FSU Football: Ranking Willie Taggart as worst ACC coach is ridiculous

FSU football seems to be on the side of their second year coach, but one outsider took it to the next level and ranked him as the worst coach in the ACC.

After the first losing season for the FSU football team in over four decades – man, I can’t wait to stop writing that sentence again – the fanbase for the Seminoles has seemed to start to turn things around for the second year head coach of the Noles, Willie Taggart.

No, there are very few people who are so blindly loyal to the Seminoles that they still think the garnet and gold will be in the College Football Playoff when this season comes to an end – but after breaking down what took place last season, there are a growing number who are willing to give Taggart and the “do something” mindset one more chance.

Add that to the fact that the team looked slightly more organized in the spring and plays a schedule this season that is easier than what FSU football had to deal with in Taggart’s first season and there is a lot more confidence that the Seminoles will be bowling again after this upcoming season is done.

Florida State Seminoles Football

I mean, everyone is starting to turn around and be on Team Taggart for a second season – well, almost everyone.

During a recent article where he ranked the coaches from the ACC and SEC, Gene Sapakoff from the Charleston (SC) Post and Courier didn’t just rank Taggart as the worst coach in the ACC…he ranked him No. 28 out of the 28 coaches in both conferences COMBINED.

"What’s worse, a once-proud Florida State program ranking 112th nationally in scoring offense or 90th in scoring defense? The Seminoles’ record streak of 36 straight seasons with a bowl appearance dating to 1982 was snapped with a 5-7 finish."

I mean…damn.

Look, there is part of me that wonders if Sapakoff did this just to get people’s attention both inside and out of the FSU football fan base (as he ranked Dabo Swinney from Clemson over Nick Saban from Alabama as the top of them all) – but even this was a little ridiculous for me.

There is a segment of the population that is not going to give Willie Taggart a fair run at things even if the Seminoles finish the upcoming season with double digit wins and a seriously deep run toward the ACC title this season – and Sapakoff fits that category as someone who ranks SEC coaches in the five positions after Swinney followed by Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson.

If you want to put Willie Taggart in the bottom half of the ACC at this point after what took place last season, I totally understand that and could even agree with it to a level – but to say that the FSU football head coach is dead last right now? Nope, not even buying that for a second.

The Seminoles are going to be just fine this coming season and in the ones that follow – and anyone who doesn’t see that needs to get on the FSU football train now or just leave and don’t bother coming back when things have turned around.