As Brandon Doughty, Forrest Lamp and Gavin Rocker strolled over together for interviews, they seemed to understand the common theme between them.
Western Kentucky's former coach has taken many of the headlines this week as the 25th-ranked Hilltoppers (11-2) prepare to face Taggart and South Florida (8-4) in the Miami Beach Bowl on Dec. 21.
Even Taggart himself has said it's frustrating for the main storyline of the game to be about him, but his former players said they understand.
"I think the media is going to talk about coach Taggart right now," said Lamp, a redshirt junior left tackle.