Taggart excited by Hornibrook transfer; says Blackman welcomes competition
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Florida State head coach Willie Taggart was not at liberty to discuss the commitment of Wisconsin graduate transfer Alex Hornibrook when he spoke with the media on Monday.
That changed on Friday, and Taggart made it clear that he is not bringing the veteran quarterback in to just be another body on the depth chart. He said Hornibrook is coming to compete with projected starter James Blackman.
"You have a guy that's played -- he's played a lot of games," Taggart said. "He's played in big games, and he's won big games."
Taggart also said that he's not concerned about Blackman being scared of the challenge or considering a transfer to another school.
"I don't think James came here to be afraid of competition," Taggart said. "I don't think you come to Florida State to be afraid of competition. I think when you come to a school like this, you know there's going to be competition, and that's what you want to be a part of.
"I think that's why James came to Florida State, knowing he was going to compete and knowing it was going to make him better."
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Hornibrook, who started 32 games over the past three seasons at Wisconsin, ranks third in school history with 47 touchdown passes. He also ranks fourth with a career completion percentage of 60.5 and fifth with 5,438 passing yards.
Hornibrook's best year was 2017 when he threw for 2,607 yards and 25 touchdowns while posting a pass efficiency rating of 148.6. Among the highlights was an Orange Bowl MVP performance when he threw four touchdown passes against then-No. 11 Miami. He also set a Wisconsin school record for single-game completion percentage (94.7) by connecting on 18 of 19 passes for 256 yards and four touchdowns at BYU.
He posted a 26-6 record as a starting quarterback.
Although Hornibrook played in a pro-style offense at Wisconsin and is not very mobile, Taggart said that isn’t a concern for the Seminoles. He pointed out that offensive coordinator Kendal Briles has had success with different types of quarterbacks.
"He can throw the football," Taggart said. "The thing I like about it is he has a coach here who's used different kinds of quarterbacks. He's used guys who were not necessarily a dual threat, but are pocket guys. And he's also used dual-threat guys. So I think with our system -- and what we're doing -- it doesn't matter whether you're a pro-style or a dual-threat. You should be able to operate our system if you're smart and able to throw the football.
Hornibrook will be eligible to play this fall after earning his bachelor's degree in real estate and urban land economics.