FSU Football: Willie Taggart hire rated among best by website

FSU football has brought back Willie Taggart to the Sunshine State – and the folks over at Spots Illustrated are loving the move.

When the 2018 college football season kicks off, at least a sixth of the FBS teams will be led by a new head coach – including our personal favorite, FSU football. The Seminoles are among the 20 teams who so far have had a coach leave their program before the bowl season kicked off, with 18 of those jobs being filled already entering the weekend.

After the Seminoles became in search of a new head coach on December 1st following the departure of Jimbo Fisher, it took four days before the Noles hired former Oregon coach Willie Taggart, introducing him one day later as the 11th head coach in program history.

Across the college football landscape, FSU football is getting plenty of praise for the hire as many think it is a win-win for both the program and their new leader. That praise extends to Sports Illustrated, which ranked the coaching hires so far from top to bottom on a variety of criteria that included splash of hire, geography, style fit, execution of hire and instant impact.

Taggart was given an average four out of five rating, scoring the highest of five on geography with him being a Florida native and a low score of three on execution based on the response from some Oregon players to his departure after one season as well as the messy way Fisher left:

"“Taggart has major recruiting inroads in Florida and the rest of the Southeast from his time at USF and Western Kentucky, and being a former prep standout from Bradenton doesn’t hurt, either.”“Taggart is describing his approach for the Seminoles as “lethal simplicity”…If he can achieve that simple, fast-paced offense, Florida State will be on the right track, and with a roster packed with as many athletes as the Seminoles, he has the personnel to do it.”"

The FSU football hire came in ranked fifth out of the 18 that have been made so far, finishing just behind Nebraska’s Scott Frost, UCLA’s Chip Kelly, Oregon State’s Jonathan Smith and South Alabama’s Steve Campbell.

As for other hires made that are of interest to Seminole fans, the rival Florida Gators hiring Dan Mullen was ranked ninth (saying he will have trouble with a better SEC East), UCF’s hire of Josh Heupel coming in at 14th (giving him credit for hiring Randy Shannon as defensive coordinator so quickly) and Oregon promoting Mario Cristobal at 16th (some thinking he would follow Taggart.)

Next: How fast and explosive will Taggart's offense be at FSU?

As for the former FSU football coach, SI ranked Fisher’s hire by Texas A&M next to last among the ones made so far – saying it’s hard to see them making a big move in the standings and recruiting right away. But, remember – they have a football only facility, so it’s all good for Fisher…right?