Florida State Football

With Hurricane Dorian on track to hit Florida in the next few days, Saturday's Boise State-Florida State game has been moved from Jacksonville to Tallahassee. 

Florida governor Ron DeSantis announced Thursday the hurricane's proximity to Jacksonville necessitated the change in location, per 247Sports' Brendan Sonnone:

“Well given Jacksonville's location, given the uncertainty of the storm, they've looked for ways to figure out how they can accommodate that. I think they're going to go forward with the game, but they're not going to do it in Jacksonville. They're going to do the game in Tallahassee. I think they're going to have more details for that for anybody who's interested going forward."

An official location for the game is yet to be announced, but Sonnone did note as of Thursday morning it appeared Doak Campbell Stadium was being prepared for an event. 

Per Jason Hanna, Madeline Holcombe and Paul P. Murphy of CNN.com, Hurricane Dorian is expected to reach the Atlantic coast of Florida on Monday and is forecast to be a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 130 mph. 

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers added affected areas in the United States could start to feel tropical-storm force winds as early as Saturday evening.

Boise State and Florida State were originally scheduled to play at Jacksonville's TIAA Bank Field at 7 p.m. ET Saturday.

Florida State has named redshirt sophomore James Blackman as the team's starting quarterback for the first game against Boise State on Saturday. 

Wisconsin transfer Alex Hornibrook and Louisville transfer Jordan Travis were both involved in the quarterback competition, but head coach Willie Taggart went with the player who has been with the program and started 13 games over the past two seasons.

Despite his familiarity with the program, Blackman and Hornibrook saw "close to a 50-50 split in reps with the first-team offense through the final days of camp," according to Brendan Sonnone of 247Sports.

Hornibrook also has plenty of experience at this level with 5,438 passing yards and 47 touchdowns in 35 games for the Badgers. 

Blackman, who has 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his career, was forced to earn the starting spot over tough competition but was up to the challenge during fall practices. 

"When you put everything together, he's a dang good quarterback." offensive coordinator Kendal Briles said of Blackman.

"He's an alpha dog," receiver Keyshawn Helton added. "He's a leader."

Florida State is trying to bounce back from a disappointing 5-7 season in Taggart's first year with the team. It was the school's first campaign with a sub-.500 record since 1976. The February dismissal of former starting quarterback Deondre Francois created even more uncertainty within the program. 

The squad will hope players like Blackman, running back Cam Akers and wide receiver Tamorrion Terry will help rejuvenate the offense and lead to more success in 2019.

Former Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois is now a member of Division I-FCS Hampton University, according to Dave Johnson of the Daily Press. 

Per Johnson, the ex-Seminole has two years of eligibility remaining.

"It's a blessing to be here," Francois said Friday. "Coming to a smaller school like this, it gives me a chance to focus.

"I was in the spotlight at Florida State, but coming to Hampton, it gives me the opportunity to be in a more family-oriented program. In a smaller atmosphere, I can focus on my schoolwork and stay out of trouble."

FSU dismissed Francois from the team in Feb. 2019, with head coach Willie Taggart offering the following statement:

#FSU QB Deondre Francois is no longer with the program according to a statement from Willie Taggart. pic.twitter.com/WIdAMcm0zd

— Matt Murschel (@osmattmurschel) February 3, 2019

While an exact reason was never provided, the dismissal came after video was released by a woman who said that Francois abused her.

Per Chaunte'l Powell of the Orlando Sentinel, "a woman who identified herself as Francois' girlfriend posted video on Instagram that appeared to capture Francois getting into a physical altercation with her. In the video, a woman shouts for the man to stop hitting her in the face and the man refuses."

An accompanying message from the woman said that she "had been in a domestic situation with [Francois] and that she "lost my first child because of all of the beating and I suffer from post Partum depression."

Per Powell, the paper "has not been able to confirm the video included Francois and was posted by his girlfriend" and the post has been deleted from social media.

Safid Deen of the Orlando Sentinel also reported that the Tallahassee Police Department investigated Francois after a domestic dispute with his girlfriend in January 2018 but decided not to charge him with a crime. Per ESPN.com, Police also stormed his apartment in April 2018 on tips that the signal-caller was selling marijuana. Officers found less than one ounce, and Francois was given a diversion program.

Francois completed 57.3 percent of his passes for 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions last season. He returned to action after suffering a torn patellar tendon in the opening game of the 2017 campaign.

Per 247Sports, Francois was ranked as the 66th overall prospect in the class of 2015.

James Blackman is penciled in as Florida State's starting quarterback over transfer Alex Hornibrook with the 2019 season approaching. 

Per Wayne McGahee III of the Tallahassee Democrat, FSU head coach Willie Taggart said Wednesday at the ACC Kickoff that Blackman is the "starting quarterback."

Even so, Taggart added that Hornibrook will have an opportunity to compete for the starting job before the season commences: "[Blackman] started in the spring and the understanding is that he's going to go in there with the ones. But those guys are going to compete. They're going to get their reps and the best man is going to win the job."

Blackman has made 13 starts for the Seminoles over the past two seasons, while Hornibrook made 32 starts at Wisconsin before transferring.

After appearing in three games last season and making one start, Blackman is entering his redshirt sophomore campaign. He completed 64.7 percent of his passes for 510 yards, five touchdowns and one interception, including 421 yards and four scores in a start against NC State.

Blackman primarily served as the backup to Deondre Francois last season, but he made 12 starts as a freshman in 2017 when Francois missed nearly the whole season due to injury.

In 2017, Blackman completed 58.2 percent of his passes for 2,230 yards, 19 touchdowns and 11 picks.

Hornibrook is a redshirt senior with starting experience dating back to 2016. After a big year for the Badgers in 2017 that saw him complete 62.3 percent of his passes for 2,644 yards, 25 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, he struggled last season.

In nine games, Hornibrook completed 59.5 percent of his attempts for 1,532 yards, 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and he was supplanted by Jack Coan as the starter.

While Hornibrook has an overall experience edge, Taggart believes Blackman has come a long way since last season:

"He's ahead of what he was last year. You know, I think James, He's grown up. He's always been a great leader. But I think he's taken another step when it comes to leadership. He's working his tail off. I've seen him around office more than ever. And they're learning and going over football. ... I think last year was beneficial for him to be on the sideline and see it from a different angle."

Whoever begins 2019 as the starting quarterback will look to turn around a Seminoles team that has fallen on hard times. After winning 10 or more games in five straight seasons from 2012-2016, FSU went 7-6 in 2017 and just 5-7 last season.

In going 5-7, Florida State saw its 36-year bowl streak come to an end.

If the Seminoles are going to start a new streak in 2019, one of Blackman or Hornibrook has to step up and lead an offense that struggled mightily last season.

Texas A&M Aggies head football coach Jimbo Fisher downplayed talk of dysfunction during his time with the Florida State Seminoles leading up to his December 2017 departure.

In June, Bleacher Report's Matt Hayes reported on the problems before Fisher left FSU for A&M, including "academic deficiencies and recruiting failures" as well as a hands-off approach that left the program at "risk of not complying with NCAA standards and being ineligible to participate in championship events."

Fisher responded to the allegations during the 2019 SEC Media Days on Tuesday:

"In this business, you learn to have tough skin, you learn the circumstances of everything that happens and how it happens (but) that's part of this business. People are going to say and write things, and you know what goes on and you move on. I have nothing but respect for my time at Florida State. It is a phenomenal place and those players and kids and everyone that was there. I had a great time. We had great success. I wish them nothing but the best. You move on with your business and move on. They'll be successful I know, that's a great program."

Florida State athletic director David Coburn told Hayes most people don't understand the depths of the issues current 'Noles head coach Willie Taggart inherited, and those will always be taken into consideration when considering his job status.

"What's real is there absolutely were locker-room issues, and now, too, you can see the [academic] issues," Coburn told B/R. "Willie had a lot to deal with, beyond the field, when he got this job, and he's been busy dealing with it. That's [Taggart's] biggest culture change."

Fisher led the Seminoles to massive success across his first seven years. The run included no season with less than nine wins and was highlighted by a victory over the Auburn Tigers in the 2014 BCS Championship Game to complete an undefeated season (14-0).

Things started to fall apart quickly, however, as Florida State finished the 2017 campaign with a 6-6 regular-season record and Fisher hastily left for the Aggies.

Sources told Hayes the problems began with the "coddling of Jameis Winston," who led FSU to the 2013-14 national title before being selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2015 NFL draft, and efforts to keep the program compliant were hindered by a "keep the players eligible" mandate.

Fisher didn't comment on specific allegations during Tuesday's media session.

Meanwhile, Taggart guided the Seminoles to a 5-7 record during his first year in charge, but it appears he'll be given ample time to get the program back on the right track both on the field and in the classroom.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The first losing season in four decades. An NCAA-record 36-year bowl streak snapped. The worst academic performance among Power Five conferences.     

It's no wonder that Florida State fans have been doing everything from signing petitions to creating Facebook pages to starting GoFundMe campaigns to taking to social media to call for coach Willie Taggart's head.

But want to know who's really to blame for this mess in Tallahassee?

Look no further than former coach Jimbo Fisher.

Fisher, of course, is the man who pushed the program to the very top of the college football mountain not so long ago. But, according to FSU officials and former assistant coaches and players, it's also his fingerprints that are all over the decline.

Not Taggart's. While most of the college football world might have had Taggart pegged for the dreaded hot seat after going 5-7 in his first season, those at FSU say he's one of the safest coaches around and will get every opportunity to lift the program from an abyss he didn't create.

"We were 5-6 in Jimbo's last season when [Fisher] pulled the ripcord," FSU athletic director Dave Coburn says, referring to a decision late in the 2017 season to reschedule a game against Louisiana-Monroe that had previously been canceled because of Hurricane Irma.

"If we didn't buy that hurricane makeup game, the bowl streak would've ended then."

That's just three years after Fisher had engineered an impressive 29-game winning streak that included a national championship and a spot in the first College Football Playoff.

"We were Clemson before Clemson," a former assistant to Fisher at FSU says. "We were the team that had caught Alabama and was getting ready to pass them.

"Then it all fell off the cliff."

Right into the lap of Taggart, the fresh-faced, 42-year-old former college quarterback who walked into similar scenarios at Western Kentucky, USF and Oregon before leaving the Ducks after one season for his dream job at FSU.

The dream quickly dissolved into a nightmare of a first season. There were academic deficiencies and recruiting failures. There was dysfunction on the field and in the locker room, within his coaching staff and in the classroom, soiling everything.

Not that Fisher will acknowledge his part in creating that situation. The now-Texas A&M coach told Bleacher Report in May: "I have no comment on that. I loved my time at FSU. We left the program in good shape, with good players."

Others around the program, however, tell a different story.

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."

When asked if that was indeed the overriding academic plan, Coburn admits, "It appears that was the case."

Coburn, who worked as chief of staff for FSU president John Thrasher before Thrasher appointed him interim and then permanent athletic director, stops there. He wants to make one thing unequivocally clear: He and Thrasher, the man who ultimately would make any personnel decisions about the football program, are on the same page when it comes to any blame for the state of the team falling on Taggart—and Taggart's unshakable job security.

"I don't know how people can make an evaluation like that from the outside," Coburn continues. "They don't have a clue. It's almost not worth dignifying.

"What's real is there absolutely were locker room issues, and now, too, you can see the [academic] issues. Willie had a lot to deal with, beyond the field, when he got this job, and he's been busy dealing with it. That's [Taggart's] biggest culture change."

And what will it take to ultimately make that change?

Taggart says without hesitation: "Graduation and recruiting."

---

In early May, the NCAA released its annual Academic Progress Report (APR), and the FSU football team's score for the 2017-18 year was 922—last among Power Five programs and dangerously close to the line where the NCAA will take punitive action, beginning with a loss of practice hours and moving from there to ineligibility for championship events, loss of scholarships and eventually coaching suspensions.

That line is 930, but it's assessed against a four-year average, which spares FSU for now, if only barely, at 936.

The 2017-18 APR score falls under both Fisher and Taggart; the first half was when the team was coached by Fisher, the second by Taggart, who was hired in December 2017.

When the scores were released, Taggart took to Twitter to defend the program, tweeting and mentioning 24 players who finished "this semester" with academic success—and included their grade-point averages in the tweets.

Of all Taggart walked into at FSU, nothing was more disturbing than the idea of keeping players eligible. He was floored by the attitude toward academics when he arrived.

"Don't tell me [players] are not going to class. Are you s--tting me? They're going to class," Taggart says. "Who is he to tell you he's not going to class? That's accountability. That's discipline. If you're going to allow him to sit there and not go, of course he's not going. If we allow him to do that, shame on us. Then we really don't care. We're just here. We're just collecting the money and cheating the university."

Taggart says FSU had 29 players earn their personal-best GPA this semester, and the program had more than 25 players with a 3.0 GPA or better.

The obvious question: Where would FSU's APR be without the significant jump since Taggart's arrival?

"Don't even want to contemplate that," Coburn says. "The difference now is Willie isn't comfortable with just keeping players eligible. He not only wants them to succeed; he wants them to succeed at a high level academically. He's not just interested in them just graduating; he's interested in getting them graduated and employed—and that's a refreshing perspective."

Says FSU tailback Cam Akers: "I don't think [academics] are a problem now. I've always taken it seriously. So have a lot of other guys. Were other guys not in the past? Probably. But we're going to class, and we're competing as a team to build it back where it should be."

Academics under Fisher, one former FSU assistant coach says, were a direct result of a lack of discipline and direction on the team. Those issues soiled the locker room and fed entitlement—and it played out on the field.

That entitlement grew so significantly over the final three seasons under Fisher, it engulfed everything in its path.

"I've never seen a program go downhill so quickly after reaching the mountaintop," a former FSU assistant says. "Won it all [in 2013], then the worst thing that could've happened is going to the playoff the next year. The hardest job in this business is convincing kids who have been to the mountaintop that there's new, different gold up there—and it's worth the climb.

"Look, entitlement only gets that way if you allow it. You want to know why some kids thought they could do whatever they wanted? It was allowed."

For no one more so than Winston, whom three former assistants all named as the key figure in the program's collapse. (Winston's representation declined to provide him for comment on this story.) A Heisman Trophy winner, the foundation of FSU's 27 wins in 28 games in 2013 and 2014 and the eventual No. 1 overall NFL draft pick, Winston's FSU career was marked by off-field issues.

Among them was a rape allegation that was never criminally prosecuted but led to the university paying $950,000 to settle a Title IX lawsuit. And then an embarrassing citation for shoplifting crab legs. And then early in the second of Winston's two seasons played at FSU, he was suspended for one game by the university after making "offensive and vulgar" comments while standing on a table.

Winston actually dressed and showed up on the field for warm-ups for the game he was to be out, beginning to work through the team's typical routine. Fisher walked over to Winston and argued with his star quarterback about his presence on the field. Winston eventually left and came back in street clothes and his jersey to join the Seminoles on the sideline. After the game, Fisher explained away the incident with a ham-handed statement about "a miscommunication between us and the locker room."

That moment, one former FSU assistant coach says, was when the doors of entitlement swung wide open.

The cliff suddenly was within sight.

"Jameis walking out on the field, fully dressed, when he was suspended, after such a big deal was made about the suspension and his other problems? Come on," the former assistant says. "[Fisher] should've said one thing to Jameis: 'Get the f--k off the field. Now. Don't show your face in our facility for a week or two weeks.' And if [Winston] gets his feelings hurt and leaves, so be it. You've saved your team—instead of losing it down the road."

FSU beat Clemson with backup quarterback Sean Maguire and then won 10 straight with Winston and a team full of NFL talent. But the cracks were there. Despite the loaded team (FSU set an NFL draft record with 29 players selected from 2013 to '15), the Seminoles won five of those 10 games by a combined 18 points—before losing by 39 points to Oregon in the CFP national semifinal.

In his three seasons that followed, Fisher led FSU to 25 wins in 37 games, including a pedestrian 14-10 record in the ACC—a league he had dominated in his first five seasons, at 34-6.

"We had the better team in that playoff game," one former assistant coach says. "When I say better, I mean better across the board. There's no way we should've lost that game, and then to lose it like we did … that locker room after the game was almost exhaling. Like, this crazy ride is finally over."

Only it wasn't.

---

FSU began the 2017 season ranked in the Top Five and with a marquee opener against college football king Alabama.

The Noles were two years removed from their last season among the nation's elite and had clearly ceded the ACC to the league's new power, Clemson. In the two years since the loss to Oregon, FSU had won 20 games but lost to Clemson twice, was embarrassed by Group of Five team Houston (Peach Bowl) and lost to Louisville by 43 points.

The game against Alabama to begin 2017 was where FSU was supposed to make a stand with another talented team and a second-year quarterback (Deondre Francois) with NFL talent. Then late in the second half of a 24-7 loss, Francois tore the ACL in his left knee, and another critical issue to the fall of the program was exposed: debilitating misses in recruiting the most important position on the field.

For the remainder of the season, FSU was forced to use freshman James Blackman, a 6'2", 165-pound project who was nowhere near ready to play college football.

"What people don't understand is, I was never really coached to play the position before I got to FSU," Blackman says. "I used to search YouTube and watch other quarterbacks play the game and try to learn from it. It was a big step for me to even be at FSU. Jimbo did a great job helping me, sticking with me throughout the season so I didn't go out there and embarrass myself. I learned a lot from him about playing the position."

Fisher's coaching ability has never been in question. He's one of the game's elite and developed three quarterbacks (Christian Ponder, EJ Manuel, Winston) into first-round NFL draft picks.

But it's the recruiting misses at the position after Winston that still haunt the program. Since signing Winston, Fisher's unremarkable rundown of quarterbacks contributed significantly to the slide of the program:

• 2013, John Franklin III: Never played, transferred after two seasons and eventually switched positions. Now plays defensive back for the Chicago Bears.

• 2014, J.J. Cosentino: Career backup who left the program with one year of eligibility remaining.

• 2015, Deondre Francois: Two-year starter dismissed after the 2018 season because of allegations of domestic violence.

• 2015, DeAndre Johnson: Was dismissed before his freshman season began for striking a woman at a bar. Currently at Texas Southern.

• 2016, Malik Henry: Left the program during his freshman season. Now a walk-on at Nevada.

• 2017, Bailey Hockman: Redshirted as a freshman; transferred to NC State.

• 2017, Blackman: Started as a freshman, redshirted in 2018 and is FSU's projected starter for 2019.

Three quarterbacks Fisher recruited before Winston also never panned out: Clint Trickett (transferred), Jacob Coker (transferred, won a national title with Alabama) and Maguire. Ponder, Manuel and Trickett were recruited with Bobby Bowden as head coach.

FSU's quarterback depth chart this fall includes Blackman, Wisconsin transfer Alex Hornibrook and Louisville transfer Jordan Travis.

"Our problem was recruiting—the quarterback particularly," a former FSU assistant says. "That's where you live and die in this game. You get the right players, you win a lot of games. The problem is, we took too many chances on kids we probably shouldn't have signed.

"You have to dig deep into every player's background, and when you don't, you get problem guys or guys that have no business playing at this level."

---

After months of locker room issues last season and even, Taggart admits, dysfunction among the coaching staff, rock bottom arrived in the season finale against rival Florida.

FSU needed a win to salvage its bowl streak, and instead it all fell apart in the second half of a 41-14 loss that snapped a five-game winning streak over the Gators and gave the Noles their first losing season in more than four decades.

At one point in the fourth quarter, Florida safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson lined up to defend the FSU offense and noticed the unit was a player short. He turned and motioned to the FSU sideline that the Seminoles were missing a player.

A receiver ran on the field, and then Francois threw incomplete into double coverage. A microcosm of the season.

Since that game, Taggart has overhauled his offensive staff, hiring Kendal Briles to run the Baylor offense and call plays. He says FSU now has staff harmony. Players responded in spring practice, and the buy-in that wasn't there in 2018 is now nearly 100 percent.

"There's a vibe now. It's coming. The walls are coming down. I see a football team that wants to right the ship," Taggart says. "You see it in the way they've responded to everything since the end of last season."

How bad, he is asked, did it get last season?

"Bad, man. Just that b---hing and moaning, about anything—because everything wasn't what it was before," Taggart says. "Why we gotta do this? Why we gotta do that? There's none of that now. And we tried to put them in situations this spring where they could've easily said that. We ran the s--t out of them, and no one said anything."

He stares out onto the field that Bobby Bowden built, where Taggart once watched games as a boy and where he dreamed of playing as a Florida high school star at Manatee High School in Bradenton. The field where Jimbo Fisher had a national championship team just five short seasons ago.

Taggart didn't visit FSU before agreeing to a deal in a room at the Atlanta airport. He didn't need to see the campus or the facilities, because he knew what he was walking into and knew how it got there. He's seen it before. It's the same type of nightmare he walked into at Western Kentucky, and the same damn thing at USF.

WKU had won two of 24 games prior to Taggart's arrival in 2010 and won two games in his first season before everything changed. USF had back-to-back losing seasons before Taggart arrived in 2013 and then won six games in his first two seasons before winning 19 in his final two seasons.

Oregon was coming off its worst record in 25 years when Taggart was hired in December 2016 and then won seven games in Taggart's first season—and likely would've won more but for an injury to star quarterback Justin Herbert.

All three situations, Taggart says, were similar to what he saw at FSU—on the field and in the locker room.  

"I saw it when [Francois] went down with an injury and the entire team was crushed," Taggart says. "I look for those red flags, those things that show you it's a problem on and off the field. I see other teams now, and I think, 'I guarantee this is what's going on there.'"

He pauses and thumps his knuckles on the big oak table in the big office that overlooks Doak Campbell Stadium.

"Then you see a team that's winning," he says, his voice rising. "They love each other. They care for each other. They're having fun. They create it.

"We're far from a finished product, but it's coming. And it's going to be a beautiful thing."

So don't blame Willie Taggart for how we got to this point.

He’s just getting started.

Quarterback Alex Hornibrook will reportedly play his final season of college football at Florida State, according to Chris Nee of 247Sports.

Per that report: "Following an official visit that spanned from Friday to Sunday morning, former Wisconsin quarterback Hornibrook has decided to transfer to FSU, according to a source with knowledge of the visit. Hornibrook has yet to publicly state his intention to transfer to FSU."

Ring, Ring, Ring. Great phone call for the Noles. Go Noles! #DoSomething pic.twitter.com/JAXbe8ujwD

— Willie Taggart (@CoachTaggart) March 10, 2019

Michael Langston of Warchant.com also reported Hornibrook's transfer to Florida State.

Hornibrook spent the previous three seasons as Wisconsin's starting quarterback. He went 26-6 in 32 starts and threw for 5,438 yards, 47 touchdowns (33 interceptions) and completed 60.5 percent of his attempts. 

The fifth-year senior wrote in an Instagram post on Feb. 27 he had entered the NCAA transfer portal. 

"Alex informed us of his decision to leave the team earlier today," Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst told reporters. "He contributed to a lot of our recent success, and we want to thank him for all he did for our program. We wish him the best of luck."

The Badgers scored a huge win in recruiting this year with Graham Mertz committing to the school. The Kansas native is a 4-star prospect and No. 3 pro-style quarterback in the 2019 class, per 247Sports. 

Even though Chryst hasn't stated Mertz will be the team's starting quarterback next season, Hornibrook's decision to transfer opened the door wide-open for the true freshman. 

Meanwhile, Hornibrook will look to re-establish himself coming off an inconsistent 2018 season. He only started nine of Wisconsin's 13 games because of a concussion and back injury. 

Florida State is the perfect fit for Hornibrook to get back on track, as the team will give him an opportunity to compete for the starting job this season. He brings an excellent resume to the program, including leading Wisconsin to a 13-1 record and appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game in 2017. 

At his best, Hornibrook is a quarterback who can create big plays down the field. He's susceptible to turnovers while trying to make something happen, but there is plenty of upside for the Seminoles to build around in 2019. 

And the team will get some much-needed reinforcements at quarterback after dismissing Deondre Francois in February.

Junior James Blackman was next in line to take over the offense in 2019. He started the team's final 12 games as a freshman two years ago when Francois injured his patellar tendon in the season opener against Alabama. 

Blackman looked capable under center with 2,230 yards, 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. It's still possible for him to win the starting job coming out of spring practice, but Hornibrook's presence at least gives head coach Willie Taggart another option. 

Florida State will be looking for some sort of spark after a disappointing 5-7 record in 2018. It snapped a streak of 41 consecutive winning seasons and 36 straight bowl appearances. 

Willie Taggart has a problem.

His debut season at Florida State fell enormously shy of the eight- or nine-win optimism with a 5-7 finish. The program's 36-year bowl streak came to a screeching halt, while the offense flailed and the defense allowed the most points per game in school history.

During the early signing period, the Seminoles lost longtime commit Sam Howell―the No. 6 quarterback in the 2019 class―to North Carolina. In February, FSU then missed on 4-star targets John Rhys Plumlee and Lance LeGendre.

Taggart dismissed starting quarterback Deondre Francois following domestic abuse allegations. Yet the school filled its offensive coordinator vacancy with Kendal Briles, a controversial hire given his alleged involvement in Baylor's sexual assault scandal.

Poor on-field results. Frustrating recruiting. Inconsistent culture. Those concerns amount to one enormous problem.

And if the Seminoles struggle in 2019 with a favorable schedule to buoy them, Taggart's tenure may quickly become a nightmare.

Francois' dismissal has left FSU with one scholarship QB, James Blackman, expected to be eligible next season. Louisville transfer Jordan Travis would need a waiver approved, and that seems unlikely at best. The current backup is walk-on Nolan McDonald.

As a result, the 'Noles must be active on the grad transfer market. The current situation is inexcusable. But at the same time, Blackman has already explored a transfer. Bolstering depth while keeping the redshirt sophomore is imperative.

If Taggart fails to bring in another quarterback, there's real potential for something awful to happen.

Last season, the team's slogan was "Do Something." On a weekly basis, fans were begging for Florida State's offense to "Do Anything. Like, Literally Anything Good." Those issues largely stemmed from a complete disaster of an offensive line.

FSU's 2.8 yards per rush ranked 129th out of 130 teams. The blocking unit surrendered 8.6 tackles for loss (127th) and three sacks (112th) per game. And the Seminoles' average of 21.9 points was their lowest output since 1981.

Taggart and Co. addressed that weakness by signing five offensive linemen in the 2019 recruiting class, but the freshmen cannot be expected to provide an immediate fix.

Blackman―or whoever is behind center―is going to take hits. One injury could obliterate FSU's season.

After all, field position was an enormous obstacle for Florida State in 2018. The defense had its issues, but it wasn't getting much assistance from an offense that led to the nation's fifth-most punts. That's where Briles, as controversial as he is, should help.

Strictly speaking about his coordinating ability, Briles has thrived. Baylor consistently ranked among the nation's best, and he oversaw 2017 Florida Atlantic and 2018 Houston offenses that followed suit. FAU's efficiency fell last season without him, and Houston lost its bowl game to Army 70-14 after Briles left for FSU.

Kendal Briles before and after:
FAU 2017: 6.80 ypp (11th), 40.6 ppg (8th)
FAU 2018: 6.18 ypp (36th), 31.1 ppg (50th)

Houston 2017: 6.00 ypp (43rd), 28.3 ppg (65th)
Houston 2018: 6.77 ypp (12th), 46.4 ppg (4th)

— Charles Power (@CharlesPower) November 28, 2018

There's a strong chance Briles will move the offense in a promising direction. With games on tap against Boise State, Louisiana-Monroe, Virginia, Louisville and North Carolina State in September, a 5-0 start is within reason. At that point, even a 3-2 mark against Clemson, Syracuse, Miami, Boston College and Florida should be considered a success.

But the decision to hire Briles emphasized Taggart's top priority: winning.

That better work out, because the culture he's creating reflects it. According to Chaunte'l Powell of the Orlando Sentinel, Taggart once stated he had a zero-tolerance policy about violence against women. Florida State says it "does not tolerate sexual violence."

While we can debate Briles' knowledge of the abhorrence at Baylor all day, only those involved with the investigations have the answers. The optics are bad. The ethics, at best, are questionable.

Taggart shouldn't be on the hot seat yet, but the paths to criticism both on and off the field are apparent.

If quarterback depth remains indefensible and either Blackman gets injured or Briles fails to reconstruct the offense, it'll be time to sound every panic alarm in Tallahassee.

             

All recruiting information via 247Sports. Stats from NCAA.com, cfbstats.com or B/R research. Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow Bleacher Report CFB Writer David Kenyon on Twitter @Kenyon19_BR.

Diamond Lindsey, the ex-girlfriend of former Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois, appeared to apologize Monday for posting a video on Instagram that alleged domestic abuse, but her family later announced the account was hacked.

Jordan James of 247Sports.com shared the statements refuting the apology on Monday night, noting the account was later deleted.

Earlier in the day, Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times shared a statement posted on the account after the alleged hack, which began, "I want to first start by apologizing to Deondre and his family for ultimately diminishing his character. I should have never posted a video from our past situations that were already handled."

The Instagram account that posted the Deondre Francois video Saturday evening just posted this. pic.twitter.com/92KW1pCcRz

— Matt Baker (@MattBakerCFB) February 4, 2019

The now-refuted statement also made reference to Florida State head coach Willie Taggart's decision to remove Francois from the team.

On Sunday, Jill Martin of CNN shared a statement from Taggart explaining his decision: 

"Last night, I informed Deondre Francois that he is no longer a member of the Florida State football program. As we build a new culture and foundation for FSU Football, we have high expectations for all of our student-athletes and we will not shy away from those high standards of conduct. We are moving forward as a program."

Wayne McGahee III of the Tallahassee Democrat (h/t USA Today) reported on the original Instagram post, noting Lindsey nor Francois could be seen in it. However, he pointed out a woman can be heard saying, "stop hitting me in my f--king face," and a man replies, "throw it again so I can beat your ass" and "I'm going to hit you in your face every f--king time."

The falsified statement on Lindsey's account said the video was made to sound like Francois was abusing her when he was not.

McGahee passed along the text that accompanied the video when it was posted:

"I normally don't put my business on ig, but I am tired of my name being drug through the mud since the beginning, I have been silent. For 2 years I have been in a domestic situation with (Deondre Francois).

"I thought I loved him and thought he could change for the better but it has gotten worse. I lost my first child because of all of the beating and I suffer from post Partum depression. This situation is taking a toll on my life. Yes, I stayed after that because I was stupid and blinded by love.

"This isn't love. You are a coward and this isn't right. Just because you are who you are that doesn't give you the right to put your hands on a woman ever!!!"

Chris Hays and Chaunte'l Powell of the Orlando Sentinel reported in December that no charges were filed following previous domestic violence allegations against Francois, although police charged him with marijuana possession. He was placed in a diversion program as a result.

Francois was the Seminoles' primary quarterback as a freshman in 2016 during the team's 10-3 season. However, he suffered a broken kneecap in the 2017 season opener and missed the remainder of the year before returning to play 11 games in 2018. 

According to Cole Cubelic of the SEC Network, Francois is in the NCAA's transfer portal following his dismissal from Florida State.

Quarterback Deondre Francois is no longer with the Florida State Seminoles football program following domestic abuse allegations.

Jill Martin of CNN shared a statement from head coach Willie Taggart:

"Last night, I informed Deondre Francois that he is no longer a member of the Florida State football program. As we build a new culture and foundation for FSU Football, we have high expectations for all of our student-athletes and we will not shy away from those high standards of conduct. We are moving forward as a program."

Wayne McGahee III of the Tallahassee Democrat (h/t USA Today) noted this happened after Francois' girlfriend posted a video on social media Saturday that alleged domestic abuse and included the following text:

"I normally don't put my business on ig, but I am tired of my name being drug through the mud since the beginning, I have been silent. For 2 years I have been in a domestic situation with [Francois].

"I thought I loved him and thought he could change for the better but it has gotten worse. I lost my first child because of all of the beating and I suffer from post Partum depression. This situation is taking a toll on my life. Yes, I stayed after that because I was stupid and blinded by love.

"This isn't love. You are a coward and this isn't right. Just because you are who you are that doesn't give you the right to put your hands on a woman ever!!!"

McGahee noted a woman can be heard in the video saying "stop hitting me" and "stop hitting me in my f--king face."

Chris Hays and Chaunte'l Powell of the Orlando Sentinel reported on Francois' future in December.

While they initially cited sources who said the quarterback did not plan on returning to the Seminoles, Francois said he would if he didn't receive positive evaluations from the NFL regarding his draft prospects. He also said he wasn't planning on transferring even though he had graduated and would have been immediately eligible.

Hays and Powell noted an allegation of domestic abuse was made against Francois in 2017 as well. While domestic violence charges were never filed, Tallahassee Police did charge him with marijuana possession, and Francois entered a diversion program.

On the field, Francois was a 4-star prospect and the No. 3 pro-style quarterback in the 2015 recruiting class, per 247Sports.

He led Florida State to a 10-3 record and Orange Bowl victory as a freshman but suffered a broken kneecap in the 2017 season opener against the Alabama Crimson Tide and missed the remainder of the year. He returned and played 11 games in 2018, but the Seminoles were just 5-7, and their 36-year bowl streak was snapped.

Tashan Reed of The Athletic noted Sunday that "James Blackman immediately becomes the favorite to start" for the Seminoles in 2019.