FSU Football: Willie Taggart, former coach share blame for Clemson debacle

FSU football just suffered their worst home loss in program history and there is plenty of blame to go around as a result of what took place.

As the latest game for the FSU football team took place this past Saturday, it was a tale of both hope, sadness, madness and slight humor – as the hope from a scoreless first quarter against Clemson gave way to a sad second quarter, a maddening third frame and nothing but jokes by the end of a 59-10 butt whopping at the hands of the Tigers.

What wasn’t funny was realizing that in the 72 season history of the Seminoles program, the team had NEVER lost by that many points at home and only one time before (a 49-0 loss at Florida in 1973) had lost that badly. For all the talk about how low things have been recently, this one takes the cake.

Florida State Seminoles Football

Of course, there has to be a minor asterisk considering the fact this came against a Clemson team that has been arguably one of the best programs in college football since the 2015 season – but they are not 49 points more talented than the Seminoles.

Because of what took place on Saturday, the blame has to be placed squarely on two people associated with the FSU football program – current head coach Willie Taggart and the man he replaced, who will not be given the satisfaction of having his name said.

Now, for the record I have been and will continue to be a full time supporter of Taggart since I believe in his record of turning things around and also that someone should be given more than eight games to prove themselves, so in no way am I calling for his job or anything like that.

But, with that being said, Taggart is the man in charge of the Seminoles at this point and is tasked with getting this team ready to play. Part of the problem this season is that, while trying to put a new system in for the Noles and changing everything around, he has been slow to adapt in game – i.e. going to a passing game sooner when it’s working as opposed to the Gulf Coast offense.

As the FSU football leader, Taggart must be the person to fall on the sword for this one and take accountability – which he did post game while doing something most coaches won’t and admitting that players quit in the game and vowing to hold them accountable, even if that means some five star “talent” will have to be shown the bench in the coming games.

That last point is why blame for the worst loss in program history must also be placed on a man who is now stealing $75 million from a school in Texas – the Seminoles got to this point because of a former “leader” who refused to make changes to his staff when necessary – like letting the offensive line become hot garbage under a coach who should have been shown the door – out of either pride, stubbornness or a combination of both.

It got to this point because that former coach was living off the coattails of a 2013 title team for FSU football won by a special, once in a generation group of players – many recruited by assistants who had since left the program.

When things started to slide, it has been documented that this former coach and members of his staff actively stopped doing their job of recruiting – putting Taggart and the current staff’s backs against the wall when they arrived in December.

When the record books are created and people look at this loss for FSU football decades from now, they will see a loss on the career record of Willie Taggart – but, in reality, that L should be shared with a man who will be getting conformable being fourth place in the SEC West for the next decade.