FSU Football: Is Willie Taggart coaching seat already warm before first game?

FSU football has brought in one of the best young minds to lead the program, but one website says his seat may not be as cool as some think it is.

For the last seven months, new FSU football head coach Willie Taggart has been enjoying a honeymoon of sorts from the fans and those covering the team based on the energy and attitude that he has brought in – one you can tell is a genuine pride in being the leader of the team he grew up rooting for just outside of Bradenton.

All of that is going to take a backseat in less than two months, when the Seminoles take the field for their opener against the Virginia Tech Hokies and Taggart goes from being a great leader off the field to someone who will have to show he has what it takes to lead the Noles back to a national title.

While some are going to be willing to give Taggart a break this FSU football season – allowing for three or four losses as long as they aren’t blowouts to inferior teams – others are going to demand at least double digit wins based off the hype entering this summer.

In a ranking of the FBS coaches this season, CBSSports.com ranked all of them on a scale of zero (untouchable) to five (win or be fired) – and while Taggart came in with a two, it was the worst of the seven coaches at that level in the Sunshine State.

"Butch Davis, FIU – 1Dan Mullen, Florida – 1Lane Kiffin, FAU – 1WILLIE TAGGART, FLORIDA STATE – 2Mark Richt, Miami – 1Charlie Strong, South Florida -1Josh Heupel, UCF – 1"

Now, I don’t so much have a beef with someone like Richt, Strong, or Kiffin getting a higher number considering what they did last season with their teams (double digit win seasons) and Davis gets credit because he isn’t expected to do much with the Panthers so 8-5 was an accomplishment.

But, in essence, the new FSU football leader is being held to a different standard than the other two coaches who are in their first years with the program. Mullen is being given the benefit of the doubt for his one good season at Mississippi State – while Heupel must be getting praised for  what he did as quarterback at Oklahoma.

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All Willie Taggart can do this season is go out and prove those who have doubts wrong – and if he can, the critics will be singing a different tune come this point next year.