New Florida State football coach Willie Taggart spoke with the media for about 30 minutes Thursday about a variety of topics. Here are seven key takeaways from that interview.
1. He plans on filling out his staff during the next two weeks
Taggart said he didn’t come in with a timetable for hiring all of his assistants, but that he wants to move quickly. And smartly. As he brought up multiple times, recruits want to know who they’re going to play for. He understands that. But Taggart also pointed out he wants to make sure he gets the right coaches for Florida State.
“I just wanted to make sure I get the right guys,” Taggart said. “I think now doing it the fourth time (as a head coach), you live and learn. In my head coaching career, I was probably too fast to hire a staff and didn't necessarily have the right fit for what we were doing. As you get older, you kind of live and learn.
“I think the fit is more important than the guys and what they know, because they can know a lot and they don't fit, and it just messes everything up. So this is a big-time job for me, and I've got to make sure I get the right fit here, and passionate people that want to be here. But also understand the Florida State way of doing things.”
2. He really likes recruiting for Florida State
Taggart had put together a top-five recruiting class (that has since dipped considerably) at Oregon before taking the Florida State job. And he had obviously done a terrific job during his time at South Florida -- the Bulls are 20-4 in the last two years -- but he admits it’s a whole different deal to be recruiting for FSU.
