FSU Football: Willie Taggart expected criticism after 2018 losing season

FSU football head coach Willie Taggart knows the obstacles that will be placed in front of him this upcoming season after the “history” that was made last season.

In the first week of December in 2017, the fanbase for FSU football as ecstatic for the news that Willie Taggart – at that point the head coach of the Oregon Ducks and the coach known for building the South Florida Bulls into a 10 win team before leaving for Eugene – was going to be leading the Seminoles starting in 2018.

After all, the Noles were less than five seasons removed from winning a national title and basically were abandoned by a “leader” who left for a big paycheck to head out to Texas A&M – so why not be super excited about a coach who actually wants to be in Tallahassee and enjoys representing in the garnet and gold like no other school!

Well, 12 games later and Taggart has found himself being the top target for the hot seat discussion entering the 2019 season after the FSU football team suffered the first losing season in over four decades last season when the Seminoles finished 2018 with a 5-7 record.

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Now, the Noles have turned their focus toward the 2019 campaign that will open on August 31st when FSU football travels to Jacksonville for their first game of the season against Boise State – and the head Seminole knew what the postseason reaction was going to be as the Seminoles prepare to act like that season didn’t take place.

During an event with Seminole Boosters in Central Florida, Taggart told the Orlando Sentinel that he knew – and in a weird way, accepts – the criticism that was going to come from some in garnet and gold after 2018.

"“We play well they say good things, we play bad they say bad things. We can’t let neither good nor bad things get to us, we’ve got to stay focused.”“You come here, the expectation is to win. I see it being the same way this year like it’s been every other year. Just because things didn’t go the way we wanted them to last year doesn’t mean the expectations changes.”"

That last sentence about FSU football and the fans in garnet and gold is why the Seminoles will be much better off in 2019 with Taggart in for year two – the Noles know what is ahead of them and are not backing away from what people want to see the garnet and gold doing in the upcoming season.

I’m not saying that the Noles are going to make it to the College Football Playoff, but the fact that more and more fans are starting to be realistic about the Seminoles getting eight or nine wins without a problem shows the realization of what the future holds – and also the realization that Taggart was not the reason for the losing season.

Will the Seminoles, baring a major letdown, be 5-7 again this season? More than likely no. Will the Seminoles be in the College Football Playoff or winning the ACC? Probably not, but that’s not the most important thing for FSU football at this point.