FSU: A rally after poor start in signing period,
Former coach’s inattention created recruiting chaos.
TALLAHASSEE — Willie Taggart knew this early signing period was going to be a bear from the moment he accepted Florida State’s head coaching job almost three weeks ago.
He said so at his initial news conference Dec. 6.
“There’s a lot of work to be done in a short amount of time,” Taggart said. “I plan tonight to get out and get to working and try to salvage this recruiting class.”
If it had been a scene in an old movie, that’s when the needle would have scratched across a record as audience members let out a gasp.
Did he just use the word “salvage?”
At an introductory news conference?
The talking points at introductory news conferences are supposed to feature verbs such as “conquer” and “dominate.” Nouns such as “championship” and “excellence.” It’s a time for the selling of dreams, not the warning of potential nightmares.
It’s impossible to know whether that was a slip of the tongue or if he actually wanted to let folks know the reality of the situation. Either way, everyone should have gotten the message right then and there. If not, we all certainly know by now.
At the conclusion of the first day of the NCAA’s new early signing period Wednesday, Florida State had landed a grand total of four signees. Four.
And that was after the thrilling, late-night addition of five-star defensive back Jaiden Woodbey of California.
Before Woodbey announced he was flipping from Ohio State, the Seminoles were preparing to wrap up the first day of the early signing period with just three signees. Compared with 18 for Miami, 17 for Georgia and 15 for Clemson. Even Florida, with fellow firstyear head coach Dan Mullen, racked up 13.
Meanwhile, Florida State fans experienced one disappointment after another.
First, there was five-star running back James Cook deciding to stick with Georgia over FSU. Then there was four-star quarterback Emory Jones choosing the Gators over FSU. Even three-star linebacker Rosendo Louis, who had been committed to the Seminoles for four months, trolled FSU by showing up to school in Seminoles gear before signing with South Carolina.
By mid-day, Florida State’s once-promising 2018 signing class had dropped to No. 70 in Rivals’ national rankings. Yes, No. 70 — just above Navy and Northern Illinois.
Fortunately for FSU, the story didn’t end there. By Wednesday night, the Seminoles’ ranking had climbed back up to No. 51 with the signing of Woodbey. A trio of four-star prospects — linebacker Amari Gainer, offensive lineman Christian Armstrong and defensive tackle Robert Cooper — had all signed earlier in the day.
FSU’s class ranking soared higher Friday when defensive back Isaiah Bolden chose the Noles over Oregon.
That can only be described as gravy. Some FSU fans won’t want to hear that. They’ll say if Taggart is as great a recruiter as they’ve been led to believe, then why can’t he pull in a few more big-name prospects?
Well, to understand that, you have to really examine the mess of a situation he inherited from Jimbo Fisher. And there are no two ways about it; this was a major mess.
As recently as two months ago, FSU had 18 commitments in hand for the class of 2018. The group was ranked in the top 10 nationally, and the only question back then was which highly rated prospects would fill the final six or seven spots.
It all unraveled quickly. First, the rumors started to swirl in November about Fisher considering a departure for Texas A&M. Then when Fisher did absolutely nothing to quell those rumors, seven of the 18 prospects would end up bailing on Florida State before Fisher would finally announce his resignation Dec. 1. It was a run of defections never before seen in school history, and seldom seen anywhere in college football.
And it’s why some have wondered whether Fisher let the recruiting class fall apart because he already had one foot out the door for College Station.
So, Taggart wasn’t kidding when he said had a long way to go and a short time to get there.
How good this class ultimately ends up is to be determined, but don’t let the low national ranking right now distort your view of Taggart’s abilities. Don’t do it when February’s signing period comes and goes, either.
Because of the actions — and, more accurately, the inaction — of Fisher during the final weeks of his tenure, Taggart has been dealt an extraordinarily difficult hand. To understand how much ground he’s having to make up, consider this little tidbit I picked up this week.
You know those dozen official visitors Taggart brought into town last weekend? That was almost the exact same number of official visits FSU hosted all fall while Fisher was head coach. In September, October and November combined.
On top of that, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that Fisher and his assistant coaches greatly reduced the amount of contact they had with recruits during the season. It’s not clear when that recruiting shutdown began, but it clearly happened.
“Everything just kind of stopped,” one high-ranking source in the athletics department told me.
It stopped until Taggart showed up and started delivering his own brand of CPR.
First, he locked down a few key committed players and persuaded them not to look elsewhere. Then he persuaded a few others who were committed elsewhere, including four-star defensive end Malcolm Lamar, not to sign this week and instead wait until February.
Then late Wednesday, he landed one of the nation’s top players in Woodbey — the No. 2 safety in the country and No. 4 prospect in California.
Taggart offered, recruited and signed him in the span of eight days. In the world of college football recruiting, where relationships often are established over two, three or four years, an eightday courtship is practically unheard-of. But it’s a much better barometer of Taggart’s potential than the current class ranking.
No, even by February, this won’t be another top-five signing class. It probably won’t rank in the top 10.
But if Taggart can salvage something close to that — if he can steer this train away from the cliff Fisher’s inactivity was letting it race toward — he will have passed his first major test at Florida State with flying colors.