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Willie Taggart lasted 21 games at Florida State before being fired on Sunday, and the Seminoles will now look for a new head coach.
It is one of the most prestigious jobs in all of college football and there is a tremendous amount of talent on the roster but it has not been highlighted recently as Florida State has stumbled to a 4-5 record and an ugly loss to Miami on Saturday.
FSU was 6-7 in Taggart’s first season. He finished 9-12 in Tallahassee and 6-9 in ACC play. Known as a program turnaround specialist, Taggart found success at Western Kentucky and South Florida, spent one season at Oregon, where he went 7-5, and then came to Florida State.
But it clearly was not working out, and FSU cut ties.
Now the search is on for the Seminoles’ next coach. Some names already thrown out are Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck, Clemson assistant coaches Jeff Scott and Brent Venables. Could Washington State coach Mike Leach be a realistic option?
There could be many others. A recent report said that if Taggart was let go that Florida State would target Urban Meyer, but that was roundly dismissed almost immediately.
Despite recent struggles, many top names in the coaching profession are going to be interested in this job, including many hot up-and-comers. Or Florida State could have the job prestige to lure a well-established coach away from an elite, power program.
FARRELL'S TAKE
We ask Rivals National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell who he believes would be the perfect fit for the Florida State job, considering the fact that the Seminoles’ expectations are to be in contention for the College Football Playoff every year, and FSU needs to make a home run hire after missing on Taggart.
“If they want a coach with head coaching experience then Mark Stoops at Kentucky would be a great choice. He’s done an amazing job with the Wildcats and he would kill it in recruiting down South. But if they are looking for a rising assistant coach, then Jeff Scott is my guy because he’s a huge reason behind the recruiting success Clemson has had in Florida and he’s a great offensive mind. Those are the two that come to mind, but there are many others - like Fleck.”
