Florida State has a new head coach and will have a fresh look in 2018. Here are the five storylines Seminoles fans should follow this spring.
The Florida State Seminoles had to open their coaching search for the first time since 1970. Jimbo Fisher, who succeeded legendary Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden, was a coach-in-waiting for three years before taking over in 2010.
Fisher joined Bowden as a national championship winning coach for the ‘Noles, winning the title in the 2013 season. Fisher left Tallahassee, Fla., for Texas A&M and the FSU administration went after a native Floridian for their head coaching position.
Willie Taggart, who is from Tampa, Fla., left the Oregon Ducks after one season to take over the Florida State program. Taggart inherits a program that finished 2017 with a 7-6 record and a 43rd overall ranking per Bill C’s S&P+ analytics. He took over the Ducks after a 4-8 season and Florida State has more talent and is in a better position for success in recruiting.
Taggart, who listed Florida State as his dream job, will have a huge decision to make this spring. Unlike inheriting Justin Herbert at Oregon, a clearcut starter, Taggart has to choose between two quarterbacks with starting experience, rebuild the FSU defense and install his spread-to-run offense at pro style FSU.
Bill C’s rankings have the ‘Noles pre-season No. 18 and Coach Taggart’s staff has already recruited in the 11th-ranked class from 2018 in short work. The prize recruit of the 2018 class is four-star Jaiden Woodbey, a safety from California.
Here are five storylines Seminoles fans should follow this spring.
Former American Heritage (@AH__Athletics) standout Brian Burns had quite the efficient season in Tallahassee, pulling down 30 QB pressures in Year 2 in Garnet & Gold. He finished the season hot, with 20 QB pressures over his final 7 games. pic.twitter.com/oldxu2Wbw9
— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) January 1, 2018
5. The Seminoles find their next great pass rusher
The Seminoles have been synonymous with great pass rushers in college football going as far back as Ron Simmons and Peter Boulware and as recent as DeMarcus Walker and Mario Edwards Jr.
However, heading into the spring of 2018, FSU defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett has his work cut out for him on finding a pass rusher. Barnett, who learned his 4-3/4-2-5 hybrid defense under Mark Dantonio at Michigan State, will want a pass rush without having to constantly blitz.
Junior defensive end Brian Burns could be the next great Seminole pass rusher to terrorize ACC quarterbacks. Burns, from American Heritage High School in Florida, had 30 pressures and six sacks in 2017. Burns really came along over the last seven games totaling 20 pressures over that stretch. The former five-star prospect has NFL size at 6-5 and 235 pounds.
Burns bookend on the defensive line will be sophomore Joshua Kaindoh. The former five-star prospect from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., will be asked to live up to his potential as a strong side defensive end. He’s a massive dude at 6-foot-7 and 250 pounds in the mold of NFL Pro Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell.
Between Burns and Kaindoh there is a lot of hype for the next great pass rusher to emerge for the Seminoles this spring.
4. Cam Akers becoming a household name
Seminoles running back Cam Akers ran for over 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns as a true freshman. That’s an amazing true freshman campaign and while Noles fans didn’t forget Dalvin Cook, his departure was a bit easier to handle with Akers on board.
Akers, a consensus five-star prospect in the 2017 recruiting class, is the complete package at 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds of explosive athlete. This offseason, Akers squatted 500 pounds twice after a winter workout. Akers, who averaged 5.3 yards per carry, is on the verge of becoming a household name.
Willie Taggart’s offense gave Royce Freeman a platform to excel on at Oregon. He ran for 6.0 yards per carry, over 1,400 rushing yards, and 16 touchdowns in his only season as Taggart’s feature back.
What will Akers need to do to become a household name? He’ll need to make game breaking plays like Dalvin Cook or Saquon Barkley did and get himself involved in the passing game as well. In 2017, he only caught 16 balls but he’ll need to be more involved in the passing game.
Jacques Patrick and Akers will still split carries, but expect Akers to take over the bulk as the season goes on. In order to do so, his yards per carry will also have to increase to six or greater because Patrick doesn’t have the burst Akers is known for.
3. Freshmen that can make an impact
When a new head football coach arrives on campus, one of the first executive acts they undertake is trying to determine who needs to stay and who needs to leave the program. Coaches have their type of football player, and their system that the current roster doesn’t always fit into.
As Taggart arrives in Tallahassee, he will weed out some of the players that don’t fit his mold, but also he will want to bring in his caliber of player to the Seminoles locker room. Taggart likes to grind defenses down with his 11 personnel (one back, one tight end) offense and they’ll employ a 4-2-5 defense. The first order of business will be replacing potential first round safety Derwin James.
Taggart signed California-native Jaiden Woodbey, a four-star safety prospect. He’s a 6-2, 204-pound safety who can run and hit which puts him in the James category of safety. He can play in the box or roam deep and play center field. Defensive back is going to be a place where freshmen can make an immediate impact and FSU signed another great one in Asante Samuel Jr.
Samuel Jr. is the son of former NFL great Asante Samuel. The four-star prospect from St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida will battle for the nickel cornerback job from the jump. Stanford Samuels III and Levonta Taylor are clearcut starters but Samuel can steal playing time if he lives up to the blue-chip hype.
Another position group that the Seminoles needed to bolster depth for is linebacker. Amari Gainer is a four-star freshman with NFL size and ability. Gainer is 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds out of Tallahassee, Fla. Gainer can immediately get on the two-deep at linebacker and even possibly into a rotation before the season is over. He’s good, but the Seminoles linebacking corps is that shallow as well.
On offense, 6-foot-3, 200-pound wide receiver Warren Thompson can also make an immediate impact. Out of Armwood High School in Florida, Thompson is one of five wide receivers Taggart’s staff brought on campus due to a lack of depth and talent at the position.
Deondre Francois and James Blackman need targets with size to go with the undersized Nyqwan Murray and D.J. Matthews. Tight end Carmen McDonald is another freshman that will get an early shot at playing time but we’ll discuss him in more detail later.
2. Using the tight end in the passing game
Under Jimbo Fisher, the tight end was a little-used position in the passing game. Fisher focused more on blocking tight ends in his pro-style offense even with highly-touted tight ends on campus in Ryan Izzo and Nick O’Leary.
Willie Taggart loves a flex tight end that can stretch the defense and tie up linebackers and safeties deep over the middle. The Seminoles don’t have a ton of depth at tight end with Izzo heading to the NFL and backup Mavin Sanders transferring to Kansas. That brings Taggart’s focus on to former three-star prospect Tre’ McKitty.
McKitty, from IMG Academy, has NFL size and is a pass catching tight end. He’s 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds and can block as well as be involved in the passing game. He only caught one ball in 2017 but it was a 23-yard reception.
Naseir Upshur is a junior with experience but not the same athletic ability of McKitty. Upshur is 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, so size is there but not the height — Taggart likes to get mismatches against shorter linebackers and safeties. Camren McDonald, a 2018 signee, is a four-star prospect from Long Beach Poly in California. He’s another West Coast connection Taggart made in his twelve month stint in Eugene. McDonald, like McKitty, is 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds.
1. The quarterback battle
Willie Taggart has arrived in Tallahassee with a dilemma on his hands. As 2017 began, the Seminoles were positioned to redshirt freshman James Blackman and let Deondre Francois be the starter once again. Then, Francois injured his knee against the Alabama Crimson Tide and Jimbo Fisher had to make a decision. With Blackman thrust into a starting position, and Fisher phasing himself out of FSU and into Texas A&M, the Seminoles’ offense fell apart.
Florida State dropped from third overall in the S&P+ offensive rankings to 76th. This all can’t be blamed on Blackman as Florida State also lost Dalvin Cook to the NFL and Fisher’s attention wasn’t on issues in North Florida.
When Francois was the starter in 2016, he threw for 3,350 yards and 20 touchdowns with seven interceptions. Francois was able to average 8.5 yards per attempt which is excellent for anyone let alone a redshirt freshman. He led the Seminoles to a 10-3 record including wins over the Miami Hurricanes and Michigan Wolverines.
In 2017, after Francois’ knee injury, Blackman stepped in to start. Blackman is a lanky 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds. Blackman started off rocky but improved greatly over his true freshman campaign. He ended the season throwing for over 2,000 yards and adding 19 touchdowns on 11 interceptions. Blackman is more of a pocket passer than Francois who has a stockier build at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds.
Taggart will want the quarterback that can pull and keep on the inside zone read game, run some sprint out passing combinations, and that can change tempos in order to keep defenses off balance. Blackman will have the advantage over Francois as the latter is still being held out of practice this spring coming off of knee surgery.
Next: NFL Mock Draft 2018: First round post-Combine
Whoever wins this battle will make or break the start of Taggart’s career at FSU and could either get the fan and admin support he will need or start off in their doghouse.
Prediction: James Blackman