No, Willie Taggart, Florida State is not undefeated
Not like this, Florida State. Not like this.
“Wide Right!” used to be the only thing separating the Seminoles from a national championship. Now, the state of the program is personified by that sunburnt, shirtless middle-aged man reading a book by himself to divert his eyes from watching another drubbing at the hands of an actual college football power. The program that ended the BCS era with one of the great single-season performances ever is now a shell of its former self just a half decade into the Playoff era.
None of this is news to anyone who was forced to watch FSU in Willie Taggart’s first year in Tallahassee. After missing a bowl for the first time since 1981, Taggart and Co., are attempting to turn the page to a new chapter. Or rather, pretend that the last chapter never happened.
This comment from Taggart over the weekend at the Seminole Boosters’ Spring Tour, via the Tampa Bay Times, is peak-FSU these days:
“It’s going well. We’re undefeated. I think we’ve got the offseason ahead of us. Our players have been working really hard. Our team’s been coming together the way we want it to. Really excited about this summer.”
Hey, um, Willie? Butch Jones called. He’d like his attitude back.
If Taggart is under the impression that last year’s train wreck vanished into thin air (like FSU’s national relevance), I’m sorry, but he’s incredibly mistaken. Oh, and before you tell me I’m taking that out of context, here’s what Taggart had to say in relation to why he believes his team will improve from 5-7:
“We don’t talk about last year. I just don’t think it’s fair to gauge this team on last year’s team. It’s a totally different team. These guys have been working. They understand and are really helping build a culture that has won here. Going to Year 2, we always talk about you’re getting better, or you’re getting worse. You don’t stay the same. I think we’re getting better in every aspect.”
You don’t talk about last year? OK, well excuse me because I will bring up a few things that FSU did in the past year. And just a heads up, the most embarrassing part of the Seminoles’ year wasn’t that their offensive line avoided pass-rushers like a high-and-tight fastball, or that they took care of the football like a 4-year-old walking a German Shepherd.
The most embarrassing thing has been watching FSU take “L” after “L” this offseason.
Where should I start? How about the first week in February when the Seminoles were down to 1 scholarship quarterback. Why were they down to 1 scholarship QB?
Well, former ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year Deondre Francois was kicked off the team after his girlfriend posted a video on Instagram alleging ongoing physical abuse. That was a month after Francois announced he was returning for his senior year.
That same week, 4-star quarterback recruit Lance LeGendre surprisingly committed to Maryland over FSU on National Signing Day. The announcement came a couple months after No. 3 dual-threat quarterback recruit Sam Howell dropped his longtime FSU commitment only to sign with in-state UNC. And if you want to include 4-star John Rhys Plumlee committing to Ole Miss instead of FSU in February, that was 3 major whiffs on quarterbacks in the 2019 class.
That marked the second consecutive year that Taggart failed to sign a quarterback recruit. Let me repeat that because I’m not sure that came across like it was supposed to.
Taggart, an offensive-minded head coach, has yet to sign a quarterback recruit at Florida State and he’s in his third recruiting cycle.
Yeah, that’s an “L.”

Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
But while it’s certainly a tomahawk chop to the gut to watch quarterbacks spurn FSU in favor of schools like Maryland, Ole Miss and UNC, it’s still not as bad as hiring Kendal Briles, which Taggart did so against the wishes of FSU fans and alumni. It didn’t matter that Briles was on Baylor’s staff while 19 football players were accused of sexual assault or domestic assault, nor did it matter that a Title IX lawsuit alleged that Briles once told a recruit, “Do you like white women? Because we have a lot of them at Baylor, and they love football players.”
Nope. What mattered was Taggart finding a way to improve his anemic offense and hiring Briles on a contract that’ll pay him $1 million annually.
Win or lose with Briles and that’s still a big fat “L.”
That alone was probably enough to turn public opinion against FSU. So instead of staying quiet and keeping a low profile following a historically awful season, FSU decided to take its losing to social media. How can one lose on social media?
Oh, I don’t know. How about photoshopping Martin Luther King Jr.’s hand into doing the tomahawk chop?
Goodness gracious. That tweet, which was obviously deleted, came from the official @FSU_Recruiting account.
FSU’s #DoSomething hashtag for the last year is almost too ironic. The Seminoles should try and do something that doesn’t make their program the butt of every joke.
For crying out loud, they finished No. 119 against the pass and then tweeted this little gem because apparently the Gators made a claim that they didn’t approve of:
We
really
really
really
really
really
really
really
really
really
really
really
really
really
really
really
really
really
really
really
need other schools to stop claiming DBU. 😬— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) January 30, 2019
Cool flex, FSU. Way to try and be a part of a popular meme by completely ignoring what everyone watched in 2018. Oh, and one other thing.
The tweet is literally shaped like an “L.”
Yes, that joke is still relevant nearly 4 months later because that’s all FSU has been doing this offseason. “L” after “L” after “L.” But sure, Taggart. Try and convince everyone that you’re “undefeated.”
If you want to treat 2018 like Jimbo Fisher left you a sky-high mess that you shoved into your closet, be my guest. If FSU fans want to do that overplayed War Chant after every 4-yard gain, fine. I suppose that’s a feat worth celebrating these days. And if people want to treat this like it’s just some SEC homer column that’s kicking FSU when it’s down, I can’t stop them from doing that, either.
But if you somehow agreed with Taggart’s “undefeated” message, you’re living in denial. FSU keeps losing, and quite frankly, it doesn’t look like it has any idea how to stop.
My suggestion? Stop daydreaming about your past life, wake up and take steps to fix your embarrassing 2019 reality.
That would qualify as actually doing something.
I said way back when rumors were coming out about Jimbo that the problems go deep in Tallahassee. Yes he left them with a mess, but a lot of that mess was not of Jimbo’s making. I’m not sure the people are in place to have that program straight within the next decade. Bodes well for Clemson to continue to dominate that conference.
You know things are bad when Danny Kanell has been relatively quiet.
With FSU, Miami, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech all in various stages of rebuilding, Clemson is a varsity team in a junior varsity league. But I guess that doesn’t stop Syracuse from playing them close.
Clemson had QB issues in those games. Kelly was knocked out of 2017, and he chose to transfer out right before 2018 (when by the way, TL got knocked out and Dabo turned to a redshirt freshman who threw a total of 8 passes in his college career). Syracuse did pile on the points last year prior to Notre Dame. I guess someone didn’t tell the Orange that it was football not basketball.
I guess you know a program has finally arrived when your insecure neighbors start spewing ridiculous trash. First Bama, now Clemson. Can’t quite get over the top? And now, chasing the tail.
Heaven please save football from our flawed human administration
I gotta say that I’m glad FSU is such a dumpster fire right now but there’s nothing wrong with Willie saying they’re undefeated in 2019, everyone is. The Briles hire is just more of the same culture Dumbo Fisher nurtured at FSU with all the coddling of Shameus Winston and others during his watch, guess Willie does’t care to change that.
When your program harbored a MURDERER for three years (who almost certainly committed his first murder while he was on your team), you have absolutely no room to talk about anyone’s other players bringing shame. And the fact that Hernandez was part of Corch Irvin Meyers’s “Circle of Trust” makes it even more imperative that you just don’t speak.
Not surprising that you post delusional crap again. Fact is Hernandez did not murder anyone while he was in Gainesville but when he was a Patriot playing for Beilichek.
The Gators did not “harbor” any murderer for 3,2 or 1 year you idiot.
Oh honey. How in denial you are.
14019 and still counting
Willie Taggart is a snake. Not as venomous as Jimbo Fisher, but a snake nonetheless. Hard to feel sympathy for FSU though, Jameis Winston IS shameful, and they get what they get coming to em.
Hey, at least Willie has one thing going for him: hems not Sideshow Dan the Clown.
So at least there’s that.
Another stupid delusional comment devoid of reality, FSU fans wish they could have a coach as good as Mullen. You bring nothing to these discussions except for delusional crap
Bless your heart. If FSU had Sideshow Dan the Clown, they’d be the same kind clown show inside of a dumpster fire that your program currently is.
I think they’re happy without all that.
Oregon fans think Willie Taggart is a snake, and he is also a terrible coach overall.
The only clown show is you with your stupid posts. Any rational observer would know that FSU & Willy are the dumpster fire and Mullen was just rated a top ten coach but that doesn’t fit your delusional narrative. Typical obnoxious, arrogant, delusional and ignorant puppy fan
14019 and still counting
CO Jones is apparently either a young kid or a very vocabulary-challenged adult. It’s almost impossible for him to post without using “stupid” and/or “delusional.” He’s stuck in a run-out groove and can’t break free. Poor guy. Just count the number of times he relies on those two words – it’s fascinating.
14019 and still counting
Ask a Ducks fan, Willie Taggart is a snake.
And he sucks in general. Wasn’t just FSU. Sucked at Western Kentucky, South Florida, and Oregon. Overall has a losing record as an HC
FSU has been the most interesting car wreck to watch in quite some time. I understand that administrations can sometimes screw things up, but how did Jimbo let things get to such a low? It’ll be interesting to see if he can prevent a similar disaster at A&M. It seems like everyone tries to give Jimbo a pass on FSU, blaming it on everyone else, but I don’t buy it.
I’ve never been an insider in the world of college football, so I have a hard time understanding how the people behind the curtain can somehow change the results on the field. If you have a top notch coach with elite players, wins should follow. How does the administration change that? Genuinely asking.
There’s a couple of ways the admin can affect a program. The most obvious is giving the coach control. Allowing him to hire/fire who he wants. Also giving him the resources that are required to compete in recruiting. Football only facilities, stadium upgrades, assistants, and blank checks with no strings. A coach can win without those things, but consistency will be difficult.
Administration controls a lot of things the coach can do, as well as the back end processes. Your support staff from nutritionists, psychologists, tutors and other non-coaching positions are generally retained by the administration. Administration also approves and builds facilities, such as indoor practice facilities. Administration also serves as the liaison for the program. This goes towards PR for the team, lawyers to represent and to assist the program (e.g. transfer appeals for students wanting to play for the program). Finally, the administration controls the money generally. You can have a great head coach but may not have the money to keep him or to pay his assistants enough so they don’t transfer. None of this is particularly visible, but all pretty important in terms of operating a successful program.
They change it by controlling a coach’s power.
I love Fsu football in the spring. There’s nothing like witnessing butt hurt writers and fans of other programs document and detail every aspect of Fsu current state. I mean our former quaterback’s decision was on the homepage of espn. No Fsu doesn’t have a good football team these days, but how many other programs can go 5-7 and still remain relevant on a SEC dominant site. Thats truly remarkable. Definitely an easy job being a writer these days.
Don’t get too excited now, this SEC dominant site has also posted articles about Clemson and Miami it has nothing to do with being relevant probably juat a regional thing
The same Clemson that went 15-0 and dismantled everyone on their schedule on their way to a national championship? You couldn’t think of a better duo of teams to get your point across?
What does this have to do with what he posted? The site is saturday down SOUTH! Get a clue.
Is it my imagination or is Taggert sporting breasts in the picture in this article (the one with the ref)?