FSU coaches fostering family dynamic
AMELIA ISLAND — It may have been a simple photo, but the moment signified a new era in Florida State athletics history.
New football coach Willie Taggart, basketball coach Leonard Hamilton and athletics director Stan Wilcox posed for a picture with Taggart’s wife, Taneshia, and Wilcox’s wife, Ramona, during the Dick Vitale Gala Friday in Sarasota.
“I would say it’s the first time we took a picture at an event like that,” Wilcox said Tuesday of his first photograph with FSU’s head football coach and men’s basketball coach since being hired in 2013.
Taggart has continued to help Florida State become more unified as an athletic program.
Taggart has done so in person, supporting Hamilton as he shared a heartfelt speech during the gala advocating cancer research. Taggart’s former mentor, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, also spoke at the event in his hometown during Mother’s Day weekend.
And then there are Taggart’s posts on Twitter supporting other FSU sports, celebrating recent conference championships in softball and track, NCAA Tournament runs in tennis and beach volleyball and even FSU graduation earlier this month.
“We’re all part of our team. We’re all part of the university. … I just think that’s how it’s supposed to be,” Taggart said during ACC spring meetings.
Added Wilcox: “He’s very good at being supportive of all of our sports and all of our coaches appreciate that. We’re a family. It’s all about being a family, and he fits right in.”
Taggart’s support of other teams on FSU’s campus stems from the warm welcome he has received from Seminoles coaches in other sports since joining the program.
One coach in particular was Hamilton, who hosted Taggart in his office for an hour during the basketball team’s Elite Eight run in the NCAA Tournament in March.
Hamilton, who has coached 16 years at FSU, wanted to share his insight and impart some wisdom on Taggart.
Along with Wilcox, who joked Hamilton is a “godfather” for the FSU program, the trio makes FSU the only FBS school in the country with a black basketball coach, football coach and athletics director.
“He didn’t have to do that in the midst of March Madness,” Taggart said of Hamilton. “For him to sit down and spend that much time with me says a lot about him.”
Hamilton said not want Taggart he does to make some of the same mistakes he did as a head coach.
More important, Hamilton wanted Taggart to know if he ever needs a helping hand, Hamilton would be there.
“We all need for him to be successful,” Hamilton said of Taggart.
“I wanted to welcome him, and offer whatever I could do a part of him being successful, but in reality, I have absolutely no doubt in my mind he’s going to be fine. I think it’s important I get to know him, and he gets to know me, and wherever there are opportunities we can help each other, we can take advantage of it.”
Wilcox says Taggart’s outgoing personality will go a long way during his tenure as football coach. Taggart’s charisma has already shined on social media, where he connects with the FSU fan base, student body, alumni and potential recruits.
FSU basketball assistant Dennis Gates says Taggart speaks to millennials and has quickly become an ambassador for the university.
“I think his hashtag of #DoSomething is one that’s infectious and even the student athletes across any sport take note to it and take heed [of ] it,” Gates said of Taggart.
“He understands he’s not only representing FSU football, but he’s represents everybody that comes out and supports him. He represents alumni and coaches that come before him. He representing the Seminole Nation, and that’s the part that everyone appreciates.”