With Oderinde now in charge, FSU focuses on offseason gains, losses

With position coaches on the road recruiting and head coach Willie Taggart making the rounds on the Seminole Boosters’ spring tour, this is the time of year that Florida State’s strength and conditioning staff handles most of the day-to-day oversight of the Seminoles’ players.

And for the first time in eight years, the person in charge of that program is someone other than Vic Viloria.

Viloria, who did not join Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M and was not retained by Taggart, has since taken an assistant's position at LSU.

Now leading the Seminoles’ football strength staff is Irele Oderinde, who previously worked for Taggart at Oregon and USF.

During a recent stop on his booster tour, Taggart explained that he likes having the familiar face running the strength program because Oderinde knows how Taggart wants things done.

“I trust Irele, and I’ve been with him for a while now,” Taggart said. “I know that he does a great job.”

Before following Taggart to FSU, Oderinde led the strength program at Oregon in 2017 and the program at USF from 2014-16. He worked previously at West Virginia, South Carolina and Western Kentucky.

Taggart said the former Western Kentucky player – Oderinde was a standout nose tackle for the Hilltopers in the early 2000s – already has begun to make an impact on the Seminoles’ program.

“Watching how our guys’ bodies’ changed tremendously, and watching how [much] stronger they got, was big,” Taggart said. “And same thing when we went out to Oregon.”

For different players, the offseason workout program can mean different things. At one end of the spectrum are players like quarterback James Blackman, who is listed at 6-foot-5 and 176 pounds.

“I told him … that says something when I can call you skinny,” Taggart said with a smile.

Blackman has gained about 12 pounds since the end of last season, but Taggart said the rising sophomore still has a way to go.

“Sometimes we want kids to develop a lot quicker than they do,” Taggart said, explaining that the staff will be patient as Blackman’s body matures naturally. “He’s gonna develop and continue to put on some muscle and get a little thicker … don’t know how much thicker. He’ll get bigger, but the thing you like about him is his toughness. You like the fact that he’s highly competitive.”