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FSU Football: Willie Taggart looking for ‘right fit’ on and off the field

By Kelvin Hunt

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: A Florida State Seminoles cheerleader runs with a flag on the field during the College Football Playoff Semifinal against the Oregon Ducks at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2015 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: A Florida State Seminoles cheerleader runs with a flag on the field during the College Football Playoff Semifinal against the Oregon Ducks at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2015 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
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FSU football seems to be taking a much more calculated approach under new leadership.

FSU football under the former coach was all about “trust the process” and the results will take care of themselves. That’s true if the process isn’t broken, which unfortunately wasn’t the case in the final days in the old regime.

READ: 3 Reasons Why Jimbo Fisher’s Process Is Broken

It has been refreshing to listen to new head coach Willie Taggart. Of course, we’re still in the honeymoon stage and things can and will change if expectations aren’t met.

However, listening to his press conference earlier this week he said something that resonated with me. Taggart was asked about how things have been different recruiting wise since he’s been at FSU:

On Players

He said, “It’s great. You kinda get in the front of the line now when you walk into the school. There’s no more parade waving anymore. You get to the front of the line and that’s pretty cool. To me it’s going to be different because you’re not necessarily chasing guys…there’s a lot of young men that want to be here…it’s just finding the right fit for Florida State University. It’s great that so many young men out there wanna be here, now finding the right fit and the right guys for who we want to be as a football program.”

Taggart was also asked about hiring his staff and the timetable he takes to do so:

On Staff

He said, “I’ve never had a timetable of when I wanted to get it together, I just wanted to make sure I got the right guys. I think now doing it the fourth time you live and learn and early on and my head coaching career I was probably too fast to hire a staff and didn’t necessarily hire the right fit for what we were doing. As you get older you kinda live and learn, I think the fit is more important than the guys and what they know. They can know a lot and don’t fit and just mess everything up. This is a big time job for me and I gotta make sure I get the right fit here and passionate people that want to be here but also understand the Florida State way of doing things.”

Thoughts

I couldn’t agree with Taggart more here as this seemed to be the case with the old regime. They got talented players but may not have necessarily been the right fit.

Some players never seemed to grasp what the coaches were teaching, making the same repetitive mistakes over two or three years. On the flipside, coaches seemed to make the same repetitive mistakes as well.

Jimbo Fisher calling tunnel screens that players could never execute properly or Charles Kelly repeatedly having cornerbacks 10 yards off the line of scrimmage on third and fourth down.

Players not relating to coaches and vice versa is where the disconnect seemed to be under the old regime.

Next: 3 Ways Willie Taggart Has Already Impacted FSU Football

Taggart appears to want to be selective in his first recruiting class at FSU. He says the class will be 16-18 players, and is close to getting his staff fully on board.

If he gets the right fit, FSU football could be back on top much sooner than later.

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