Florida State needs to fire Willie Taggart for Seminoles to be great again

Florida State avoided hitting rock bottom vs. UL Monroe but it’s clear for the Seminoles to be great again, they have to buyout Willie Taggart and move on.

Not all wins are judged equally. Florida State’s win over UL Monroe is one that feels like a loss and leaves more questions about Willie Taggart and the direction of the program.

Florida State needed a missed extra point by UL Monroe to escape with a 45-44 win in overtime. The Seminoles had another second-half collapse after blowing a commanding vs. Boise State last week to avoid a second straight 0-2 start for the first time since 1973-1974.

Willie Taggart bungled his timeouts late in the fourth quarter to give UL Monroe a chance to win in regulation so he’s lucky he didn’t suffer the worst loss in his brief tenure. But this is very much a win that feels like a loss.

A one-point win in overtime after a missed PAT against UL Monroe is an embarrassment for a program like Florida State.

This is a team that is only a handful of years removed from winning the national championship and having the Heisman Trophy winner on campus. They set an NFL Draft record for the most picks in a three-year span, but the program has descended toward rock bottom at an accelerated pace since Taggart’s arrival before last year.

After Florida State had the nation’s longest bowl streak snapped last year, many fans thought that was as low as things could get, but it’s clear the program is still speeding south.

For the love of Bobby Bowden, this program lived in the top-five during the 90s and dominated the ACC. There was barely any legit competition for the Noles for decades. Now, they’re an afterthought in a conference run by Clemson.

Now, it’s Clemson embarking on a run of dominance that Florida State used to enjoy.

Florida State used to own the ACC now they’re merely a tenant for the reigning national champions.

If you’re wondering when it’ll get better for Florida State, the answer is as soon as the school raises the funds necessary to buy out Taggart.

Taggart would be owed $17 million if he’s fired after this season. Taggart is 6-8 in his second year in Tallahassee. The question isn’t whether Florida State can afford to pay his buyout, because every major university can buyout a football coach if they want. The real question is how much longer Florida State waits until they do.

Taggart is a dead coach walking unless he upsets Clemson later this year. The chances of that happening are about as likely as Antonio Brown returning to the Raiders this year.

Until Florida State rids themselves of Taggart who appears to be in over his heads after failing to have his team prepared for Boise State last week and struggling with teams like UL Monroe.

Florida State needs to look in the mirror and ask themselves what kind of program they want to be.

Do they want to be the type of program that competes annually for ACC titles and is in the mix for a College Football Playoff berth like they should?

Or do they want to continue on their current path toward mediocrity and being the ACC’s version of the Tennessee Volunteers?

If Florida State wants to be great again, the first step is admitting they made a mistake hiring Taggart after Jimbo Fisher left for Texas A&M. It put FSU in a bad spot and Fisher left the cupboard bare. That much is true and gives Taggart a sliver of the benefit of the doubt.

But this is Florida State football where you don’t get the benefit of the doubt when you lose more than you win and need a prayer to avoid another embarrassment in front of the home fans who have already turned the page on the Taggart tenure in Tallahassee.