The Florida State Seminoles haven’t been a true force in the ACC in Willie Taggart’s first season. How worried should FSU fans truly be?
Heading into Saturday’s game against the Clemson Tigers, it’s safe to say that Florida State head coach Willie Taggart’s tenure in Tallahassee hasn’t gotten off to the most promising start.
In his first season with the Seminoles, Taggart’s crew is heading into Saturday with a less-than-ideal 4-3 record that includes a 2-3 record in conference play, putting them all the way down to fifth in the ACC Atlantic division.
Although it may not be fair to expect a College Football Playoff appearance in a new coach’s first season, the real question is how worried should Seminoles fans actually be about the start their new head coach has gotten off to?
It’s fair to point out that Taggart isn’t the only new head coach to be struggling right now, not by a long shot.
Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Scott Frost, who led the UCF Golden Knights to an undefeated season last year, just got his first win of the year last week against Minnesota, and his team is currently sitting at 1-6. UCLA’s Chip Kelly, returning from a coaching hiatus, has gone just 2-6 out West in the Pac-12.
Given those records, Seminoles fans should feel a bit better, but of course they’re naturally going to want to compare Taggart to Jimbo Fisher, who left to take over a talented Texas A&M program. The Aggies are 5-2 with their only losses coming to Alabama and Clemson, but Fisher also came into College Station with a loaded roster and one of the biggest recruiting pipelines available to him in the long run.
The bigger thing to focus on regarding Taggart’s job security over the next few seasons will be how the program progresses and develops. Things could not have been worse when this season started, with FSU getting blown out by Virginia Tech in the season opener, narrowly escaping a game against Samford and then another blowout loss to Syracuse in a rough three-game stretch to start the year.
It was obvious watching those games that the main issue was the players struggling to fully comprehend the new offensive playbook. There were plenty of examples of miscommunication between players, and the results were tough to watch.
Fortunately, it looks like Taggart has tried to simplify things for his players, and in turn they’re starting to feel more comfortable with doing their jobs. Over the last four games, the Seminoles are putting up 32.5 points per contest, and Taggart recently touched on what’s been helping his team start to right the ship.
https://twitter.com/ESPNCFB/status/1035585994395930629
While Seminoles fans are understandably impatient, perspective is important. Through seven games last season, Fisher went 2-5 and inevitably finished 7-6 with an Independence Bowl victory.
So far, Taggart is off to a better start with a similar group of players. With a few recruiting classes under his belt in the next couple of years, the Seminoles will have a very good chance to be a true national powerhouse once again.
Don’t listen to anyone on Twitter calling for Taggart’s job quite yet.