A new season
Seminoles more confident entering Taggart’s 2nd year
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Florida State coach Willie Taggart stepped up to the 2019 ACC Kickoff podium with his signature smile and calm demeanor, looking like a man unfazed by the criticism of past season.
“I think Year 2, myself, [I’m] a lot more confident in our football team, our coaches, administration, everything. Year 2, you know a lot more,” he said Wednesday. “You go through Year 1, this is learning — a learning experience throughout the whole thing. Now going into Year 2, you’re familiar with everything.”
With Year 2 of the Taggart era in the books for FSU, he said the Seminoles are looking to carve a niche for themselves in an improving ACC.
“I want us to be an aggressive football team offensively, defensively and special teams,” he said. “See a football team that’s fast in every aspect and explosive on both sides of the ball. You do that by knowing what you’re doing and being comfortable with what you’re doing. You do it by executing. I thought our players have done a great job this offseason of working amongst themselves to make sure they go out and execute at a high level. Our identity is to be aggressive, to be explosive and have fun and win.”
The Seminoles will try to shed the reputation they earned last season as a sloppy and undisciplined team. The mistakes led to FSU falling short of earning a bowl invitation for the first time in 37 years.
One of the top priorities during the Seminoles’ offseason transformation is eliminating penalties on both sides of the ball. The Seminoles finished last season leading the NCAA in penalties with 9.2 per game.
FSU defensive tackle Marvin Wilson said players getting more comfortable with their roles within Taggart’s schemes will help.
“One thing we’ve been working on in cutting down penalties is knowing where we need to be and [building] mental toughness,” Wilson is upbeat about the Seminoles entering his second season. said. “A lot penalties we got last year [were] because of bad technique or it was a lack of mental toughness. That’s the biggest things we’ve been working on — our technique and our mental toughness.”
The offensive line had the spotlight on it last season and this year is no different as the expectations mount. The O-line accounted for several of the 9.2 penalties per game, with false starts a common problem.
FSU wide receiver Tamorrion Terry said he feels the offensive line is ready to show it has improved.
“I can say they put in so much work this off-season. They came a long way. All they needed was a
leader,” Terry said. “… They’re showing everybody what they can do, how they just carry [themselves]. They’ve been working hard, they stay on the field, they’re always out there working, they’re always doing drills — everybody grinding, everybody buying into what we have going on. I just feel like this is going to be a great season for us.”
Taggart said he has seen all the Seminoles evolve and improve.
“Our players are more comfortable with us; we’re more comfortable with our players. Things just seem to be much smoother,” he said. “I think a lot of it is just everybody understanding what we’re trying to get out of it now, knowing we have to do the right things in
order to wrong.”
FSU players seem just as sure of Taggart’s abilities as a coach despite criticism last season, with some fans calling for Taggart to be replaced midway through his first year leading the Seminoles.
Terry said Taggart is more than just a coach, and it’s made buying in much easier.
“He’s a great coach. He always been like a dad to me,” Terry said of Taggart. “Ever since he came here, he believed in me. Ever since he came to Florida State, he just believed in me. He always told me to stay focused, work on your craft, whatever you have going on on and off the field. Just be yourself. That’s what I am right now.” correct what we did