Florida State fans of a certain age know all about Ron Dugans.
They remember his 1998 touchdown catch against Florida on a reverse pass from Peter Warrick. They cheered after his two touchdowns in the 1999 national championship game against Virginia Tech. And they can reflect upon plenty of other big-time plays from the former wide receiver during his days with the Seminoles.
But the current FSU players?
Well, some of them weren't even born when Dugans was doing his thing in college. And, of course, none were old enough to appreciate just how good he was at the time.
When Tamorrion Terry, D.J. Matthews, Keith Gavin and company found out they had a new receivers coach after the 2018 season, they might have recognized Dugans' name. But they didn't know all that much about him.
After a full spring of working with him, they now know plenty.
"Coach Dugans is a high-energy guy," sophomore Keyshawn Helton said on Thursday night during Willie Taggart's booster tour stop in Panama City. "He played the position at Florida State University. He played at the next level. So he knows what it takes. ...
"He makes us take notes. He teaches us. He doesn't yell at us, he teaches us."
Much has been made over the past four months about the other two hires on the offensive side of the ball. Kendal Briles was brought in from Houston to repair the overall Florida State offense, and Randy Clements was hired to rebuild the offensive line. They were enormously important hires for head coach Willie Taggart.
So was Dugans, though.
Taggart tried to bring Dugans back to FSU when he first got the job in December of 2017, but the Tallahassee native elected to stay in Coral Gables with Mark Richt.
After the 2018 season, with the way it ended for the Hurricanes, that was no longer an option. So Taggart jumped at the chance to bring Dugans on board in January, even if it meant not having a defined on-field role for former receivers coach David Kelly, who is currently the team's recruiting coordinator.
