Florida State Football

Florida State's football program fast-tracked the inevitable this past Sunday, firing head coach Willie Taggart nine games into his second disastrous season at the helm.

The timing was a bit surprising. Yes, the Seminoles just no-showed at home in a loss to their bitterest rival (Miami), but they face Boston College this coming Saturday, followed by an all-but-guaranteed home win against FCS school Alabama State one week later. Should the 'Noles happen to win the road game against BC, bowl-eligibility is still on the table.

Thus, making a coaching change six days prior to that pivotal matchup was an interesting decision, to say the least.

But backing into some no-name bowl game with a 6-6 record isn't the Florida State football way.

Fans were somewhat understanding of that fate during Bobby Bowden's age 75-80 seasons but only because he was a legend who went 152-19 from 1987-2000. And even he was eventually fired, so Taggart and his 9-12 record (career 56-62 record) never had a prayer of surviving in Tallahassee.

Now that the deed is done, where does Florida State go from here? And how long will it be before we're "Talkin' 'bout the 'Noles" in a good way again?

Any time an athletic director from one of college football's flagship institutions is considering a coaching change, the biggest question they need to ask themself and their trusted advisers is: Can we get someone better?

There might be much better coaches on the market. It also might feel like the program cannot afford to endure another substandard season with a lame duck at head coach. But unless the AD is reasonably confident they can make a better hire, they might be sacrificing a recruiting cycle or two and further jeopardizing the state of their program for nothing.

That isn't to say Florida State made the wrong decision, but improvement via a coaching change is never guaranteed.

Certainly, the state of Seminoles football is much more dire than the situation was for Nebraska when it decided it deserved better than Bo Pelini, who lost exactly four games every season, but the past five years of struggling in Lincoln should serve as a cautionary tale that things could get even worse if FSU doesn't make the right hire.

(Cut to Michigan fans screaming about the idiocy of all the "Time for the Wolverines to move on from Jim Harbaugh" articles.)

As far as who that hire could be, the rapid "Who Might Replace Taggart?" reactions Sunday painted quite the optimistic picture from the national media.

With names like Bob Stoops, Urban Meyer, Mike Leach, Lane Kiffin, Brent Venables and James Franklin flying around, you'd think we were talking about candidates to replace Nick Saban after a retirement from his wildly successful post at Alabama instead of options for rebuilding a program that has been a dumpster fire since the moment Deondre Francois' knee ripped to shreds in the 2017 season opener.

Other oft-mentioned candidates like Matt Campbell (Iowa State), Mark Stoops (Kentucky), Dave Clawson (Wake Forest), P.J. Fleck (Minnesota), Luke Fickell (Cincinnati), Mike Norvell (Memphis) and Tom Allen (Indiana) who have put together something impressive at lower-profile programs have to be thinking, "I don't want any part of that mess when I've got job security, but you best believe I'm going to try to leverage that opening into a much more lucrative contract here."

Even if one of those 13 guys is willing to make the leap to a traditional powerhouse that has been a bit down on its luck lately, USC—assuming Clay Helton isn't far behind Taggart on the unemployment line—is the much more enticing opening. So Florida State probably needs two big names to become available in order to grab one.

Apologies if you clicked in hopes of finding some insider info on this coaching search, but I have no earthly idea who will end up getting the job. I highly doubt it'll be Stoops or Meyer, and every other name on the wish list still has a few more weeks' of coaching left for bowl-bound teams. Chances are it'll be a little while until we find out who the new head coach is.

What I do know, though, is that the 'Noles need someone who can recruit the talent-rich Sunshine State a whole lot better than Taggart did.

When the Bowden era ended in 2009, Jimbo Fisher began to build a dynasty on the backs of homegrown talent. In a 2010 class that ranked No. 8 nationally, Fisher signed four of the top five recruits from Florida. The following year, only Saban had a higher-rated class, and each of Fisher's top-six recruits hailed from Florida.

Fisher proceeded to go 39-3 with a national championship in his third through fifth seasons.

In Taggart's first class, however, Asante Samuel Jr. (No. 60 overall; No. 12 in Florida) was the only player in the state's top 25 to choose the Seminoles. The 2019 cycle was better for Taggart but not by much. Akeem Dent (No. 50 overall; No. 8 in Florida) was the only top-15 in-state player to end up in Tallahassee.

It's little wonder things have gotten this bad with little-to-no hope of a quick revival.

And that was with the University of Florida going through issues of its own while transitioning from Will Muschamp to Jim McElwain to Dan Mullen.

It'd be one thing if Florida and Miami were thriving and picking the state clean, but Taggart was losing home-state guys to programs all over the country. And now that Mullen and the Gators have had back-to-back strong seasons, it's going to be even harder for FSU to snag the guys who do want to stay closer to home.

More than anything, though, the new Seminoles coach needs to keep Dabo Swinney the hell out of his backyard.

Clemson signed more of Florida's top-15 recruits (three) in the past two years than Florida State did (two), and the Tigers already have commitments from three of the top four Florida guys in the 2020 class.

You want to close the gaping chasm between your program and your ACC overlords? That's where you start. Clemson is still going to sign plenty of high-caliber players on an annual basis, but at least make the Tigers find them in the other 49 states.

Do whatever it takes to hire the person who can make that happen. And if they happen to have a magic wand that can transform this offensive line from Swiss cheese into a stone wall, even better.

                                                                                          

Kerry Miller covers college football and men's college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @kerrancejames.

College football fans got to know former Independence Community College Jason Brown while he was featured on the Netflix show Last Chance U, but they apparently won't be seeing him on the Florida State sidelines anytime soon. 

Brown responded to a tweet from the unverified account FSUSeminolesNews suggesting the ACC program is talking with him to be the next head coach and shot down any rumors in decisive fashion:

They are too scared to hire someone like me! @FSUFootball would be loaded overnight & everyone would be mad! They go after million dollar guys who underperform & cant relate with todays kids! Someday they may understand guys like me are who they need! #scaredmoneydontmakemoney https://t.co/mNxEBOc6P4

— Coach Jason Brown (@TheRealCoach_JB) November 5, 2019

While Brown suggests Florida State is "scared" to hire him, he has no track record of success as an FBS coach and would be an incredibly controversial hire.

Chris Korman of USA Today's For The Win previewed the Netflix show in June and pointed out Independence Community College went just 2-8 in the season it was profiled. Far more than the losing stands out when it comes to Brown, though, as Korman noted the head coach resigned after a report revealed he referred to himself as Hitler in a text message he sent to a German player on his team.

What's more, Taylor Eldridge of Wichita Eagle reported the Montgomery County Attorney's Office charged Brown with eight felony counts because he was "allegedly pretending to be a lawyer from Johnnie Cochran's Los Angeles law firm in an attempt to silence criticism of Brown in local newspapers."

As for Florida State, the head coach position is open after it fired Willie Taggart on Sunday during his second season with the team. 

The Seminoles went just 5-7 in his first year, missing a bowl game for the first time since 1981, and are just 4-5 this year following Saturday's loss to the archrival Miami Hurricanes.

Former Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops denied rumors he's in the running to replace Willie Taggart at Florida State.

Stoops, who serves as the general manager and head coach of the XFL's Dallas Renegades, told ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit on Tuesday he's "not a candidate" to take over the Seminoles.

Florida State athletic director David Coburn confirmed to Wayne McGahee III of the Tallahassee Democrat that Stoops was "on the list" of people under consideration but ruled out speculation the sides were close to a deal.

"Rumors we are close to an agreement with Bob Stoops are untrue," Coburn said Tuesday. "We are on schedule to have someone in this position by end of the month... Chances of something happening this week are virtually zero."

The FSU AD said they haven't met with Stoops and are letting the search committee go through its vetting process before they move forward.

WTXL in Tallahassee reported Monday night a contract was "really close to being done" with an official announcement coming in the "near future."

Taggart was fired Sunday following a 27-10 loss to the rival Miami Hurricanes on Saturday. It dropped the Noles to 4-5 and left his record at 9-12 in less than two seasons with the program.

Defensive line coach Odell Haggins took over as the team's interim head coach.

Stoops posted a 190-48 record across 18 years with Oklahoma before his retirement from college football in June 2017. He joined the XFL in February with the league scheduled to hold its inaugural season in 2020 following the conclusion of the NFL campaign.

The Seminoles return to action Saturday with a road game against the Boston College Eagles, and their new coach may not be named until after the regular season concludes.

The Willie Taggart era at Florida State is over, as the school fired the head football coach Sunday after less than two years with the program.      

The decision came after FSU fell to 4-5 on the season with a 27-10 loss to Miami. Odell Haggins will serve as the interim head coach.

Matt Fortuna of The Athletic shared the program's release confirming the decision.

Odell Haggins will be FSU’s interim head coach. AD David Coburn will meet the media at noon tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/BrADV8gy0q

— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) November 3, 2019

Taggart later issued his own statement after the announcement by Florida State:

pic.twitter.com/sXxwTF0inX

— Willie Taggart (@CoachTaggart) November 3, 2019

Taggart was originally signed to a six-year, $30 million contract full of incentives in 2017 and had a buyout of "around" $18 million, per Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel & Tribune.

Darren Rovell of The Action Network noted it's the second-largest buyout in college football history, behind Charlie Weis, who was paid $18.9 million after being fired by Notre Dame.

According to ESPN's Andrea Adelson, Florida State had also paid Oregon $3 million when it hired Taggart in 2017, along with $1.3 million the Ducks owed South Florida for their hire of Taggert the previous year.

In the coach's first year, the Seminoles finished with a 5-7 record, representing the school's first losing season since 1976. The squad hasn't improved much this season, leading to Taggart's dismissal.

Taggart had a reputation of a program-builder during his career, taking over terrible teams at Western Kentucky and South Florida before making them respectable. He only had one season at Oregon, but the squad saw marked improvement in that time.

However, Florida State was unwilling to wait for a turnaround, and Taggart will now be seeking his fifth different coaching job in 10 years.

His career record is just 56-62, though taking over scuffling teams is a big reason for the mediocre record. 

Meanwhile, the Seminoles will be on the hunt for a new coach who can live up to their lofty standards.

Florida State had only two full-time coaches from 1976 to 2017, with both Bobby Bowden and Jimbo Fisher winning national championships during their tenures with the team.

The next coach will hope to return the program to prominence.

Florida State athletic director David Coburn threw a wet blanket the rumors the Seminoles would consider hiring Urban Meyer or Steve Spurrier as a replacement for head football coach Willie Taggart.

"If Coach were hit by a bus tomorrow, we would not target Coach Meyer, period," Coburn said, per the Tallahassee Democrat's Wayne McGahee III. "I say that with all due respect to Coach Meyer, but we would not target Steve Spurrier either."

Football Scoop's Zach Barnett reported Monday that Florida State "engaged its donor class about making a change," with Meyer one candidate to take over for Taggart.

The tone of Coburn's comment is somewhat surprising, but the general sentiment isn't. The Seminoles have little to gain from undermining their head coach in the midst of a disappointing 2019 season. They sit at 3-4 heading into Saturday's home game against Syracuse.

The last thing the AD should be doing is sowing doubt about Taggart's future, even if the school is seriously considering his job status.

One could argue Taggart shouldn't even be on the hot seat despite the fact that the Seminoles could post a losing record for the second year in a row. Bleacher Report's Matt Hayes wrote in June that Taggart was effectively inheriting a rebuild from his predecessor, Jimbo Fisher.

"Many of the issues Taggart inherited, they say, began with the coddling of Jameis Winston, the player who led the Noles to such remarkable heights under Fisher. Those issues eventually bled into a hands-off attitude with academics and placed the program at risk of not complying with NCAA standards and being ineligible to participate in championship events.

"Another former assistant under Fisher tells Bleacher Report that by the end of Fisher's reign, coaches were being given one mandate: 'Keep the players eligible.'"

Coburn alluded to those problems when he told Hayes that Taggart "had a lot to deal with, beyond the field" when he arrived in December 2017.

Granted, the Tampa Bay Times' Matt Baker noted attendance at Florida State games is trending downward this year. The Seminoles had 46,530 for their 35-24 win over Louisville on Sept. 21, which was their smallest crowd since 1983.

Making a marquee hire such as Meyer or Spurrier might provide a shot in the arm for the fanbase and bring some much-needed energy, but until the team is ready to make a move it seems best for Coburn to maintain as much stability as possible for Taggart's sake.

The once-proud Florida State football program continues to become more irrelevant from a national perspective with every loss under head coach Willie Taggart, but the Seminoles are reportedly eyeing someone who could help change that.

Zach Barnett of Football Scoop cited sources who said "Florida State has engaged its donor class about making a change at the head coaching position" and "is shooting for the top: Urban Meyer."

Barnett noted Taggart's contract features a $17 million buyout.

While Meyer would be a head-turning hire given his status as one of the best coaches in college football history, the sheer reality that Florida State is apparently already looking to its next hire during Taggart's second season is an indication of how things have unfolded during his tenure.

The Seminoles went 5-7 in his first year, missing a bowl game for the first time since 1981. A bowl game may be in jeopardy again this season considering they fell to 3-4 with Saturday's loss to Wake Forest.

Meyer would be an immediate upgrade and someone with a proven track record of taking blue-blood programs to national championships. He coached the Florida Gators from 2005-10 and won two BCS national titles before leading the Ohio State Buckeyes to the first championship in the College Football Playoff era during the 2014 campaign.

Overall, Meyer sports a sparkling 187-32 record during 17 years as a head coach for Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State.

The 55-year-old is also a name that would bolster recruiting for the Seminoles. He is familiar with the Florida high school scene from his time with the Gators (and regularly recruited in the Sunshine State during his Ohio State tenure) and could point to his track record of sending players to the NFL.

It may seem like a long shot for the rebuilding Seminoles to convince Meyer, who is a college football analyst for Fox Sports, to come out of coaching retirement and rebuild the program.

But it would be an easy call for Florida State if he was willing to accept the job.

College football fans are a...unique bunch. 

Florida State fan Daniel Grant and his son, Grayton Grant, started a lemonade stand in Tallahassee to raise funds for head coach Willie Taggart's $17 million buyout so the school could dismiss him, according to ESPN.

Per that report, "The effort raised $241—including $100 from one person—that will be matched by Grayton's father, Daniel Grant. Grant plans to send a $482 check to Seminoles Boosters Inc. on Monday."

The Grants also sent the boosters a note signed by Grayton.

"I am tired of losing football games and being made fun of at school for being a Seminole fan," it read. "At four, I am already starting to gravitate towards the color orange. You don't want that for an innocent kid like me."

The Seminoles are just 6-9 under Taggart and 1-2 to start the 2019 season, so frustrations emanating out of Tallahassee aren't surprising. But starting a lemonade stand with your four-year-old son to pay off a college football coach's buyout figure is certainly a new, and bizarre, way for a disgruntled fan to voice his displeasure. 

Former Florida State safety Myron Rolle was scheduled to travel Wednesday to the Bahamas to aid in the country's recovery from Hurricane Dorian, according to the Tallahassee Democrat's Jim Henry.

Rolle tweeted Monday he was joining colleagues from Massachusetts General Hospital to provide medical aid:

I am at the best neurosurgery residency in the US! My Chairman, faculty, APPs and fellow residents have allowed me to serve as a member of our MGH Global Disaster Response Team to give quality medical care to my homeland - the Bahamas. Excited and poised to make an impact! #2%

— Myron Rolle, MD (@MyronRolle) September 10, 2019

"People have been displaced, it has been difficult getting resources, food, proper medications, basic necessities," Rolle told Henry. "We will assist with medical needs—physical exams, assessments, treatments, administering IVs—whatever we can do in our scope of practice, we will do it there. I am really motivated to help because those people are hurting."

Rolle played for Florida State for three years. During the 2008 season, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford.

Upon graduating from Florida State's medical school in 2017, he started a residency for neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

CNN's Holly Yan, Christina Maxouris and Nicole Chavez reported 50 people in the Bahamas died as a result of Hurricane Dorian—though the number is expected to rise with many people still reported missing—and another 70,000 were displaced from their homes.

Henry noted Rolle's parents were born in the Bahamas, and he has family members who still live there. His relatives were accounted for and safe.

Florida State Seminoles head coach Willie Taggart said Wednesday his comments Monday about hydration were in reference to Saturday's game against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks, not an excuse for the Noles' Week 1 upset loss to the Boise State Broncos.

Curt Weiler of the Tallahassee Democrat provided a prepared statement Taggart read to reporters, which included a transcript from his radio show he used to suggest his remarks were "insinuated" improperly:

"That was the conversation. Nowhere in there did it talk about Boise, about that being an excuse of losing to Boise or anything. It talked about how we were preparing for Louisiana-Monroe. And how nowhere in there did it talk about calling our great medical conditioning, medical staff out or anything. We have a great medical staff, people do a great job with our players and talked about how we're all working together, planning together for our players and nothing in that said anything negative."

Although FSU's head coach did accurately read back his Monday comments, saying the staff would "live and learn" (via ESPN's Adam Rittenberg) without context led most to believe he was talking about mistakes made against the Broncos that could be fixed in future games.

"They need to start hydrating early in the week and take care of their bodies," Taggart said. "We can't leave it up to our players just to do it. We've got to force them to hydrate and take care of themselves. I don't know if we did a good job of that last weekend. One of those situations where you live and learn, and we'll make sure that we help our guys when it comes to that."

Regardless, Taggart said Wednesday the viral story is part of the downside when a team doesn't live up to expectations, per Weiler:

"Hopefully, people take it exactly for what I said and not what they think I said. That's pretty much it. That's part of it," he said. "That's part of what happens when you're not winning so you've got to win some ball games and people will say good things about us."

The Seminoles led 21-6 after the first quarter and extended their advantage to 31-13 with four minutes, seven seconds left in the second quarter. Boise scored 23 unanswered points to complete the comeback victory.

Florida State allowed the Broncos to accumulate 621 total yards and 38 first downs, which allowed the visitors to maintain possession for over 40 minutes.

Getting those defensive issues fixed is the Noles' biggest concern moving forward.

Florida State Seminoles head coach Willie Taggart believes his team's 36-31 loss to the Boise State Broncos on Saturday may have been in part due to the players' poor hydration.

Taggart said Monday on WTXL's The Willie Taggart Talk Show that the Seminoles need to make hydration a priority moving forward (h/t ESPN's Adam Rittenberg):

"They need to start hydrating early in the week and take care of their bodies. We can't leave it up to our players just to do it. We've got to force them to hydrate and take care of themselves. Again, I don't know if we did a good job of that last weekend. One of those situations where you live and learn, and we'll make sure that we help our guys when it comes to that."

The Seminoles led by as many as 18 points, holding a 31-13 lead late in the first half. However, the Broncos scored 23 unanswered points, including 17 in the final 17 minutes and 50 seconds, to stun the home crowd.

Boise State had a decisive edge in time of possession, holding the ball for more than 40 minutes. The Seminoles defense was on the field for a whopping 108 snaps and surrendered 621 yards.

Combined with Florida's August heat, that was a recipe for disaster. Several Seminoles players dealt with cramps during the contest.

Speaking with the media Monday, Florida State center Baveon Johnson questioned his team's preparation: "Conditioning wasn't our strong suit. That's what we plan to work. We plan to improve this week. No, we weren't prepared. I wasn't prepared, we all weren't prepared. We need to get better...I feel like it was just conditioning overall. That's what we need to get better at."

Florida State is in its second season under Taggart. It went 5-7 in Year 1, missing out on a bowl game for the first time since 1981.

The Seminoles will look to address potential hydration and conditioning concerns before they host UL Monroe on Saturday.