Taggart makes strong first strides in cleaning up Fisher's recruiting mess

Willie Taggart knew this early signing period was going to be a bear from the moment he accepted Florida State’s head coaching job a little more than two weeks ago.

He told us so at his initial press conference on Wednesday, Dec. 6.

“There's a lot of work to be done in a short amount of time,” Taggart said during his introductory remarks. “I plan tonight to get out and get to working and try to salvage this recruiting class.”

If it had been a scene in an old movie, that’s when the needle would have scratched across a record as audience members let out a gasp.

Did he just use the word “salvage?”

At an introductory press conference?

The talking points at introductory press conferences are supposed to feature verbs such as “conquer” and “dominate." Nouns such as "championship" and "excellence." It's a time for the selling of dreams, not the warning of potential nightmares.

Since we haven’t covered Taggart for very long, it’s impossible to know whether that was a slip of the tongue or if he actually wanted to let folks know the reality of the situation. Either way, everyone should have gotten the message right then and there. If not, we all certainly know by now.

At the conclusion of the first day of the NCAA’s new early signing period Wednesday, Florida State had landed a grand total of four signees.

Four.

And that was after the thrilling, late-night addition of five-star defensive back Jaiden Woodbey of California.

Before Woodbey announced he was flipping from Ohio State, the Seminoles were preparing to wrap up the first day of the early signing period with just three signees. Compared to 18 for Miami, 17 for Georgia and 15 for Clemson. Even Florida, with fellow first-year head coach Dan Mullen, racked up 13.

Meanwhile, Florida State fans experienced one disappointment after another.

First, there was five-star running back James Cook deciding to stick with Georgia over FSU. Then there was four-star quarterback Emory Jones choosing the Gators over FSU. Even three-star linebacker Rosendo Louis, who had been committed to the Seminoles for four months, trolled FSU by showing up to school in Seminoles gear before signing with South Carolina.