FSU’s Willie Taggart names Deondre Francois as his starting quarterback.
TALLAHASSEE — Orlando native Deondre Francois’ road to redemption continues to take a positive turn.
And, the Florida State football team has found their man to lead Willie Taggart’s dynamic spread offense.
Francois, a redshirt junior, was announced as the Seminoles’ starting quarterback by Taggart on Monday, beating out sophomore James Blackman and redshirt freshman Bailey Hockman for the position during preseason camp this month.
Now, Francois will lead the Seminoles in their final week of practice before the season opener against Virginia Tech on Monday at Doak Campbell Stadium.
“When you watch the body of work in the short amount of time he’s been out there, when he’s in there running the offense, it’s a lot more efficient,” Taggart said of Francois.
“There are a lot less mistakes, and I think that’s important playing that position.”
While Blackman and Hockman were able to get a head start on learning Taggart’s offense during the spring, Francois has worked his way back from suffering a season-ending knee injury in last season’s opener and off-field issues during the offseason to win the job.
Francois tore the patellar tendon in his left knee, and did not return to full football action until the start of fall camp for the Seminoles.
During FSU’s media day on Aug. 19, Francois was candid about what he envisions the Virginia Tech opener will be like for him.
“It’s going to mean the world,” Francois said. “It was my first injury. It hurt me bad on the outside, but more on the inside. I worked so hard and put in so much work. And you go down in the season opener. And it’s your first injury ever. It was tough for me, but now that I’m back on the field and back practicing, it makes me look at the game so differently.
“I’m just so excited to play. I might cry on the first game when I just go out there for warmups – if I’m starting or if I’m not starting and I’m a backup. I’m just happy to be able to walk into that stadium again and not be on crutches, and run around and be with my guys.”
Francois nearly missed the opportunity to play again at Florida State entirely.
Two days before FSU’s spring game, Tallahassee Police executed a search warrant on Francois’ apartment on a tip he possessed marijuana with the intent to sell.
The search, which yielded just 17 games of the substance, ended an investigation that saw police search the contents of his curbside garbage on four occasions during a two-month period.
Francois was not arrested or charged, instead completing a three-month pretrial diversion program while also being disciplined internally by Taggart.
Francois also moved back onto Florida State’s campus to be around his teammates.
“He’s been doing we’ve been asking him to do and then more,” Taggart said of Francois. “Just watching him with his teammates. More important than myself just trusting him, I think our entire team trusts him, and I think that’s important.”