FSU football: Did Jimbo Fisher leave Noles in better shape than Taggart?

FSU football has gone through several changes amid the three worst seasons of the last 30 years. Could it have all been avoided after Jimbo Fisher left?

It’s crazy how things can change. FSU football went into the 2017 season coming off a win over Michigan in the Orange Bowl, where they were underdogs by nearly a touchdown

The Noles were ranked top five and faced Alabama, another top-ranked team with the game billed as the biggest opening game ever.

It was a close ballgame until late in the third quarter with FSU’s self-inflicted wounds doomed them. There were a couple of pivotal non-calls that may have changed the course of that game.

However, losing starting QB Deondre Francois for the season in the fourth quarter seemed to change the trajectory of the program.

It wasn’t that Francois was that much of a difference-maker. It was more so Jimbo Fisher had to play a true freshman who was in high school just a couple of months before that game.

That error falls on Jimbo Fisher, and the Noles finished that season 7-6 with Fisher having one foot out the door to Texas A&M.

However, according to advanced metrics, the Noles finished No. 9 in the country with that record. The offense was ranked No. 37 and the defense was ranked No. 6. FSU won it’s last four games that season and looked like a team that could win more than five games in 2018.

One conversation I’ve seen come up time and time again is as a new coach, would you rather take over when Willie Taggart did, or when Mike Norvell did?

I think it’s an easy question to answer for several reasons. Let’s get into it.