Trainwreck Tenure Terminates Taggart

While there were a strong contingency of doubters, now proven accurate, many though Willie Taggart would be successful as head football coach at Florida State.  After all, Taggart, a native Floridian and lifelong fan of the Seminoles, had built some coach credibility over the years and seemed poised to rise to the challenge of directing the Florida State program after Jimbo Fisher left for Texas A&M.

His career had Taggart taking over his Alma mater Western Kentucky, turning that program entirely around culminating in a 10 win season which got him hired at South Florida. The Bulls, who had fallen sharply prior to his arrival, rose to prominence under Taggart, even comporting themselves well in a loss at Tallahassee versus FSU. This success got Taggart hired at Oregon, where in his only year with the Ducks reversed a losing season with a winning one even while dealing with losing their starting quarterback early on in 2017.

So Florida State came calling, securing Taggart to become head coach, but the price to gather in Taggart after only one year with Oregon was steep. Given the success the Seminoles anticipated with Taggart, the cost seemed to be balanced with FSU continuing and perhaps even expanding their gridiron success.

The tenure for Willie Taggart at Florida State was a trainwreck.

In his first game, a indescribable 24-3 home loss to Virginia Tech, there were areas of immediate concern. The season culminated with Florida State missing a bowl, breaking the nation's longest present active bowl streak. That was unacceptable.

The schedule afforded a real opportunity in 2019, but the success would seemingly hinge on mentality gained from getting early victories, as I mentioned to Coach Taggart when we met earlier in the summer, in a game against Boise State in Jacksonville and a road tilt at Virginia.  Due to weather, the Boise State game was moved to Tallahassee. FSU raced out to an 18 point lead against Boise, but lost. Then, FSU narrowly escaped Louisiana Monroe at home (which panicked boosters) and then lost a late lead to lose at Virginia. Instead of being 3-0, FSU was 1-2 and the writing was on the wall.

The atmosphere in Tallahassee for the Miami game, even with the Hurricanes being a hated rival, was ridiculous. Nobody was fired up, the stands were alarmingly empty and the event had a moribund look. Then the action had the Seminoles looking what had become customarily unprepared, besieged by penalties, missed assignments and a visible lack of intensity.

Florida State got clocked by 17, and nobody seemed particularly agitated about it. The activities of the day told anyone and everyone looking everything they wanted to know.

The powers that be were watching, and I had barely made it back to Orlando on Sunday before the news of Taggart's dismissal went viral on social media. With a 9-13 overall record in Tallahassee, coming of an exposing home loss to the Miami Hurricanes, Taggart was fired.  Even with the financial ramifications in full vision, this was the correct move.

Where does Florida State go from here? Well, good question.

Florida State President John Thrasher sent out a letter to Seminole Boosters asking for donation levels to be expanded as Florida State appears to need assistance to usher in a new era of Seminole Football.  This type of action does not appear to be engaged to if you are not hunting big fish.

The pool of candidates who appear to possess the desired experience to bring the Florida State program back to the level of national prominence the expected, and this includes operations beyond just the activities within the gridiron, are thin. 

One such individual would be retired Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops. There is a circle of social media outlets which think Stoops has already been hired, but most if not all the official media outlets describe Stoops as "no longer a candidate" after the Seminoles apparently and appropriately reached out. For me, Stoops checks every box and would be ideal for FSU given where the Seminoles program stands.

Some indicate Penn State coach James Franklin is a candidate. Franklin has won everywhere he has been, and he certainly has the background I think would be required.  Seminole Nation would welcome Franklin.

Matt Campbell of Iowa State is a real intriguing young candidate. He has done wonders at Iowa State, and is very highly though of by his peers. Many would be thrilled to welcome Campbell in.

Notre Dame's Brian Kelly has gotten some mention, but he does not figure to be coaching into the future long enough to see this rebuild through. So, we don't think he is a realistic candidate. Minnesota's PJ Fleck looks signed up to remain with the Gophers.

Beyond those guys, the pool sinks.

Mike Norvell of Memphis is somebody to look at, as might Luke Fickell of Cincinnati. Could a dismissed Clay Helton of USC, a Gainesville born Auburn grad get a look? Who knows?

Maybe FSU is looking where nobody thinks they are? Is somebody we don't anticipate looking for a new challenge?

Is current interim head coach, longtime assistant and former player Odell Haggins, a serious candidate. Man, we love us some Odell, the pride of Bartow, but is he adequately equipped to deal with the overall rebuild required throughout the organization? Maybe he is the best bang for the buck for now.

One thing is for sure. Florida State needs to get this right.  No fan should have to check a Wikipedia page to learn about the new coach. The ramifications are huge.

I suspect we find out shortly after the Seminoles give it go at Gainesville against the Gators on Saturday.

 

Is FSU Target of Political Left?

It was shortly before President Obama was elected in 2008, when comments made by Michelle Obama got her yanked off the campaign trail, as these comments, if appropriately analyzed by a curious media, would pull the mask away from the blank canvas many considered Barack Obama to be and alert the nation to some of the real, hidden objectives.

Please take a listen to the following commentary from Michelle Obama while in Puerto Rico in 2008:

 

"Barack knows that we are going to have to make sacrifices; we are going to have to change our conversation, we're going to have to change our history, our traditions. We're going to have move into a different place as a nation", said Mrs. Obama.

Might changing of traditions include the demise of football in America?  Without question, the game of football is under attack from the political left, all the way up to the White House.  President Obama has publicly admonished the use of the nickname Redskins by the Washington Redskins of The National Football League, and through his associates, most notably Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D:NV), have gone after Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, a republican, for both failing to bow to political pressure and for having the audacity to not support Obama and his vision of American.  The NFL remains under attack.

Fast forward to what is happening to Florida State University in college football, the currently undefeated defending national champions.  Last fall, star quarterback Jameis Winston, a redshirt freshman, was leading the Seminoles to their undefeated championship season when he was questioned about a sexual assault.

After an investigation by the state attorney, the state attorney's office found the evidence did not support charging Winston with any crime.  While many in the media were in uproar, Winston went on to win The Heisman Trophy while guiding the Seminoles to their third National Championship.

Since that time, Winston has had some lapses in maturity, walking out of a grocery store without paying for crab legs he ordered and yelling obscenities, sexual in nature which is certainly inappropriate considering the charges which considered against him, in the FSU student union.

No doubt, while Winston is stellar on field, he is at times immature off it, failing to accurately gauge the temperature outside in this era of appropriate non-tolerance of assault against women.  Although the Winston case was and is a factor, the blowup surrounding Baltimore Raven running back Ray Rice, who struck his girlfriend and now wife in an elevator and who has been suspended from the NFL ever since, has been at the forefront publicly.

But has the left found Winston as a vehicle to punish political opponents, be they individuals, agencies, or even public universities? Don't laugh.  I am wondering, as I review a series of events.  Maybe you should too.

In 2008, as reported by The Tampa Bay Times, "A foundation bankrolled by Libertarian businessman Charles G. Koch has pledged $1.5 million for positions in Florida State University's economics department. In return, his representatives get to screen and sign off on any hires for a new program promoting "political economy and free enterprise."  The article references "a separate grant from BB&T (formerly run by John Allison, who is supporter of Rand philosophies) funds a course on ethics and economics in which Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" is required reading. The novel, which depicts society's collapse in the wake of government encroachment on free enterprise, was recently made into a movie marketed to tea party members".

In my opinion, Atlas Shrugged, should be required reading for students within the economics department. The writings of Ayn Rand are an excellent defense of capitalism, although in my view they lack a necessary moral component.

The political left reviles the Koch Brothers, thinking anything they touch is evil.  As such, the interaction of the Koch brothers with the FSU Economics Department has stirred up plenty of controversy, with the progressive left labeling it a clandestine takeover of Florida State University.

Fact are always stubborn things, and never mind the Economics Department is still run by the many of the same folks, inclusive of the Dean of the College of Social Sciences Dr. David Rasmussen and Dr. James Gwartney, that were running things when I graduated from there in 1987. 

The department was always centered on free markets drawn upon from the Austrian economic models, and although Keynesian model coursework was engaged upon, social justice through economic policy was not deemed a logical and efficient mechanism of theory.

Not only has the debate centered upon the Economics Department, even FSU's Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Science has come under fire, for the truth about climate change may derail many a progressive dream of citizen control. 

Liberal and progressive ideology is bankrolled by groups and individuals all across the nation in public universities, hiring faculty to teach these theories nationwide.  See Ward Churchill and Austan Goolsbee.

The relationship between the Koch Brothers and Florida State University recently came to a head in the form of additional attacks as the university engaged in a search for a new president with Eric Barron accepting the same position at Penn State.  Representatives from the left, inclusive of students and media outlets, lambasted FSU as John Thrasher, an alumni and republican in the state senate, became the leading candidate.  A lack of transparency, the fact he is a conservative and that he may have gotten political donations from the Koch brothers were among the reasons cited.  Facebook pages and websites, (with support from leftist organizations such as MoveOn.org), sought to force FSU to eliminate Thrasher from consideration.  At the conclusion of the rocky search, Thrasher was hired as the fifteenth president of the university.

In the background have been countless insinuations and accusations surrounding the football program, most of which was without merit. Some weeks back, four competing "sports" outlets, Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, ESPN and The New York Times each released a detailed report citing transgressions on a Friday evening.  Since when do competing firms sync up for the release of a report to share eyeballs? They don't, unless there is orchestration.

It is worth noting, nothing of material significance was found to be of consequence within these reports.

With respect to Winston, few if anyone has actually read the report surrounding the sexual assault case.  Any reasonable assessment of the facts of the case will lead the reader to easily conclude that the accuser lacks credibility.

The reports of investigators continuing to investigate Winston is simply staggering.  Recent accusations, primarily from ESPN, told a tale of Winston getting paid to sign autographs, which would make him ineligible for collegiate competition.  However, after months of stories of this action blasted all over the sports media, it is now reported that the items he supposedly autographed are fake, not actually having his signature.

Winston signs thousands of autographs, as I have personally witnessed on many an occasion.  In fact, at a baseball game FSU played at Stetson University in Deland, FL, ESPN reporter Marty Smith stood two feet away from me watching Winston sign hundreds; for free.

Recently, The New York Times released a report indicating favoritism by the Tallahassee Police Department regarding a traffic citation issued to cornerback PJ Williams.  With seemingly no action to investigate as President Obama sadly runs roughshod over our Constitution, The New York Times appears well staffed in Tallahassee, fabricating targeted news unfit to print. Guilty until proven innocent is now en vogue with the media.  FSU responded quickly and with assertion, and the story seems to have gone away.

The New York Times is agenda driven to be sure.  In the aftermath of a tragic shooting at the Strozier Library on the Florida State campus, in describing the story, The Times made reference to the issues surrounding the football team (fabricated), which has zero relevance to the actions of a disturbed individual.

ESPN continues to blatantly target FSU as well. In a recent report of talented Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota receiving a traffic ticket, it was the picture of Winston that was presented, and no, he was not involved.  This was not an error, but rather an orchestrated opportunity to tarnish FSU.

Why are all these media outlets exhausting all efforts to take down Florida State. While one could envision Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports and certainly ESPN performing investigative sports reporting, I find it offensive that The New York Times cannot find enough in Washington to keep them busy without the gray lady taking up hotel rooms in Tallahassee.  I wonder who is directing their investigative action, and why?

But then again, perhaps due to the relationship between Florida State and the evil Koch brothers, we can find a logical reason these competing interests are relentless in their investigative attacks on FSU.  It appears Florida State University may be getting attacked by the political left, who gleefully employ the tactics of their mentor Saul Alinsky; achieving goals by any means necessary to punish political enemies both financially and in the court of public opinion.

No worries. Florida State University remains The Unconquered!