Chop Chat
Fansided

FSU Football: Ron Dugans staying at Miami slight blow to momentum

By Jason Parker

TALLAHASSEE, FL- OCTOBER 7: Wide receiver Darrell Langham #81 of the Miami Hurricanes catches a pass over defensive back Tarvarus McFadden #4 of the Florida State Seminoles for a touchdown to win 24-20 over the Florida State Seminoles during the second half of an NCAA football game at Doak S. Campbell Stadium on October 7, 2017 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FL- OCTOBER 7: Wide receiver Darrell Langham #81 of the Miami Hurricanes catches a pass over defensive back Tarvarus McFadden #4 of the Florida State Seminoles for a touchdown to win 24-20 over the Florida State Seminoles during the second half of an NCAA football game at Doak S. Campbell Stadium on October 7, 2017 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

FSU football thought one of their own was a slam dunk to return to Tallahassee as an assistant coach – but they were spurned for one major rival.

When you looked at the situation, there was almost no way that this wasn’t going to work out – FSU football’s new head coach Willie Taggart was going to offer the wide receiver coach spot to former Seminoles star and Tallahassee native Ron Dugans, who coaches with Taggart at South Florida and was going to return home after spending the last two seasons coaching at rival Miami.

Well, a funny thing happened on the way to the Turnpike…

It turns out that Dugans is choosing to stay with the Hurricanes, as the school’s athletic director confirmed to the Miami Herald earlier this week. Now, the Seminoles are back on the look for their next receivers coach after what might be the most embarrassing rejection in a while for several reasons.

First off, this was going to be the easiest of Taggart’s hires for the FSU football staff. Dugans was one of the stars for the Seminoles’ 1999 national title teams after being born and raised in Tallahassee. This was going to be the homecoming that was going to both help the Noles and simultaneously hurt the ‘Canes, who benefited from his coaching talent these two seasons.

Now, the Seminoles have to watch as one of their own not only turned down a return to their alma mater – but did so to stay at one of the two biggest rivals for Florida State. Fans in orange and green are going to be gloating about the fact that their coaching staff consists of two FSU alums (Dugans and defensive coordinator Manny Diaz) coaching against the Seminoles.

It also is a blow because of the timing – in four weeks, the traditional National Signing Day will take place and the Seminoles are still working to finish filling out their staff. Wide receiver was going to be one less spot to worry about, and now it’s back to square one.

Dugans had to make the best decision for his career and family – more than likely, he’s on the fast track to being an offensive coordinator under former FSU assistant and current ‘Canes coach Mark Richt – so you can’t fault him too much if that was the reason. Still, it stings a little to get rejected by one of your own.

Next: Top FSU wins over Miami and Florida

Willie Taggart will bring in a top assistant to fill that spot, so FSU football doesn’t have to worry about that – but it would have been nice to have a reunion that would stab a rival in the back in the process.

Home/FSU Football