Florida State’s Willie Taggart set to have long-term success with Seminoles

All the pieces are in place for the Seminoles new head coach to have tremendous 2018, but is he ready for the scrutiny?

There are plenty of reasons to like Florida State first-year head coach Willie Taggart. For starters, he is already changing a poisonous culture left by the previous regime that saw former Seminoles coach, Jimbo Fisher, exit stage left for Texas A&M and a lucrative contract.

The Noles managed to keep a 41st consecutive winning season in place with a bowl win in 2017, rallying behind interim coach and long-time assistant Odell Haggins, who Taggart smartly retained when he was hired in December. Up until that point, FSU had played without much energy. Starting quarterback Deondre Francois went down with a knee injury in the opener against Alabama and it unraveled from there.

Taggart is reportedly holding players more accountable. Making sure they are getting to class, placing an importance on academics. It’s not a ground-breaking methodology for a first-year head coach to use, but it’s a needed one in Tallahassee. Fisher was a fine recruiter, he had to have been to win a national title but became just as well-known for facilitating the poor decisions and immaturity of Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston and others. Fisher had lost the ability to motivate his team last year, evident in the way the Noles played after Francois went down.

FSU hired a proven commodity with a good pedigree in Taggart. He coached under Jim Harbaugh at Stanford. That, coupled with his ability to turn losing programs into winners at each of his stops, tells you he can coach—in-game strategy, not just X’s and O’s. Harbaugh had some fine talent at Stanford, but in most cases, he was the smarter of the two head coaches on the field and that’s the reason the Cardinal was successful under his tenure. Taggart clearly picked up on that.

You also have to like were Taggart came from and his path to Florida State. He was an all-stater from Bradenton (Fla.) in high school, so this is a homecoming for him. Taggart played at Western Kentucky, was an assistant there, and became the head coach of the Hilltoppers after his time in Palo Alto. Western Kentucky was on a 20-game losing streak when Taggart took over, delivering back-to-back winning seasons in 2011 and 2012, the school’s first since moving up to FBS from FCS.

Taggart turned South Florida around at his next stop, going from 2-10 in his first season to 10-2 in his final year and finishing in the top 20. Last year he was at Oregon, which was coming off a four-win season. The Ducks went 7-5 without starting quarterback Justin Herbert for half the year. Everywhere he has been, Taggart has had success and he is set up to do that same at FSU with a talented quarterback in Francois and a top 15 recruiting class.

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Though he is a proven winner, now Taggart is on the grand stage—televised games every Saturday against better opponents in a strong football conference. He’s the next hot coach, but can he handle the pressures of being under a national microscope? Fisher had one bad season a few years removed from a championship and the fans turned on him. Now he is gone.

Taggart can’t afford the same seven-win season. He has to win, quick. He is making all the right moves thus far. We will see if it transitions to the field this fall.