I normally don’t come out against a minority coach so early in his tenure. I know the paucity of minority coaches in college football’s FBS level.
But watching Willie Taggart’s actions during and after Florida State’s come from ahead loss to Boise State Saturday has me rethinking that notion.
Oh my goodness, where do I begin. First, the loss itself.
I know Boise State is good. The Broncos are almost always a factor every season, particularly from the “Group of Five”. But a team with Florida State’s athletes have no damn business losing to Boise, let alone blowing a 31-13 lead in the process.
Oh, and that happened IN TALLAHASSEE.
After looking like gangbusters in the first half offensively, Taggart and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles did not change things up in the second half. Briles called for back-to-back-to-back bomb plays that resulted in one of the many 3-and-outs in the second half, failing to capitalize on the momentum the Seminoles established in the first half.
The defense failed the Seminoles in the second half, giving up over 600 yards (!!) to a Boise State offense led by a true freshman quarterback making his first start.
Now, I want to focus on the aftermath.
Taggart made some troubling quotes after the game. First, when it came to his team’s lacking composure in the second half:
“I thought our guys pressed a little more in the second half. When things didn’t go right there the first couple of series, we started to press there to try to make plays rather than just trusting the process and doing their assignment.”
Maintaining composure is one of the main “beyond the Xs and Os” tasks of the coaching staff. Not a good look for Taggart.
As crazy as that quote was, what Taggart said about his team’s lack of conditioning in the second half troubled me the most. This is what he said during his call-in show. Brace yourselves:
“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. 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.”
Y’all read that right: a head coach of a major college football program just said his staff needs to do a better job of hydrating the players. Out loud. On a radio show.
Oh my Lord.
I want Taggart to do well, I really do. I need the Seminoles (my childhood favorite football team) to matter again. But shit like this makes me want to say, “DAAAAAAMN WILLIE!”
Bottom line: Taggart needs to get his shit together quick, fast and in a hurry. He can no longer blame previous coach Jimbo Fisher…
Categories: college football
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