Clark: Giving up play-calling duties just first step for Taggart

When Willie Taggart told us after Saturday's loss to N.C. State that he had given up play-calling duties to concentrate on other big-picture issues with his team, my first instinct was to nod and say, "There you go, Willie. You don't have to be stubborn. Adapt or die, my man."

My second thought was, "Maybe you can take over the special teams instead?"

If you saw Taggart's press conference after Florida State's 47-28 defeat, you no doubt saw how irate he was with his special-teams play. Or maybe he was irate with my question ... I don't know. But when I asked him how frustrated he was about having to call a timeout on a punt because he only had 10 guys on the field, he said the word "very" four times and then stared daggers into my soul.

I have to imagine it was worse for Alonzo Hampton, whose special-teams unit is the worst I've ever seen. And it's not like the standard has been high around here lately. But it's an utter train wreck right now.

This whole season has been for the most part.

And that's why I was encouraged by Taggart's decision to allow offensive coordinator Walt Bell to call plays against the Wolfpack.

"I thought I was able to interact with our players a lot better, a lot more on the sidelines when I needed to," Taggart said. "I thought I was able to help Coach [Harlon] Barnett out at times on certain things or seeing things."

And the numbers bear this out. After giving up 59 points to Clemson the week before, the Seminoles only allowed 47 points to the Wolfpack! Florida State followed up a 49-point loss with a 19-point loss. That's a 30-point improvement, folks!

If this trend continues, not only will FSU beat Notre Dame by 11, but the Seminoles will beat Florida by 71 in the regular-season finale. Everything is right on track!

In all seriousness, I get what Taggart was trying to do. And it sounds like he enjoyed the experience, saying he chimed in with play-calls every now and then but mainly let Bell run the show. While he ran the sideline.

"I would say (it) is the first time you really, really get to see everything on the sideline and how things were," Taggart said. "And you're not trying to look at your play-call sheet and think about what play to call next, but you can see things around and nip things in the bud before it gets bad."

Taggart then confirmed that Bell will be calling the plays again this week at Notre Dame (good luck, Walt!).

I honestly wouldn't use this Saturday's game to evaluate the play-calling change at all. I don't think any of us are expecting a Florida State victory. I'm not sure how many are even thinking it will be close.

But no matter what, whether FSU scores 13 or 30, the change in play-calling duties is an encouraging move by a head coach who hasn't given FSU fans a lot to be encouraged about since the season started.