EUGENE -- The Oregon Ducks enter spring football practices this week facing myriad questions and coach Willie Taggart doesn't expect to get all the answers after just 15 practices.



But if Taggart, hired in December to succeed the fired Mark Helfrich, has a couple main priorities for the month ahead, it's this: Which Ducks will last, and lead?



In the aftermath of a 4-8 season, a lack of leadership and desire were commonly cited by players and coaches as twin root causes for Oregon's worst record since 1991. The Ducks chose to clean house among the staffers inside UO's Hatfield-Dowlin Complex, but nearly every player eligible has returned, and Taggart said he wants to see more pride when UO opens spring practice Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.



"I do believe this football team is waiting for someone to lead and take the bull by the horns and lead us," Taggart said in a phone interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive late last month. "That's one thing they're waiting on, and personally I would really like for it to be one of our quarterbacks."



Given the transition to a new coaching staff, all position battles are advertised as open this spring, which means incumbent starting quarterback Justin Herbert isn't immune to a challenge after a 1,936-yard, 19-touchdown true freshman season in eight games.



True freshman Braxton Burmeister enrolled this week in time for the spring academic quarter, and together with sophomore Travis Jonsen and redshirt freshman Terry Wilson Jr. will compete with Herbert, who threw four interceptions and completed 63.5 percent of his passes after he stepped into the starting job five games into his college career.



This spring, their evaluations will not stop between the practice field's white lines.



"That's something I'm looking for out of those guys, not just what they can do on the football field but how can they get their teammates to rally behind them and play for them?" said Taggart, who played QB at Western Kentucky under Jack Harbaugh. "I think that's really critical, especially playing the quarterback position."



Taggart's criteria for a leader boils down to reliability. After multiple accusations and arrests last fall marred a season already defined by its struggles on the field, Taggart said excellence in the community isn't just a talking point. But talent is also an undeniable requirement of the job.



"I think it's hard to be a leader if you're not a good player," Taggart said.



There is likely little debate that Oregon's best player is running back Royce Freeman, who turned down early entry into the NFL draft for a chance to wash out the bitter taste of last season and come up with the 935 yards necessary to break LaMichael James's school career rushing record.



Freeman's credibility in the locker room needs little discussion after 44 touchdowns in three seasons despite battling leg and upper-body injuries last fall.



Freeman is credited with doing nearly everything right on the field and as a program ambassador, too -- and because of it, Taggart singled him out as someone he's asking to wield his influence in a more forceful way, much like how past stars Marcus Mariota and Hroniss Grasu became more vocal later in their careers when asked.



"He's been doing it through actions," Taggart said of Freeman's style of leadership. "I think the next step now is being vocal at times. You don't have to talk all the time but I do think there are times where he can say something and guys will respond to him in the right way."



Last season, former UO coach Mark Helfrich said he worried worried about a leadership void entering the fall and the concern was prescient. Grievances were aired as UO slipped into a losing streak, with players calling out "guys on our team that don't even care if we win or lose," as offensive tackle Cameron Hunt, who has since graduated, said in October. And he was not alone in questioning teammates' desire.



Taggart wants his team's leaders to be willing to speak up and say the unpopular opinion, too, but feels that will only happen when players and coaches trust one another. In February, Taggart said he inherited a roster with trust issues -- "We've got to learn to like each other and love being around each other," he said -- and more than a month later, developing camaraderie is an ongoing process.





"We have some guys who want to lead they just don't know how to do it," Taggart said. "That's our job to teach them.



"You've got to be able to step up when it's time to step up, but you can't be afraid to say something to your teammates when something needs to be said to them and you can't be afraid of the comeback however they're going to come back at you."



If Taggart wants to identify leaders, he also wants a stronger, tougher roster that will follow them until the end.



Late in the winter academic quarter, the team began morning conditioning workouts called "The Chase" that were a mashup of competitions, drills and physical and mental conditioning. Taggart said he was pleased with the effort and where the team stands entering spring overall. Yet "from a mental standpoint," he said, "when things got tough, it was easy to quit."



Spring practices will be designed similarly as a gauge of efficiency under stress. UO practices will again be uptempo under Taggart.



"We're just going to run our practices and see who can execute when they're tired," Taggart said. "We're going to run around a lot. That's what we do. We're going to be physical in practice. Who can stay focused and locked in and execute at a high level when they're tired, when they're hurting? It's part of football; it's going to hurt a little bit and you've got to be able to fight through a little pain."



Oregon will practice Wednesday, Friday and Saturday this week, with the latter two practices scheduled to be open to the public. Friday's practice begins at 9:30 a.m., and Saturday's at 2:30 p.m. From there, UO will practice on Mondays, Wednesdays, Friday and Saturdays. Oregon will open its April 15 practice at Jesuit High School, as well, before playing the spring game in Autzen Stadium on April 29.





Those open practices mark a noticeable shift in policy from Helfrich and his predecessor, Chip Kelly, who closed down practices except in rare instances.



Under Taggart, other changes largely pertain to media, with all true freshmen and non-coordinator assistants off-limits for media interviews. Media will, however, be allowed to watch 30 minutes of each spring practice, regardless of whether they are open to the public.

"Guys just went out and they competed and they worked really hard," Taggart said of his first four months as coach. "Now the next step is to take it on the football field and see how we work together."



-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

@andrewgreif