Thrasher takes a mild parting shot at Fisher
TALLAHASSEE — Florida State president could not opportunity pass let by.
He just had to let a verbal jab fly toward former football coach the
Before introducing new coach on Wednesday, Thrasher said Taggart told him taking the FSU job “was kinda like a no-brainer,” drawing a laugh from FSU boosters and administration in attendance at Doak Campbell Stadium.
The comments were coyly directed at Fisher, who accepted the Texas A&M coaching job on Monday and said it was a “no-brainer” to leave Florida State for his new 10-year, $75 million deal.
“We needed a little levity,” Thrasher said afterward.
The lighthearted moment from Thrasher effectively closed the chapter on one Florida State coaching era while another is just getting started.
Taggart, the former USF and Oregon coach, was introduced as the 10th coach in FSU history.
It was the FSU program’s first football head coaching search in 41 years after Fisher had been promoted from within the program, and Taggart’s hiring took only five days to complete.
While Virginia Tech coach and USF coach
were presumed candidates for the job, Taggart was FSU’s No. 1 target all along.
Taggart said Florida State expressed interest to Taggart’s representatives on Thursday, a day before Fisher resigned to take the Texas A&M job.
Taggart said he spoke to FSU athletics director
for the first time on Sunday.
On Monday afternoon, Thrasher and Wilcox were among several FSU officials who met with Taggart in Arizona after the Ducks coach completed a recruiting trip.
Florida State announced it had hired Taggart Tuesday afternoon.
“Coach Taggart clearly stood out among an impressive list of coaches who expressed interest in this position. … The energy, the passion and his philosophy were exactly what we were looking for,” Wilcox said before introducing Taggart on Wednesday.
“For me, when he expressed this position as his dream job, that did it for me — I knew we found our man.”
Taggart, a Palmetto native who coached four seasons at USF from 2013-16, said he was a Seminoles fan throughout his life.
Now Taggart will have a chance to lead his favorite program in his direction.
Thrasher said Taggart’s philosophy about leading young men on the football field and in the classroom to properly prepare for the future resonated with him the most.
“We had a target on who we wanted based on everything we knew. But seeing him personally and meeting him personally confirmed everything,” Thrasher said of Taggart.
“I knew it was in his heart for him to come here.”
Added Wilcox: “I’m confident coach Taggart is the right man at the right time for the best college coaching job in the country.”
As Taggart works to secure an assistant coaching staff and salvage FSU’s 32nd-ranked recruiting class, he will also be evaluating the current team.
As FSU prepares for its bowl game against Southern Miss at the Independence Bowl on Dec. 27, Taggart says he will begin evaluating Seminoles players in preparation for next season.
Taggart also said he will assess FSU’s assistant coaches still under contract until the end of this season to potentially add to his new coaching staff.
Taggart met with FSU players and coaches before he was introduced Wednesday and had a message for the Seminoles.
“It’s not my team. It’s their team, and I’m excited to be a part of that,” he recalled telling the players.