FSU football proves to be a destination job after its worst season in a decade on the field and off the field issues regarding facilities and money.
FSU football fans are extremely spoiled. Think about it, the program is the most successful program over the last 40 years with just two coaches(not counting Coach Taggart since he hasn’t coached a game yet).
That period of time includes what some FSU fans call “the lost decade” which really wasn’t that terrible in the grand scheme of things.
It’s terrible because it followed a period of 14 consecutive years of top five finishes. Has FSU football ever really been down during this 40 year time frame?
They’ve never had a losing season and have the longest consecutive streak of bowl games(hold that L Virginia Tech).
Think about it, all the other schools have fallen off drastically for at least 2-3 years at times here and there. Alabama, Miami, Florida, USC, and Texas among others would fall into that category.
Not FSU football.
The Noles went 7-6 in 2009 and experienced a coaching change before bouncing back to a 31-10 record over the next three seasons before then winning nearly 30 consecutive games and a national championship.
They’re coming off another 7-6 season and a coaching change, but the situation a lot different from 2009.
The former coach left for what many consider a lesser job for more money and deemed FSU’s facilities sub-par which some national media writers tried to run with. The circus that was the final few games of the 2017 season didn’t put FSU football in a good light either.
It was a toxic situation to say the least that could have been even worse in some ways. Nevertheless, FSU administration was able to secure its top target in Willie Taggart.
Just ask Tennessee fans how hard that is if you’re not a top-tier program. However, I think offensive coordinator Walt Bell said it best in his press conference Sunday afternoon.
He was asked if he researched Coach Taggart at all when he was inquired about the FSU offensive coordinator job. His response is below and the video can be seen here:
"You know, I don’t mean this as a slight to Coach Taggart at all, I don’t. I know that guy will score a ton of points and I know that his kids love him and to me, that’s — that’s all that I really needed to know.More importantly than that, was it’s Florida State. I mean, I do not mean that as a slight to Coach Taggart at all. But I used to run around my front yard pretending to be Charlie Ward. There’s six or seven places in the world that when they ask you to come, you don’t ask questions and you just go. This is one of them."
Thoughts
When Coach Bell uttered that last sentence Sunday afternoon I couldn’t do anything but smile like Coach Taggart when taking pics with blue chip recruits.
He’s right, and that’s why Coach Taggart was able to pull Harlon Barnett away from Michigan State.
It’s why numerous coaches wanted to come to FSU to coach but ultimately didn’t make the cut.
To come off an utter disappointment of a season like 2017, and get the guy you want to hire within weeks while fielding a staff of coaches who think of FSU the way Coach Bell does?
It speaks to the power of the FSU football brand.