Maybe it's time for Florida State's coach Willie Taggart to take a good look in the mirror if he wants to be the next conqueror of FSU football. With a laughable 7-9 start to his venture as the head coach, there is reason to question whether Taggart will remain Florida State's head coach in the years to come.
FSU football is looking very feeble going into the fifth week of the season. With two early-season losses, one to Boise State, the other to Virginia and a very close encounter with Louisiana-Monroe (only winning by a single point) it's becoming safe to say that this squad lead by Taggart won't be playing past November. As losses pile up, the frustrations mount and the snug games with teams that shouldn't compete with the former National Champions, it's fair to wonder how much longer Taggart will remain in Tallahassee.
Not to excuse Coach Taggart for his impermissible start as head coach, but he did step into a sinking ship. So with that being said, let's court attentions to former head coach Jimbo Fisher and the disaster he left in Tallahassee.
Remember Jimbo's last season as head coach? The team opened the season No. 3 in the nation and had championship expectations. The season kicked off with the Seminoles lining up against Alabama's Roll Tide, college football's juggernaut. Florida State fell short in a hard-fought battle after quarterback Deandre Francois took an awkward hit by Tallahassee native, Ronnie Harrison, who Fisher failed to recruit. Now, the team hopeful of Championship contention was without its best offensive player who was considered to be the engine of the team due to not only his talent but his leadership on the field.
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After the Roll Tide rolled over the Seminoles, everything seemed to just go downhill from there. Fisher chose his new guy under center in true freshman James Blackman who would play ULM, to get comfortable and acclimated with the team but the game was canceled because Hurricane Irma decided to sweep through Florida. Now, after sitting on a tough loss to Alabama for almost three weeks, true freshman Blackman was making his career debut against a rigged NC State squad. Although he held his own throughout his first start, the Seminoles fell short due to its weak offensive line. The team had shown signs of resilience not only in the NC State game but throughout the season. But, the offensive line was one of the worst in the entire sport, which we can blame partially on the injury bug and partially on Coach Fisher's recruiting. As Fisher lost his starting quarterback, the Florida State Seminoles watched their season diminish away like Skittles in water and ultimately lost their head coach to Texas A&M. The team worked hard towards the end of the season to qualify for a bowl appearance, which they did for the 36th consecutive season, the longest streak in college football history.
Now, I know you're thinking I'm being hard on Coach Tag but as I see it, if you're going to be a Florida State coach, you must at least make a bowl game. Florida State is arguably one of the worst teams in the sunshine state. And, I know there's no one like legend Bobby Bowden and his mentee Jimbo Fisher but Taggart came in a tarnished history by not leading the team to a bowl appearance. The former Oregon Duck has had some tough sledding in his first two seasons as head coach and I hope he figures something out to lead the Noles to a winning season. If not, I guess he'll just remain on the hot seat and eventually the seat will be pulled from under him.
