Warchant TV: Coburn, Haggins discuss Taggart firing, path ahead
Florida State athletics director David Coburn met with the media on Monday afternoon to discuss the decision behind the firing of Willie Taggart and the plan moving forward to name a replacement. Interim coach Odell Haggins updated the spirits of the team and his message as a road trip to ACC foe Boston College looms.
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DAVID COBURN: I'll start by saying that it was a rough weekend, as I'm sure you can imagine. I had to fire a friend yesterday, and that was very difficult. I talked to the players, as you know. They were I would say surprised and disappointed but not inappropriate. Coach [Odell] Haggins talked to them. I think they had a good conversation. We are getting, in my view, very good leadership from people like Marvin Wilson and Cam Akers right now, and that's very important to this team.
With that, I'll take questions.
Q. To start the conversation with Odell [Haggins] and setting that up, what's the thought process and everything going forward for these next few games?
DAVID COBURN: Well, we thought Odell having done it before and with his tenure here was the appropriate person. He naturally wanted to talk to his wife, and fortunately she agreed. I expect Odell is going to do just fine moving forward.
Q. Why make the decision now to let go of Coach [Willie] Taggart, and was he able to meet with the team to say goodbye to them?
DAVID COBURN: The timing was -- to take the second question first. The timing was a little difficult for that. I made the offer, and he indicated that he would like to do that, but he wanted to get his thoughts together. We were going right in to meet with the coaches and then the players. As far as I'm concerned, that offer stands. In terms of doing it now, we looked at the pluses and minuses, and we didn't really see any upside to waiting. We wanted to go ahead and get started with a search, see if we could get somebody in here ready to go as quickly as possible. Frankly, 6-6 isn't good enough, and we didn't see an advantage to waiting until the end.
Q. David, has there been any sort of finalized buyout, and if not, what do you think the timeline would be for that?
DAVID COBURN: I have no idea what the timeline is going to be. It has not been finalized. We'll be in discussions on that for a while one would imagine.
Q. Were there factors that are new in college football such as the early signing date and/or the portal? Does that enter into accelerating timelines in college football for these types of decisions?
DAVID COBURN: Well, I think there's been a lot of discussion about that in the literature lately. I think it does. I think we want to be able to have somebody ready to recruit. There are going to be a lot of schools out there looking for coaches. There are every year once the season ends. And our feeling was if we could get positioned and be ready to hit the ground running, it would be a significant advantage.
Q. Yesterday on Twitter, Coach Taggart tweeted out a little statement saying he was obviously disappointed with the decision, but he didn't say anything about being surprised. Were there communications going on? Did he realize what he needed to accomplish and how far away he was from those and how tenuous his job was?
DAVID COBURN: Yeah, we had had several very explicit conversations.
Q. You've been up front about some of the financial challenges that this athletic department has. Why then was this a financially prudent decision to make?
DAVID COBURN: Well, I think when you look at what the costs were going forward in terms of the revenue, season ticket sales and booster support, when you do the numbers, it just made more sense to go ahead and do this. We looked at it hard. Not an easy decision, believe me.
Q. And that was my question for you is financially, what numbers did you crunch? Are the boosters telling you they're not going to contribute? Is it season ticket sales? What all is involved in that financial equation?
DAVID COBURN: Oh, yeah. I mean, Andy [Miller] is running out the door, but no, the questions were all asked about season ticket sales, about booster contributions attached thereto. We looked at it pretty thoroughly.
Q. Do you have a timeline for when you want to have a coach hired?
DAVID COBURN: Well, I'd like to have a coach in place ready to go when the season ends, if not before.
Q. There have obviously been critics that say you guys didn't give Willie Taggart enough time. What do you say to that, and what do you say to prospective coaches and their agents that want to know how much time they would get at this job?
DAVID COBURN: Well, there's a lot of ways to measure what was happening with the team. I thought that at the beginning of the season we were making progress. Clemson was a disappointment, and I just felt and the president felt that since then, we just have not looked very good. And I thought frankly that the Miami game was eerily similar to the Virginia Tech game in many ways.
Q. Can you tell us a little bit about what the process is going to be for looking for the new coach? Would you look at an outside firm for assistance --
DAVID COBURN: Yeah, we're going to engage a firm.
Q. And how much of that will be between -- how much discussion between yourself, President [John] Thrasher, Ed Burr? Is that kind of the circle that's going to be deciding this?
DAVID COBURN: Yes, and the boosters are going to be involved. Yeah. I mean, we're asking them for money, they're going to have a role in this.
Q. Last time when Coach Haggins stepped in, it seemed like he really rallied the entire athletic department and the university, the football program altogether. Do you think this challenge is going to be a little bit more difficult because this wasn't a coach leaving but a coach that was dismissed, and what kind of support can you give him to kind of make this happen?
DAVID COBURN: Look, I don't want him to get his head any bigger than it already is, but he -- he'll stick my wife on me. He's going to do just fine. He did a great job the last time. You can ask him about the difference. I'm not going to put words in his mouth. But I can tell you this: He's going to have all the support of everybody in this building because that's a beloved figure. Sometimes I wonder why, but it is a beloved figure.
Q. A lot of people are asking what's next for Florida State football. What are you looking for in the next head coach here?
DAVID COBURN: Well, we're looking for somebody that can win National Championships. I don't have an explicit set of criteria other than that, and I'm going to look at every option I can find. But we're going to win, we're going to get back to the standard of Florida State University football. That's what's going to happen.
Q. When Jimbo [Fisher] stepped down, there was some holdover from his staff into this staff. What do you foresee happening? Obviously you don't know right now which direction the Selection Committee will go, but are you expecting some holdover, some continuity, or what is the expectation?
DAVID COBURN: That's going to be up to the new head coach just as it always is. I expect there will be some combination of people leaving and people staying. But again, that's trying to read tea leaves. It'll be up to the new head coach.
Q. I know it was already postponed, but the buyout and subsequent coaching hire, would that postpone the football operations center further than it already is?
DAVID COBURN: Hopefully not. I think once we figure out the buyouts and the new salaries, then we'll just have to take a step back and see where we are.
Q. You and President Thrasher aren't going to be in this role for 10 years --
DAVID COBURN: You can say that again.
Q. How did that fact and your upcoming retirement factor into the decision of what you guys will do going forward?
DAVID COBURN: It didn't factor into the decision at all. I mean, this is something you do in the best interest of the university.
Q. I'm sure this is a question for the head coach, but the current assistant coaching staff that Willie hired, how is that going to play out? Will some of them be gone and some replaced or how will that work?
DAVID COBURN: What I told them yesterday when I met with them is we're not contemplating any further changes in the coaching staff. Now, we do have an opening -- Odell and I have a lot of things we're going to talk about, that opening being one of them.
Q. Can you go through what you went through when you determined this was in the university's best financial interest?
DAVID COBURN: Well, you have to look at season ticket sales, renewals, new tickets moving forward. Obviously those are tied to booster contributions to the annual fund. You're looking at the implications for concessions, parking, all of that. When you look at that vis-a-vis cost of a buyout, cost of a new coaching staff, and you have to make a decision based on what the numbers show you over a number of years.
Q. Can you go over some of those numbers, the numbers of the buyout exactly, how much everything --
DAVID COBURN: Not off the top of my head, no.
Q. Can you give us a roundabout or what it might cost coming up?
DAVID COBURN: Willie's is probably around 18 (million), and you know, decisions have to be made on that. And then the rest of the coaching staff, it's going to depend on who goes and who stays.
Q. Just kind of a general question, but how will the introduction of the FSUAA this year kind of change how you go through the process as far as finding a new coach?
DAVID COBURN: Probably not a great deal. I mean, I think we would have run this pretty much the same way. But clearly we are committed to booster involvement. You might attribute that, but I wouldn't. We would have had them involved either way.
Q. I know you talked about it earlier, but morale of the team, obviously this is an age of the transfer portal. What was the reaction of the guys in the team, and as you guys do look towards winning National Championships, can that be accomplished by keeping this group here right now?
DAVID COBURN: Well, we clearly want to keep this group here right now, and we want to keep the group of recruits that we have committed. I think Coach has been burning the midnight oil working on both of those. He's probably better qualified to answer that question about the players, so I'll leave that to him.
Q. I was just curious, did you have any contact leading up to this firing from either the trustees because the meeting was late last week or heard from any elected officials? Was there any pressure coming from --
DAVID COBURN: The governor made this call.
Q. No, but I'm serious, you had a meeting with trustees late last week, you had an athletic association meeting. Were you hearing things from donors saying we weren't going to give unless you made this move?
DAVID COBURN: Oh, I hear that every week after every loss, that they're not going to give any more until something happens. Now, do I talk to trustees at the board of trustees meetings? Yes. The feedback was mixed I would say. But that was before the Miami game. In terms of pressure from the trustees, no. Conversations, yes. Pressure, no.
Q. I was curious how Willie handled it, how the conversation with Willie went.
DAVID COBURN: Like a gentleman, as I expected. It was a pretty emotional conversation for both of us I would say. But he handled it very well.
Q. Some folks in the national media talk about the way the boosters and the athletic department were configured and now you have the FSUAA coming. Is there anything unique about this university and the importance of football that made this a defensible decision that the timing was fair and this was a move you had to make, that they're not aware of, something unique to Florida State?
DAVID COBURN: I don't think so. I don't think so. I don't think the new structure had anything to do with it. I think it was our view of -- it's a lot of factors, obviously. I mean, it's a complicated decision, our view of how the team was doing, and obviously W's and L's matter.
-ODELL HAGGINS: I'm standing up here at what's a difficult time at Florida State University. It is what it is, and one of the players asked me a question. He said, Coach, how's everything going with you. I said, you know how everything is going with me? We're moving forward. We're moving forward. We're thinking about Boston College and thinking about how we're going to prepare for them and what we need to do to go out and play Boston College. I said that's what we're going to do. I said that's what Willie Taggart would want. He wouldn't want you here sulking and crying. He would want you to move forward.
The players yesterday asked Mr. [David] Coburn questions. They were champions yesterday. Talked to them, let them know. I'll say it again, we are Florida State. We are Florida State. We're all we've got, we're all we need. And we're going to fight. We're going to conquer. Exactly what I told them. And that's what they need here.
They're our kids, and they're going to fight to uphold Florida State University. To listen to Mr. Coburn talk, answer their questions, I'm going to say this again, we are Florida State. President, AD, we are committed to graduating kids and winning National Championships. One thing about it, a testament to Willie Taggart, the kids came out yesterday, they ran hard, they practiced hard. The culture has changed.
Well, I know, coming up again, second time around. I think this is a blessing. God put me in this situation for a reason, because God knows in my heart what I think about our players and Florida State University. So both feet in, both hands, all gas, no brakes. Let's go.
Q. Odell, how different is this for you knowing that besides just last time it was needing that one win to get bowl eligible, now you've got three to try and rally the guys to finish strong.
ODELL HAGGINS: To be honest with you, I'm not thinking about three, I'm thinking about one. Not trying to be sarcastic. I'm thinking about today, preparing, breaking film down, seeing how we're going to stop Boston College and the things we're going to do to prepare for Boston College. I'm not thinking about three, I'm thinking about the first one, this week of practice, preparing the kids, making sure everything is going well in the classroom, they're going to class and practicing well and playing Boston College Saturday.
Q. Not just the football side of it, but from a personal standpoint, I'm sure it's an emotional time for the team. How do you go about keeping the program together?
ODELL HAGGINS: Being myself and being authentic, letting the kids know how we feel about them. It's no magical way of doing things like that. You must be yourself. You bleed Garnet & Gold, I don't know how. God put it in my -- I don't know how.
But Odell Haggins is going to be Odell Haggins, and I'm going to speak the truth. I'm not going to tell you what you want to hear. I'm going to tell you the truth.
Q. I wanted to ask you from your vantage point why you think the wheels came off and what's the fix?
ODELL HAGGINS: Well, you know what? That question right there, I don't have to answer it but I'm going to answer it. We are Florida State University. We're going to keep moving forward.
Q. What did you learn from your stint as head coach in 2017 that will help you this time around?
ODELL HAGGINS: What I learned? What to do and what not to do. No, I just learned, just keep being yourself, really, because the kids, they see -- they will see if you're not authentic, if you're being fake. The kids will see that, so therefore I'm going to be myself and make sure I let them know it's all about them and the university. That's what it's about. Just be yourself. Anything in life, if you be yourself, you're not trying to be somebody else, you're going to be okay.
Q. Any talks that you've had with the other coaches on staff, and what were those conversations like, and how are they doing over the last day or so?
ODELL HAGGINS: Yeah, some of them were stunned, but we all -- we, not Odell, not the rest of the staff, we snapped back to reality, because our main thing, we're going to keep the main thing the main thing: Those players and the university. So that's going to snap you back to reality just like that.
You know, we all are professionals, and the administration expects us to act like professionals, so therefore we snap back to it moving forward.
Q. Last time you had some other coaches to help you with the defensive line while you kind of looked at the big picture. Will you be able to do that this time? Will Coach [Mark] Snyder help, or do you have a plan on what your role is going to be?
ODELL HAGGINS: We have a plan. I'm going to be out there coaching. I love coaching, man. I love coaching. I'm going to do whatever I have to do to help this program out, to move forward, and we'll talk about that later, me and Mr. Coburn. We'll talk about that later. We'll discuss that later. But I'm going to be coaching, man. Shoot, I love coaching.
Q. Is 21 games all that football coaches are being judged by do you think now? Is it a shorter leash on head coaches because they have to win in 2019?
ODELL HAGGINS: You know, that's a tough question for me to answer because I don't think about that. You know what I'm thinking about? Our kids and the university moving forward and going to Boston College. Seriously, that's a tough question. I don't even think about that.
Q. Do you know which coach will take the vacancy for the time being to help you out, or is that a decision you have to make? And secondly, how do you handle recruiting in moments like this where you guys are sort of scrambling?
ODELL HAGGINS: We're discussing that about the other coach and we're going to come to some conclusion a little later, and with recruiting, we're all in. We stayed here until about 12:30, 1:00 last night getting people on the phone, and I know other teams are hitting them, but our message, we are Florida State. Our program, we're committed to graduating kids and winning National Championships and staying in the top five.
Q. I know obviously you've been an interim before, so you've never been a full-fledged head coach, but do you have any interest in that in the future, either at this position or another?
ODELL HAGGINS: I haven't thought about that, seriously.
Q. I know you said you liked the coaching, the day-to-day --
ODELL HAGGINS: Whatever God has for me, that's what I'll do, okay. Right now he has me up here, and I'm going to say it again, our main concern, these kids. Looking forward to Boston College.
Q. Talking about Boston College, AJ Dillon, what kind of back is he and what do you have to do to slow the running game down?
ODELL HAGGINS: Oh, he's an excellent back. He's big. They have a very good offensive line. We've got to plan well, you've got to play low up front, you've got to strike blockers and play fundamentally sound football. And you've got to be gritty. You've got to bring your big boy pants because Boston College runs the ball very well.
Q. You kind of talked about this a little bit already, but just in an emotional time like this, do you worry about how the team does move forward? You said you talked to them about playing for Florida State, but are you a little bit worried about their mental state moving forward?
ODELL HAGGINS: Well, you're always going to have concerns, but from what they showed me yesterday in the meeting and out on the practice field, the kids -- you're going to have a few come up and talk to me, but hey, we've just got to move forward. We can't sit back and worry about other things outside of the program. We've just got to move forward and keep fighting.
Q. Do you feel like maybe they're playing a little bit of inspired football right now maybe?
ODELL HAGGINS: Well, a testament to Willie, the kids -- understand they went out yesterday and they worked hard. So therefore we're going to play. We're going to be ready.
Q. Coach, depending on who is hired permanently in this role, would you like to stay on at Florida State next year if everything lines up right for you?
ODELL HAGGINS: I haven't thought about that. You all ask me hard questions. Hey, I'm going to stay on that road to Boston College. That's where I'm going to stay. Not trying to be politically correct. That's the road that I'm going to stay on, because sometimes we try to look so far ahead, you forget about that step you're going to step over and fall. I'm not going to forget about that.
Q. You mentioned the team is still practicing hard and that being a testament to Willie. What did he do culturally for this program from the time he was here until now?
ODELL HAGGINS: He helped on accountability, yes. Accountability. And the team.
Q. When you're combining the cultures of the past with Jimbo Fisher and then the one that Willie Taggart had to take over and implement his own culture, now looking at this team, what is the culture of Florida State football?
ODELL HAGGINS: The culture of Florida State football, we are Florida State University, we've got to get back to going and dominating football games and winning games. That's the culture. That's what we must do.
Q. What do you think the keys were to the success you guys had two years ago when you took over? It seemed like the team just played at a higher level than it had been playing all season. What do you think the keys were to that?
ODELL HAGGINS: You know, as a coach and as a person, you're going out and letting them know, hey, this is what we're going to do. As I said before, being authentic, you're talking to the kids and letting them know what to expect and then what you expect from them. I think that's the main focus. And letting them know it's all about them and the university. They've got to believe that. And they're going to believe that.
Q. Have you been able to put your finger on what happened last weekend in terms of maybe some of the progress that you guys have made not being there in the game, and if so, how do you kind of address that this week in practice now as you focus on Boston College and having a better performance?
ODELL HAGGINS: Well, we put that to bed yesterday. We have a 24-hour rule. We don't talk about it after that. That's Odell Haggins' rule. That's how I am as a coach and as a person. I don't look back. That's in the past. It's gone. We're moving forward to Boston College.
Q. As a follow-up to that, you mentioned how well they practiced. Do you feel like there's a sense of urgency from the players knowing that trying to get this bowl streak started again is something that might be on the line this weekend?
ODELL HAGGINS: We're not talking about a bowl streak. We're not talking about all that. We're talking about Boston College. Not trying to be sarcastic, seriously. That's what this team is thinking about and the coaching staff. What's next; that's what it must be.
Q. You're not really an offensive guy, but just the quarterback situation, we ask it every week, I know Willie used to talk to Coach [Kendal] Briles about it. What will you guys do in that situation now with the quarterback situation moving forward?
ODELL HAGGINS: We're going to talk about it, and I'm going to leave it up to Coach Briles. We're going to talk about it at the end of the week, and every player must go out and perform this week. I don't care if it's the punter, kicker, defensive lineman, defensive back. Everybody must perform. We'll talk about it at the end of the week.
Q. What's the number one thing you need to improve on at Boston College?
ODELL HAGGINS: I wouldn't say improve. We need to go up there and play fundamentally sound football. That's what we need to do. As a football team, in all three phases, special teams, offense and defense. Play fundamentally and be ready to play football. Play Florida State football. That's what we need to do.
Q. You mentioned earlier a couple of the players -- you said the players went hard in practice. Were there any players you saw specifically leading the rest of the group and just trying to get everybody up and motivated?
ODELL HAGGINS: I saw a lot of them. You know, Marvin Wilson, you saw guys, Cam Akers, he was talking. A lot of kids, they were pushing each other. You know, when I see Big Coop (Robert Cooper) out there, I see a blur. Whoa. But no, they were pretty hyped yesterday in practice.
Q. I know the circumstances are tough, but it's twice now that the team has looked to you to be kind of a steadying force in a difficult time. As somebody who's been here a long time and we know what it means to you, is it special to you to know that you're held in that kind of high esteem by this university and the surrounding community?
ODELL HAGGINS: It's very special, and I appreciate Mr. Coburn and President [John] Thrasher offering this position to me. But like I say, man, when I go into something, doing it at Florida State University, I love it. This is my school. I bleed Garnet and Gold. This school has given me a lot. That's how I feel about it. Does that answer your question?
Q. Personnel question: Do you expect to have Cory Durden this weekend?
ODELL HAGGINS: Cory Durden is going to be okay.
Q. Defensively how do you slow down and avoid the penalties this week?
ODELL HAGGINS: Well, we're going to go out and do our job, and like I say, fundamentally sound. If you're fundamentally sound, doing your job, those penalties won't happen. We're going to make them accountable, too. You know, there's going to be consequences. We're not going to help the other team.
Q. Are you going to change anything at all in terms of schemes? Do you want to do anything differently than you guys have been doing it, or do you think you'll stick with what you've been doing?
ODELL HAGGINS: No, we're going to stick with what we've done. We're going to move forward, and like I say, we're going to go out there and practice on fundamentals and get after it. That's what we're going to do.
Q. Has Coach [Bobby] Bowden or any other coaches reached out to you and given you any advice in this situation?
ODELL HAGGINS: Yes. He asked the question, I said yes. Coach [Mickey] Andrews, you know, he texted me. 'Dell, don't flinch, go get it. A lot of my guys, former players, Coach, go get it. We know you can do it. You have that Florida State pride. So we're not concerned. You have a lot of support, Coach; go do it. I’ll call Coach [Bowden]. He’ll start cracking a joke on me or something.
Q. What would you say to some of the fans out there that do still buy tickets, they're booster members, but three, four years in a row are fairly disappointed in the results. What do you say to fans that keep supporting your team?
ODELL HAGGINS: Well, I'd like to say this: We love you. We love your support, and keep supporting us. It's all about these football players and the university. Keep coming. We are Florida State. I'm going to say it again. We are committed to getting back to being in the top five every year and winning National Championships. The way we're going to do it, as a family. Administration, football and fans, our kids feed off that energy.
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