Schoffel Column: Could Taggart put the fun back in FSU football?
When Athletics Director Stan Wilcox outlined some of the criteria Florida State would consider in its search for a new head football coach, he listed all of the basics. The things every administration at every school would desire.
A coach with a proven track record of success.
A strong recruiter.
An effective leader who can manage people and help with fundraising.
And, while it wouldn’t necessarily be a requirement, strong ties to the state of Florida.
From everything we have been able to gather over the last few weeks, Willie Taggart checks all of those boxes. Taggart, who is coming to FSU after one season at Oregon and four at South Florida, will officially become the Seminoles’ 10th head coach when he’s introduced at a press conference Wednesday morning.
In some ways, Taggart brings many of the same skills and qualifications as the school’s ninth head coach, Jimbo Fisher. And that’s a good thing. He’s said to have a sharp offensive mind, he builds strong relationships with his players, and he’s a fantastic recruiter and talent evaluator. Those were some of Fisher’s best traits as well.
However, here’s hoping Taggart will be a little different from Fisher in one major area. Here’s hoping he plans to bring some fun back to Florida State football.
Not just winning fun, but fun fun.
Fastbreak Offense fun. Fumblerooskie fun. Punt-blocks and going-for-it-on-fourth downs fun.
Here’s hoping he believes that college football doesn’t need to be 100 percent about schemes and execution. That it can also include getting the ball in the hands of dynamic playmakers and letting them do what they do.
Jimbo Fisher probably knew more about football theory by the age of 25 than most of us will in our lifetimes. But I don’t think he fully understood why many of us really love college football. Why so many fell in love with Florida State Football, in particular.
It’s the passion and the pageantry. It’s expecting the unexpected. It’s watching players having fun and competing in a sport they love -- not being bogged down by complex assignments and detailed minutiae.
Due mostly to his Nick Saban influence, Fisher ran Florida State Football like an NFL franchise. He called it an “organization” instead of a team. His players described it that way, too.
Fisher often called games like an NFL coach -- usually looking to avoid risk rather than going for the kill. If Bobby Bowden was the Riverboat Gambler, Fisher was the engineer who made sure that boat operated at peak efficiency.
There’s nothing necessarily bad about that approach. It just doesn’t foster excitement.
Fans don’t gas up their cars and RVs or hop on planes each week to watch a more-talented team wear down a less-talented team with a ground game and a controlled passing attack, only to gut out a seven-point win.
That’s not to suggest Taggart needs to be reckless with his in-game decisions. He doesn’t need to call onside kicks and flea-flickers every single week. But there could be a happy medium. There could be a little more style to go with the substance.
That was seldom the case during Fisher’s regime.
*ALSO SEE: Coaching nuggets -- what's the latest with Taggart's staff?
When fans asked every single week on his call-in show whether he would consider playing freshman tailback Cam Akers at quarterback, Fisher typically scoffed at the idea. The fans saw it as a way to utilize a special player’s unique skill set. Fisher saw it as an unnecessary waste of time that could be better served fine-tuning his offense.
When he finally let Akers take a lateral and throw a 47-yard pass to Nyqwan Murray against Boston College, it almost felt like Fisher was doing it begrudgingly. It would be the only pass the former high school quarterback would throw all year.
Fisher broke out another rare trick play in the Clemson game, and it also worked like a charm. The perfectly executed flea-flicker led to a 60-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ryan Izzo. In an instant, that one play rejuvenated FSU’s entire sideline. The Seminoles suddenly looked confident and enthusiastic. It got FSU’s offensive and defensive players dancing.
It looked like they were having so much fun. Those moments have been few and far between the last three years.
The point here isn’t to pile on to Fisher now that he has left for another job, but to illustrate that this might be a good time for a fresh approach.
The way Fisher views football is that the fun should be a byproduct of winning. And that’s cool when you’re actually winning at a high level, like Florida State did in 2013 and 2014. But when you’re not winning, and you’re taking the same conservative approach, the players sometimes look like they’re going through the motions. Like they’re working inside of a factory instead of relishing the grand stage of big-time college football.
When I mentioned to Fisher earlier this season that fans were noticing the team didn’t look like it was having much fun, Fisher said they’d start having fun when they won more games. He said success is fun.
Well, sure. But I think the ‘Noles were 2-5 at the time. So, clearly there was little joy being felt after any of those losses. Is it not possible to inject a little excitement while the games are still taking place? Would that be so wrong?
Again, I’m not suggesting that Taggart needs to throw caution to the wind and take unnecessary risks, or come up with cheesy gimmicks. But there certainly are ways a coaching staff can bring excitement to the field.
Miami has its Turnover Chain. Georgia has its spiked shoulder pads. Other teams have choreographed routines for different situations. I’m eager to see what Taggart brings to the table.
While we’re at it, here’s also hoping Taggart will continue to make his program accessible to the media and fans, which he has done at his previous stops. While I understood the reasons behind Fisher’s “one voice” approach, it made it extremely difficult for fans to get to know the people they were cheering for.
A lot of these young men have tremendous stories to tell -- about perseverance and hard work, about overcoming obstacles that many of us would shudder to even think about. The dedicated and hard-working assistant coaches are worth knowing as well.
Just look back to this past weekend. How great was it hearing directly from Odell Haggins after the ULM game? The man loves Florida State immensely and represents the university with the utmost pride and class. Yet over the last eight years, FSU fans have only heard from him a handful of times.
I’m not suggesting that Taggart needs to be the anti-Jimbo. But a little less-Jimbo in certain areas would probably do wonders. It would be a breath of fresh air for the players, the media and the fans.
Ultimately, Willie Taggart is going to be judged based on wins and losses, just like any other coach. If he wins, he’ll be fine. If he loses, he’ll be in trouble. That will all be evaluated several years down the road.
In the meantime, here’s hoping for a little more fun along the way.
Contact Warchant.com managing editor Ira Schoffel at ira@warchant.com and follow @IraSchoffel on Twitter.
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Talk about this story with other Florida State football fans in the Tribal Council