury. Receivers Darren Carrington II and Charles Nelson are back as well, and the defense includes veterans Henry Mondeaux on the line, Troy Dye at linebacker and Brenden Schooler in the secondary.

But from the sound of things, none of them should feel comfortable about his standing with the team entering spring drills. Among the first moves Taggart made was to strip veterans in single-digit jerseys of that designation, forcing them to earn that coveted status over the ensuing weeks and months. He's also challenged the Ducks to be physically stronger, saying Tuesday he saw upon taking over "a weak football team, from a physical standpoint, strength-wise."

A question about Herbert's status on the depth chart entering April prompted Taggart to lay out just how competitive this month will be.

"It's going to be a moving depth chart," said Taggart, who later lauded Herbert's intelligence and athleticism, without making any guarantees about how that impacts his standing. "Guys can't have a bad day and expect to stay in that spot. They're going to be evaluated every day and graded every day, to see where they stand."

Taggart is wading into familiar waters, after turning around programs at Western Kentucky and South Florida. One thing he's trying to do differently this time, he said, is connect better with Oregon's seniors, whom he met with Sunday before the start of spring term at the university.

That group includes not only Carrington, Crosby, Freeman and Mondeaux but key 2016 cogs including linebacker Jimmie Swain , cornerback Arrion Springs and defensive back Tyree Robinson .

"Talking with those guys, that's something I didn't do enough at the last two spots, was spend more time with those kids – guys who've been here a while, was recruited by other coaches and been in the culture for so long, knowing one way," Taggart said. "I don't think I did a good job at the last two jobs of catering to the seniors, and getting to know them better.

"We have some awesome kids here; I shouldn't call them 'kids' – young men. That really want to win and really want to do it the right way. Getting to know them, and help them lead, will help us."

Taggart is also reaching out to Oregon's fans, by opening up three practices for public viewing prior to the spring game. Those are scheduled to take place Friday and Saturday of this week at the UO practice facilities, and again April 15 in a practice held at Jesuit High in Portland for the benefit of Oregon fans in that community.

Local media are also invited to watch portions of each and every practice. And Taggart said they're free to ask him about injury situations they see – "for now," he clarified, indicating things could change come fall.

What fans and media will see, Taggart hopes, are competitive practices in which technique and fundamentals are stressed. And the reward for working hard will be more hard work – if the offense or defense wins a team period, that group, and not the loser, will do extra running after practice.

"They'll have the opportunity to get better," Taggart said.

Over the next month, the goal is for the entire team to get better, establishing a foundation on which Oregon's 2017 season – and success in the 2017 season – will be built.