Willie Taggart kind of dodged the question at first.
Well, "dodged" might not be the right word for it. But the Florida State head football coach definitely answered it as diplomatically as possible when I asked about it on Monday afternoon during his weekly press conference.
"It's only been four games," I said, "but what has impressed you about Kendal Briles and maybe even Coach [Randy] Clements, as well, through four games?"
"They're doing a good job," Taggart said. "Kendal is doing a good job of coordinating the offense and putting a good game plan together to score some points. Coach Clements is doing a good job with the offensive line. Coach [Donte'] Pimpleton is doing a good job with the running backs, Coach [Tellly] Lockette is doing a good job with the tight ends, Coach [Ron] Dugans is doing a good job with the receivers. Who else? Who's left?"
Nobody, Coach! You knocked out all the names. Nobody could possibly be mad at you now.
Taggart then went more in depth with his answer about the offensive staff, and Briles in particular, so we'll get to the rest of the quote in a moment.
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And I get what Taggart was doing there. It's not just Briles' baby here. Everyone plays a part -- including the head coach. So he might not be inclined to sing a love song about the first-year coordinator after four games. There's still a lot of football left, and there's still a WHOLE lot of room to grow.
But I'll sing it.
Because the difference in what this FSU offense looks like compared to the one that we had to watch last season cannot be overstated. It's the difference between a butterfly and a slug. A Porsche and a Honda Civic. The Busy Bee gas station and the pits of despair we have to fill up at in Tallahassee. They're all comparable to the disparity between the 2019 offense and the 2018 version.
Obviously, there are still some warts. The mid-game ruts this offense goes through are just ... weird. Like mind-boggling. To go from scoring three straight touchdowns to not scoring at all for two quarters is just bizarre.
But you know what's worse than scoring 21 straight points and then taking two quarters off? Not scoring at all. Which was the case for much of 2018. Especially the beginning of the season.
So while those cold stretches are indeed troubling, they shouldn't ice over just how successful Briles (and company) have been in turning this thing around so far.
For perspective I went back and did some comparison between the first four games against FBS opponents last season to the first four this season.
The numbers are insane. Check out this chart:
I'm going to go ahead and call this the Kendal Briles Effect.
I know there are other factors. The new offensive line coach has been able to make some chicken salad this season. That's been an enormous benefit. Dugans has done nice work with the receivers. Cam Akers has been great. Taggart was able to completely hand over the keys to someone he had never worked with before. That's not easy. Even after a historically bad season in Year 1.
But the reality is this: It's practically the same players. The quarterback has changed. And a transfer from Northern Illinois took over one of the tackle spots, and a true freshman is starting (most of the time) at guard. That's it. Those are the only personnel differences between last year and now. Everyone else who is playing for FSU in 2019 was here in 2018.
And yet.
