Florida State football spring preview: Will Seminoles improve in 2019?
By Matt Oglesby
In 2018, Florida State football suffered its first losing season in 36 years. Can Willie Taggart turn things around in 2019?
There was a lot of buzz around this time in spring 2018. Tallahassee is beautiful in March, brisk in the morning and warm as the fog burns off in the early afternoon. Crowds of fans and media swarmed the sidelines of the Al Dunlap Training Facility to get their first look at the Seminoles and new head coach Willie Taggart, who promised a new era of speed and “lethal simplicity.”
Rap music blared as the Seminoles practiced a much faster spread offense. The players smiled and high-fived; they seemed to enjoy the more upbeat and positive energy, as opposed to the rigorous atmosphere imposed by former head coach Jimbo Fisher, who comes from the Nick Saban lineage, where fun and football don’t mix.
Energy quickly deflated following the Seminoles embarrassing loss to Virginia Tech on Labor Day in their home opener. Not much improved as the season progressed: the Seminoles looked disorganized, unprepared, poorly coached, and severely hamstrung by a disastrous offensive line and a backbreaking schedule that featured blowout losses to two playoff contenders, Notre Dame and the national championship-winning Clemson Tigers. The Seminoles finished the season 5-7.
Needless to say, spring practice has been much quieter for the Seminoles in 2019. Gone is the rap music, except during water breaks. Gone also are the droves of fans crowding the sidelines, cheering on the Seminoles even during the most mundane drills. The sidelines at Al Dunlap are noticeably barren, save a few journalists tapping away on their laptops.
The quiet belies a harsh reality in Tallahassee: the stakes are high for Willie Taggart and the 2019 Seminoles. The 2018 season ended disastrously, with blood-rival Florida Gators blowing out the Seminoles 41-14 at home, leaving Taggart with many changes to make.
Some of these changes can already be seen in spring practice, including a bevy of new faces on the coaching staff, a more disciplined, focused approach, a new leader under center, and an improving offensive line. All of this will be tested in the 2019 Garnet and Gold Spring Game on April 6 at 4 p.m. in Doak Campbell Stadium.