Florida State football struggles aside, coaching job still shines bright like a diamond
By Kareem Gantt
Although it may not look like it now, the Florida State Seminole’s coaching position is still one of college football’s more highly coveted positions.
When Willie Taggart was fired by Florida State, it seemed, on paper at least, that Florida State was stuck in a perpetual downward spiral that they couldn’t figure out how to get out of.
Their offense is a mess. Their defense is a mess. The entire program is an utter dumpster fire right now. As a diehard Florida Gator fan, nothing brings me more joy than to watch Florida State struggle week-n-and-week-out. I was a huge proponent of keeping Taggart on the sidelines for as long as possible.
That dream is now dead, and now that Florida State is back in coach-searching mode, the question one should be asking is which high profile college coach would want to get within 200-miles of the funk emanating from Tallahassee?
The answer? A lot.
As soon as Taggart was fired, FAU’s Lane Kiffin immediately expressed interest in the Florida State job. Also on Florida State’s wish list? Try Mark Stoops of Kentucky, P.J. Fleck of Minnesota who just signed a contract extension and UCF’s Josh Heupel, for starters. These aren’t relatively unknowns here, and the amount of coaching talent looking hard at Florida State indicates something that we’ve long known even while Taggart was trying his darndest to bring down the Seminoles.
Florida State is still, and will always be a highly coveted coaching job.
Why? Because it’s still one of college football’s most storied programs. We’re talking about a football program with a 555-268-18 (.671) record. That’s good enough to be the 10-highest winning percentage in FBS history. A 28-16-3 record in bowl games (.628), three national championships, 18 ACC championships, three Heisman winners and one of the most passionate and dedicated fanbases in college athletics.
The point is, any coach that is either an up-and-comer or are already on the level of college football greatness would be crazy to pass up on the Florida State job; and I have yet to mention that any coach who takes on this rebuild won’t have to pay a penny in state income tax.
Yes, Florida State is in the middle of a rebuild, and Seminoles fans are not known to be an easy-going, laid back bunch. These fans are not used to losing nor are they used to having to survive nail-biters against the likes of Louisiana-Monroe. This was the Taggart era, in a nutshell, one that many Florida State fans would love to forget, just like Gators fans have forgotten about Will Muschamp and Ron Zook.
Taking the reigns of this mess won’t be for the faint of heart. The history that stacks behind this program demand a coach who knows how to recruit and turn teams into consistent winners. We don’t know which coach will be brave enough to take on this role but rest assured, that coach will be ecstatic to be coaching one of the more storied college football programs in history, no matter what shape it’s in right now.
So, anyone who says the Florida State job isn’t a good job anymore, those folks are outright lying to you. The Seminoles are still in contention for a bowl game, believe it or not, and the Seminoles are not that far away from being back to where they belong — in the upper echelon of the college football.
All they need is the right coach with the right vision to get them there. It quickly became apparent that Taggart wasn’t that coach. What we do know, and have always known, is Florida State will attract a big-time coach to lead the Seminoles out this valley of uncertainty.
Bet on it.
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