Noles Embracing Taggart's Speed and Simplicity
It’s a new era in Tallahassee as Willie Taggart became the head coach for Florida State when Jimbo Fisher left for Texas A&M.
The ascension to the top of college football has been somewhat quick for Taggart as his alma mater, Western Kentucky, named him head coach in 2010. In 2012, Taggart took over South Florida and then in 2016, he was named the head coach at Oregon.
The chance to return to his home state to coach the Seminoles was pretty much a no-brainer for Taggart, and his players have quickly embraced him.
“There is a lot of energy and a lot of excitement,” said Florida State sophomore running back Cam Akers. “He came in and changed a lot of things, holding each other accountable, and we're really enjoying it. We’re really looking forward to the first game.”
Akers ran for over 1,000 yards as a true freshman last fall, but Taggart’s up-tempo offense has the everyone excited, including the running backs.
“For me, just a lot more space, a lot more opportunity, a lot more seams, and a lot more opportunity for big plays,” Akers said of the offense. “I’m looking forward to being able to break a lot of those for this upcoming season.”
Florida State ranked last in offensive production in Atlantic division of the ACC, which is something Taggart looks to address right away.
“I think everything about last year shocked me when it came to Florida State,” Taggart said. “But that's football, and that's life, and that's behind us now. It's on us now to change those things because we know we can be a lot better than what we did last year. And that's the expectation for us to be a lot better than what we performed last year, so I'm looking forward to our guys changing that narrative.”
To change the narrative, Taggart believes it starts with execution.
“It all comes back to execution,” explained Taggart. “We've got to do a good job as coaches of explaining to our guys what needs to be done to be effective. And then we've got to, again, put it back on our players and hold them accountable to do their job.
“We have talented players over there. We've got to coach them up, and then we've got to go out and make those plays to change what happened from last year.”
The up-tempo offense might have been music to Akers ears, but the goal of the offense might have had Akers even more excited.
“We're not a team that's trying to get 100 plays," said Taggart. "We don't do tempo to get 100 plays. We're trying to get explosive plays. We're going to use tempo when we want to, and from that standpoint, it'll be faster. We won't huddle, so that's going to be a change by itself. But the key is to create explosive plays, and I think that's something we all want, and we have the players to do that.
“You talk about explosive plays, and you've got explosive players like Cam. He's a tremendous talent, and as a coach, you've got to find ways to get him the football and allow him to do the things that he's capable of doing, and we saw that this past season as a freshman, him doing the things that he did. You can see that he only can get better. He will get better, and I'm excited about it. Again, we've always been able to run the football wherever I've been, and we don't plan on that stopping anytime soon.”
Junior defensive end Brian Burns echoed Akers statements about Taggart, but he also stressed there is more accountability in the program.
“Coach Taggart has brought a new wave, a new culture to Florida State,” explained Burns. “He's bringing enthusiasm. He's making everybody hold themselves accountable, responsibility, no excuses for anything, whether it's missing a class, weight room, it doesn't matter. There are no excuses for anything, and he's really changing our guys, and I really appreciate him, and I'm excited for this year.”
Burns is also excited to be working with a new defensive coordinator this season. Harlon Barnett made the move from Michigan State, and his scheme has been easy to pick up to this point.
“It's not too difficult,” stated Burns. “It's a defense that allows you to play rather than think, so we're able to play fast, physical and aggressive. Everything is pin your ears back and go. We're going to get after it, and it's not really that hard to adjust to.”
The simplicity of the defense is something Taggart wanted when he was looking for staff on both sides of the ball. Taggart admitted he doesn’t want to confuse his players with the scheme because he knows Florida State has guys that can play football.
“We have some talented football players on our team,” stated Taggart. “We as coaches can't confuse them by being so complicated with a game that's simple and a game that these kids have been playing all their life. And we've got to allow them to go play the game of football like we know they can play and like we recruited them to play.”
Florida State and Taggart will have a chance to make a statement right away as the Noles will host Virginia Tech to open the 2018 season.
It’s a big rivalry game, and Burns knows a win can be the start of a big season.
“This is Florida State, as we always say, and you've got to live up to it,” said Burns. “It's an amazing tradition that's before us. It's bigger than us right now. Everything is bigger than us as far as Florida State-wise. It's about the tradition, the legacy.
“We need to buy into it. We need everybody to buy in so we can get back to the way Florida State plays football.”