Five Takeaways: Taggart sees clear change in FSU’s culture – 247Sports
TALLAHASSEE — Only 154 days until Florida State begins preseason camp.
Just kidding. One more sleep until football is here.
That was Willie Taggart’s joke, by the way, so don’t take it out on me.
Taggart met with the media on Thursday, the eve of his team’s first practice of fall camp. The overriding theme of the presser was optimism about the quantifiable change within the program after a disappointing season. Taggart’s detailed descriptions of that change highlight my Five Takeaways from the presser…
1. Improving culture is noticeable through Taggart’s prism
Taggart is looking for “little things” that represent change. Whether it’s better classroom attendance or avoiding off-field issues, those are signs of building a healthier and sustainable culture compared to what he inherited.
He’s noted throughout the offseason that FSU was a young team without much senior leadership last season, and the lack of guidance showed last year when things begin to derail on the field.
So as he tries to build the program in his vision, Taggart knows he needs players to grow up. It’s a work in progress, but he’s beginning to see that change occur from certain members of his program.
“Now as they get older, they start to see that and start to take pride in their work, take pride in why they’re here and what they came here to get accomplished,” Taggart said. “Seeing that in a lot of our guys now, it’s been great because they can pass it on to the younger guys and making sure they come here and take care of business early and not allow things to sneak up on them.”
This is a point Taggart has reiterated in various ways this offseason, so it stands to reason that he legitimately believes that there’s been positive change to the way his program operates.
2. Taggart plays it close to the vest when discussing QB competition
Taggert didn’t offer many specifics on the quarterbacks vying for the starting job, unless he was asked about James Blackman, Alex Hornibrook or Jordan Travis (still awaiting a waiver) specifically.
That seems like a conscious decision to make sure there’s no tipping of the hand and that this is a fair competition. That’s no easy task given that Travis still isn’t eligible and Hornibrook has only been on campus for a couple of months. It’s likely that Blackman is a clear frontrunner to win the job, but Taggart is determined to make sure there’s a feeling of pressure that comes from a position battle.
3. LB depth is markedly better
Taggart took a swig of water and then flashed a smile when — unprovoked — bringing up FSU’s linebacker depth.
“You see a lot of positions, and it’s going to be fun,” Taggart said. “You look at our linebacker position, how deep we are there. We weren’t like that last year. You guys asked me a lot of questions about that position last year, and now we’re pretty deep. I’m excited to see those guys compete. I think it’s going to be fun to watch.”
On paper, the linebacker depth is indeed better and it’s been a storyline since spring practice. The addition of freshmen Jaleel McRae, Kalen DeLoach and Kevon Glenn will help, and so will having Emmett Rice healthy. But to see Taggart’s body language when bringing up that group, it’s clear he’s confident that it will be improved from last year.
4. Excitement about what young WRs can do with Terry out
With Tamorrion Terry out for the start of camp, younger receivers will have ample opportunities to work with the first-team offense. So the receivers from the prized 2018 recruiting class — Tre’Shaun Harrison , Jordan Young, Warren Thompson and D’Marcus Adams — will get a chance to impress coaches and carve out a spot in the receiver rotation (sophomore Keyshawn Helton is already established as a key part of the lineup as a slot receiver).
“I think it’s so important that we continue to develop our guys,” Taggart said. “We have some young guys, like you say, some guys redshirted last year, and they get a chance to go out and participate. Excited to see those guys. They’ve had a great off-season as well. I think they’re fired up just to go out. They were fired up anyways, but I think they’ll be more fired up to go out there and compete and show what they can do and show that they can get the job done as well.”
5. Change in body types
Perhaps the best anecdote from the presser was the visual Taggart provided of Blackman and Robert Cooper confidently walking around without their shirts on now.
Cooper dropped about 30 pounds while Blackman added 14 pounds to his thin frame. The contrasting extremes of the human body painted quite the image, but it also served as a larger point that Taggart was trying to make on the Strength & Conditioning program.
“Well, I’ve seen a lot of bodies change. I think you all see that when you come out to practice,” Taggart said. “A lot of guys’ bodies changed. A lot of guys gained some weight. Guys that needed to lose weight, they lost some weight and feeling good about themselves.”
Tying together his early statements on improved culture, the obvious signs of offseason gains show that players are largely buying into Taggart’s vision.
“Just hearing our guys talk about summer conditioning and then summer player-ran practices and how they go out and compete and how more guys are out there competing now than ever,” Taggart said. “Then you’ve got guys up on their day off running the stadium steps and just getting the extra work in.
“It’s pretty cool, but they’ve been working like that since January.”
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