Willie Taggart was all smiles on Tuesday afternoon at his first press conference of the spring.
The Florida State head football coach talked for 30 minutes with members of the media inside the Moore Athletic Center, covering a wide range of topics.
One of the first questions he was asked was whether he would be able to install his full offense and defense over the next month.
He said he expected to be able to, but the real question is how good they would be by the time of the Garnet and Gold game.
“When spring is over, we want to be able to say we’re good at something” Taggart said.
And that part of the next month will be figuring out “who wants jobs and who is OK with someone else taking their jobs”
The biggest job up for grabs, obviously, is the quarterback position.
Taggart said that he didn’t expect 2016 starter Deondre Francois to be able to participate in spring practice – which is a pivot from last month when he said he thought Francois would be able to go through most of the non-contact drills.
“Right now he’s going to be able to encourage his teammates, be a great leader and keep rehabbing,” Taggart said. “I don’t see him doing a lot this spring.”
Which means, at least for the spring, the QB battle will be between returning starter James Blackman and redshirt freshman Bailey Hockman.
RELATED: Spring Football Practice Headquarters
As far as the offense itself, Taggart was asked about coordinator Walt Bell and what his input would be during the week and on game day.
He said he first heard about Bell when he was hired by D.J. Durkin at Maryland, and then researched his time at Arkansas State as well.
Taggart mentioned, twice, that he would be the one calling plays during the game but said Bell would have a major role – along with the other offensive coaches – developing the gameplan during the week. And that if he got stuck, he would ask Bell for advice during the game as well.
“To shoot me ideas,” Taggart said.
------------------------------------------------
Talk about this story with other Florida State football fans in the Tribal Council
