Why some FSU football fans love Odell Haggins but hated Willie Taggart

FSU football fans are always going to have a special spot for the man who led the Seminoles on the field and has spent time on three coaching staffs.

For two of the last three seasons of FSU football, it hasn’t been either of the last two full time head coach who has led the Seminoles into the postseason – it has been the work of Odell Haggins, who spent time dominating on the field and on the sideline, who has been the reason the Noles have made it to the postseason.

Odell’s success of being 4-0 in two stints as interim coach has been the reason that shirts have been made, billboards have been posted and websites like Chop Chat have been praising his name to the point of saying that Haggins should get the job outright if the Seminoles are able to come up with the upset win next Saturday night against the rival Florida Gators.

It’s also the reason that some in the FSU football fan base – who weren’t willing to give Willie Taggart even two full seasons in charge – say that it has nothing to do with race considering the fact that Haggins, a black man just like Taggart, was the man immediately given the keys to the ship.

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Truth be told, Odell Haggins gets the love from certain fans of the Seminoles because he is one of us. He spent four seasons staring for the Seminoles on the field, including earning an All-American nod in the process, before coming back and spending 26 seasons as an assistant coach during a career that spanned three full time head men for the Noles.

To put it simply, Haggins gets the love and support Taggart wanted because he bleeds garnet and gold. Taggart was never going to get that love because he wasn’t a Seminole – it had nothing to do with his record, because if that’s the case it should be said that he had the same number of wins in his first season as the former full time “leader” had in his eighth and final season in 2017.

Haggins has bled and sweat for the Seminoles and might be the perfect representation of what it means to be a member of the FSU football team for life – that is the reason why he gets praised from those who spewed venom at Willie Taggart for 21 games.

It has noting to do with being 4-0, especially when you consider those wins are against teams like Alabama State and Louisiana Monroe and Southern Miss and a struggling Boston College team – but has everything to do with him being a Seminole.

That one fact – Haggins’ alma mater – is why he gets the love that Taggart sought for 21 games, where he won just nine of them.