FSU football: Willie Taggart is right about being close to winning
By Kelvin Hunt
FSU football head coach Willie Taggart is catching a lot of heat, but is correct when he states the Noles are close to playing winning football.
Willie Taggart has done a lot of great things at FSU, but the results on the field have not lived up to expectations. That’s a problem he’s aware of and something he hasn’t run away from.
He’s lived up to at least a portion of his mantra in that he never offers excuses as to why something doesn’t work out in the teams favor.
He spoke in his weekly press conference Monday about the Wake Forest game and failing to meet expectations. Willie Taggart said something that seemed to irk FSU fans for some reason.
He said they were close to playing winning football. The fact of the matter is he’s right. Are there a ton of areas this coaching staff needs to improve? Absolutely. The use of timeouts and in-game decisions have been lacking the past 19 or so games.
There’s a lack of discipline in some areas. However, this team is a handful of plays from being 5-2 instead of 3-4 on the season.
If this team were 5-2 right now none of the talk of replacing Willie Taggart would be on the table for FSU fans.
It’s all about doing the little things. Ricky Aguayo not missing field goals. Cam Akers not fumbling twice in the red zone this season. The defense not allowing a Wake Forest running back to get a first down on 3rd and 10 after breaking four tackles.
Tamorrion Terry not dropping passes that could go for long touchdowns. James Blackman not hitting open receivers or making the incorrect read at the line of scrimmage. Alex Hornibrook not taking sacks and getting rid of the football.
There’s a quote about success that I love and it’s true:
“Success is the exponential effect of little things done consistently over time.” FSU football has been right on the cusp of that success this year, but have not found enough consistency to make it happen.
The good news? The plays are there to be made unlike last year on offense. We can go back and look at film and see why a play didn’t work instead of saying the offensive line got destroyed.
The question is can this coaching staff get these players to finally find that consistency? We’ve seen it for one game this year against NC State.
That felt like a complete game played by all three phases of the team. They have four winnable games remaining with a legit chance at finishing 7-5.
dark. Next. Why Has Briles' offense regressed from earlier success?
If the team finally starts making the plays there to be made and are competitive with Florida how would you feel about things moving forward?