Seminoles
Coach Willie Taggart, right, meets today with fans and boosters in Fort Lauderdale.
MIAMI — Florida State football coach Willie Taggart views it as accomplishing two goals in one trip.
On Monday, he met with a group of fans and boosters in Miami. He will do the same today in Fort Lauderdale. Both visits are expected to help the Seminoles gain an edge in fan support and recruiting in South Florida.
“Again, what we’re doing here now is not necessarily from a recruiting standpoint,” Taggart said before Monday’s event at the Miami Airport Convention Center. “This is more for our fan base. I know recruiting down here is very important. I think every school in the country comes down here to recruit. They understand how fertile the recruiting base is here. If you look at us in the past, we’ve had a lot of success with student athletes from down here. They had great success at [Florida State], too. It’s always important be down here and be seen and be known.”
Taggart was hired last December to replace Jimbo Fisher, who left for Texas A&M after last season. Before FSU, Taggart, who is the 10th coach in school history, had stints at Oregon and Western Kentucky, where he was known as a strong recruiter. The adjustment now is how well he competes in the state against Miami, Florida and Central Florida for fans and recruits.
For the past several weeks, Taggart has toured 13 cities throughout the state to introduce himself to the public. He also visited Atlanta, because of its proximity to Tallahassee.
“It’s an opportunity for us to get on the road and get around our fan base that’s here in [Broward and Miami-Dade] county,” Taggart said. “Me, being a new coach, you want to get out and see as many people as you can and continue to sell the program and inform them what’s going on with our football program. They’ve all been great, all the events we’ve been to. I expect for this one to be great, too. There’s a lot of excitement around our football program, a lot of passion and enthusiasm among our fan base.”
The touring events have been a success, with all of them being sold out. The atmosphere has been everything Taggart expected.
“I love juice, I love energy,” Taggart said. “It’s been that way every place we’ve been. It’s been surreal but it’s been everything I expected it to be. The passion and everything we’ve had is the same passion I’ve had for Florida State all my life. Seeing and feeling it from others just solidified what I always thought this place was.”
The trips have also given him time to continue building strong relationships with athletes and high school coaches in each area. Taggart is well aware of the importance of such connections.
“It’s certain schools you better hit each time you go,” Taggart said. “I know one in Broward, of course, is St. Thomas.”
Taggart is far removed from the days of when he had to sell the program while at Western Kentucky. He once had to bargain for time with coaches or players, but no more.
“I don’t have to stand in the back of the line and wait,” Taggart said. “I can kind of get to the front of the line. It’s night and day when it comes to those two places, Western Kentucky and Florida State … It makes it a little easier, but it still comes down to work and recruiting and building relationships with people.”
With more resources and already a strong knowledge of the state — Taggart grew up in Bradenton — he is eager to begin a new era of FSU football, despite the high expectations.
“That’s why you sign up for it,” Taggart said. “That’s what you want. It’s funny when you hear people talk about expectations. There are expectations every place you go. Florida State is on a bigger stage, but every place I’ve been there’s been expectations. People want to win. There’s no difference at Florida State. We want to win and we want to win championships.”