FSU Football: Willie Taggart would be smart to bring in solo DB coach

FSU football made another move to their coaching staff and this hire will do plenty to elevate the responsibility of their defensive leader at this point.

In the past few weeks, much of the attention with the FSU football coaching staff was about the decision from head coach Willie Taggart to bring in Kendal Briles as the new offensive coordinator for the Seminoles – but it’s another possible move involving the defensive leader and play caller that might be an even better decision.

On Saturday, the news broke that the Seminoles had reportedly added another coach to the pay roll when Wesley McGriff set to lead the FSU football defensive back room – of course, it was made easier for him to do that considering the fact he was fired from his job as the defensive coordinator at Ole Miss over the last two seasons.

Now, on the surface that doesn’t seem like the best endorsement for someone (also doesn’t help that the Rebels pass defensive last year ranked 106th nationally, which was still better than the Seminoles at 114th) but more than anything it would be a great move considering it takes some of the work off the table for defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett.

Now, I have faith in Barnett and I am not saying he isn’t capable of doing both jobs – but it makes sense for anyone in charge of the whole unit to be able to focus on the defense as a whole – especially considering the mess on that side of the ball when it comes to pass defense thanks to former defensive coordinator Charles Kelly and his “leader” at the head coach spot.

Mark Stoops and Jeremy Pruitt were able to do it – but that was because they had talent in the defensive secondary who could police and coach themselves for FSU football. Until the Seminoles can get back to that, Barnett needs to have his attention focused on the entire defense.

McGriff likely also won’t be the last change to the FSU football assistant group – as Greg Frey could be shown the door from his spot coaching the offensive line while there is still a segment of the fan base (myself included) who think Taggart should go after Ron Dugans again as the wide receivers coach after he was let go by Miami.

But for now, the Seminoles are making changes piece by piece to the staff after last year’s disappointment – and this one would give Barnett plenty of time to focus on fixing what went wrong during the 2018 season.