Willie Taggart’s seat was already hot coming into this season. But his seat has only warmed up with Florida State football. Should he get more time?
After Florida State’s 22-20 loss to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, Florida State head coach Willie Taggart’s already-hot seat was set ablaze in Week 8.
There are various outlets already reporting an exit strategy being discussed to either pay his buyout completely or negotiate a number. This is highly unusual because most coaches get 3-4 years to build their program unless there has been some sort of scandal. Coaches need that time to build and thrive. There’s been no scandal, so why the quick hook?
The primary reason for pulling the plug so quickly on a coaching tenure is economics and interest. When the season ticket holders aren’t renewing, the student section is 75 percent full, and the views and posts on message boards are down, that can get you the hook very quickly.
According to On the Bench: An FSU football podcast, traffic on their message boards and YouTube channel have been down, and ticket sales haven’t been great. That lets you know the boosters and all those involved with funding FSU football don’t like the forecast, and are trying to get out ahead of what could be the program bottoming out.
The argument against letting him go so quickly is that he hasn’t had a chance to develop his culture and his program.
What if Clemson fired Dabo Swinney after two seasons? Dabo was 15-12 his first two full seasons at Clemson and it took six seasons before the Tigers played in a championship game. Frank Beamer was 5-17 his first two seasons and it took him seven seasons just to get to a bowl game.
There are a host of other coaches that took some time to build their programs. Even current coaches like Jeff Monken (6-18) and Matt Rhule (6-16 at Temple, 8-17 at Baylor) took time to build their programs to where they are now.
When asked about the Nebraska program, a prominent sportswriter said, “Mike Riley left Nebraska a bigger mess than people thought.” It’s even been commented that Steve Spurrier left South Carolina in shambles, and that’s why Will Muschamp is having issues. Well, when you win a national title, that absolves you of leaving messes.
The fact is Jimbo Fisher left a mess in Tallahassee.
People are quick to forget Jimbo’s last season at Florida State when the Seminoles were 7-6 and they had to win their last three — one a make-up game — to get to a bowl.
After a home loss to North Carolina, Seminole players signed promises to play harder — this is why it’s a good sign when they didn’t fold against Louisville this season. Fisher left them within an eye lash of academic non-compliance with the NCAA. That’s in addition to locker room issues.
Florida State is a bigger mess than people perceive.
The most important reason to keep him is the economics. If they let him go now, they owe him $17 million or 85 percent of his remaining contract. He makes $5 million dollars this year.
Consider this: if they pay a coach as much as they pay Taggart now, they’ll have $22 million dollars in head coaching expenses next season. It doesn’t matter who you are — including Auburn — that’s a lot of money to pay one coach to work and another not to work.
Has Taggart performed so poorly they’d come off that much money? Well, if the Florida State brass thinks they are stopping the bleeding before it hemorrhages — yes.
Is Taggart the right guy to fix Florida State? No one knows, but he should get the time to fix it. That’s why they brought him in, isn’t it?