Column: Taggart Is Not on the Hot Seat — But 2018 Was a Step Towards It

Here is a good exercise when evaluating a football team: imagine if you were told before the season about all the injuries and suspensions that would occur. Both injury luck and off-the-field incidents are largely out of a team’s control, so it is fair to reassess expectations when either are exceptionally bad.

Florida State fits the bill. If you had been told many before the season that Landon Dickerson would miss almost the entire season, Cole Minshew would miss four games, and Derrick Kelly would be banged up for most of 2018, that would understandably provoke a re-evaluation. That is an already thin position group that loses arguably its three best players.

For most, it would probably reduce the expected wins by one or two. So if you predicted eight wins, you would expect six or seven with those injuries. Most predicted nine wins for FSU, with 8-4 more likely than 10-2. Adjusting for injuries and the expulsion of Josh Ball, and it probably comes out to 7-5 or 6-6.

Florida State just went 5-7 and got blown out in six of those seven losses.

There is basically no way you can measure the 2018 season as a success. There were many scenarios that were envisioned, but even the most critical of FSU could not imagine a 5-7 year where it misses a bowl. Six wins should have been the floor.

We all know that Willie Taggart has had rough first seasons at every stop in his career. But given expectations and actual talent on the team, 2018 was by far his absolute worst yet.

Where does he go from here?

Let’s reiterate: Taggart is not getting fired until at least 2020. Maybe if he goes 0-12 in 2019, Taggart and the university agree to part ways. But that is getting into absurd hypothetical territory.

For the purpose of discussion, we must agree that Taggart will get to the 2020 season and have a chance to show what a team full of his players can do. Florida State does not have the money to fire him before that.

It is completely fair to say that the slack is completely gone. Taggart may have been afforded four years before 2018, but every single bit of goodwill has vanished and shortened the timeline.

Losing games is one thing. Florida State went 6-6 in the regular season last year and that team was in a considerably better spot on the offensive line and linebacker positions. The problems come with what exactly Florida State struggled with the entire year.

Mainly, the errors on offense and the overarching penalty issues. 12 games into the season and the Seminoles were still unable to get through a game without having an incident with an illegal formation or 10 players on the field.

There is really no excuse for that besides the coaches slacking off on the job. Anytime you run a fast tempo, there are going to be plays like that, but a good coaching staff will minimize them. It should not be an every-game deal.

The discipline issue has been beat to death. It still deserves a mention, because the penalties started to seriously impact the team’s ability to win. The offensive line would commit tons of errors deep in their own territory, players would throw punches in completely unnecessary situations, and flat-out dumb penalties would extend opponent drives.

It was likely the most undisciplined team that Florida State fans have ever witnessed. On TeamRankings.com, Florida State finished dead last in the country in penalties per game. There were 130 teams ranked and the Seminoles finished 130th. Stop complaining about Jimbo Fisher. That is all on Taggart and his staff.

Is there anything pointing to a positive trend? Neither of the aforementioned issues were corrected in 12 games. Some players impressed, but that is pretty much the extend of the silver lining. FSU is one year into the Taggart era and there will need to be serious coaching and personnel changes — not a good sign.

It indicates that Taggart made egregiously bad hiring decisions. Props to him if he goes through with the changes, but giving him credit for solving a problem he helped create (at least on the coaching staff side) is not the goal.

That is why Taggart has moved towards the hot seat. At worst, this season was supposed to be treading water. The weak spots were known and were expected to drag the team down. Even a 6-6 year would have been understandable. What fans just witnessed? It should never be acceptable.

It is too early to be claiming that Taggart is on the hot seat. That will not happen until at least the end of 2019. But the 2018 season moved him a bit closer to it. The fire has not started, but the kindling is being set under the chair.