Taggart bringing ‘Saturday Night Live’ to FSU

TALLAHASSEE — Typically at this point of the summer, die-hard Florida State football fans are engaged in one of two countdowns: They’re either checking off the days until the Seminoles’ season opener, or they’re waiting impatiently for the start of preseason practice in August.

This year, FSU fans have a third major football event to get excited about.

Coach Willie Taggart’s “Saturday Night Live” camp is coming to Doak Campbell Stadium — and Seminoles fans will be encouraged to attend.

While recruits have been talking about it for months, the details of this high-profile event haven’t come into focus until now, as invita- tions are being sent to the Seminoles’ top targets for the 2019 and 2020 recruiting classes.

The event, expected to take place Saturday, July 28, inside Doak Campbell Stadium, will feature dozens of the nation’s top prospects and will be open to the pub- lic. The camp will run from 4 to 6 p.m., and fans will be encouraged to show up early to the free event.

Last year at Oregon, Taggart’s “Saturday Night Live” event drew thousands of fans and was a major recruiting success for the Ducks, as they landed four verbal commitments. The event had to be moved to Autzen Stadium because of the large number of fans who wanted to attend.

While the list of attendees will likely not be made public until closer to the event date, invitations to many top prospects were sent out last weekend. They were mailed in garnet envelopes that featured an “SNL18” logo and Taggart’s signature.

James No. 5 on Rivals’ all-time safety list: The recruiting site Rivals is taking a look back at the highest-rated recruits in its history at each position, and ex-Noles star Derwin James ranks as the No. 5 safety. Rivals’ take:

Recr u iting: During a junior day visit to Florida State during his freshman year, James committed to the Seminoles. He called FSU his dream school. Auburn, Clemson, Miami, Ohio State and others also had offered.

Overview: James played in 26 games during his time at Florida State and finished with 186 tackles, 5.5 sacks and three interceptions. He missed almost all of his sopho- more year with a knee injury. The former five-star recruit was the No. 17 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft by the Los Angeles Chargers.

Rivals’ Mike Farrell says: “The most athletic and best safety I’ve ever scouted. I’d take him over anyone on this list out of high school. He moved so fluidly, had such great instincts and worked so well close to the line of scrimmage (that) it was scary. And this kid loved to hit and had a great motor.”