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How the new coaches faired in the Early NSD

That pesky music class with 300 students. We were honest that we had athletes in it.

Conveniently leaving out most of the football players. Hence the additional punishment.

Seeing as how the UNC punishment we shouldn’t have been Boy Scouts and self reported.

"Hey, we cheat, lie, get caught and get punished. They cheat, lie, get caught and don't get punished. IT IS NOT FAIR!!!!"
 
FWIW, Regarding his resume...some good things...some questionable things.. He is going to be a Honey Badger on the recruiting trail. But, The lack of plan B on the Assistants' front is alarming to say the least... it is consistent with what USF people told me about his lack of organizational and planning skills. At the end of the day, I can only wait and see what results he brings....he was not my first pick, but Jimbo left us in a bad spot and he was probably the best available.
 
FWIW, Regarding his resume...some good things...some questionable things..

Agreed

He is going to be a Honey Badger on the recruiting trail.

He has that reputation. But none of his recruiting classes have been particularly notable. And the biggest question of all, will he be better than Jimbo in recruiting?

But, The lack of plan B on the Assistants' front is alarming to say the least... it is consistent with what USF people told me about his lack of organizational and planning skills. At the end of the day, I can only wait and see what results he brings....he was not my first pick, but Jimbo left us in a bad spot and he was probably the best available.

I can hardly be called unbiased with regards to FSU, but I have yet to hear a cogent argument where Taggart is an upgrade on Fisher. If that is true, then FSU is paying Fisher kind of money for something less than Fisher.
 
Most assistants are under contract until after bowls.
Plenty of new coaches have already mostly filled their staffs...Florida....Tennessee....MSU. Taggart is behind. There is no way to sugar coat it. It hurt us in the early period. If he doesn't fill it in the first week of the year, you can kiss the rest of this class good bye. It is not a good look, CWT out there running around like a chicken with his head cut off, trying to do it all himself.
 
FWIW, Regarding his resume...some good things...some questionable things.. He is going to be a Honey Badger on the recruiting trail. But, The lack of plan B on the Assistants' front is alarming to say the least... it is consistent with what USF people told me about his lack of organizational and planning skills. At the end of the day, I can only wait and see what results he brings....he was not my first pick, but Jimbo left us in a bad spot and he was probably the best available.

Not going to disagree with any of this, but do want to say that FSU will not recruit better with Taggart. I don't think FSU could recruit any better than they did under Jimbo. UF on the other hand, has a huge upside potential in recruiting, due to us being awful at it for the past number of years.

Also, if you have organizational concerns, just look at the results of our last two, quite disorganized coaches if you want an idea of what is coming.
 
Agreed



He has that reputation. But none of his recruiting classes have been particularly notable. And the biggest question of all, will he be better than Jimbo in recruiting?



I can hardly be called unbiased with regards to FSU, but I have yet to hear a cogent argument where Taggart is an upgrade on Fisher. If that is true, then FSU is paying Fisher kind of money for something less than Fisher.

Well, he can't recruit better, it's simply not possible. Best he could do is match Jimbo.

Jimbo's one great skill is his ability to develop quarterbacks. Who is going to do that now for FSU? That's looking like it's a step backward for the Noles.

Jimbo's big weakness is holding on to lousy assistants for too long. If FSU is going to do better with Taggart, he is going to have to hire top quality assistants up and down the staff roster. Problem there is, the best ones are upwardly mobile and don't stick around, so he can expect to have a lot of turnover, if the good ones quit and the bad ones get fired. That will hurt recruiting and player development.

Maybe Taggart will do great things at FSU. But personally, I don't see it.
 
Plenty of new coaches have already mostly filled their staffs...Florida....Tennessee....MSU. Taggart is behind. There is no way to sugar coat it. It hurt us in the early period. If he doesn't fill it in the first week of the year, you can kiss the rest of this class good bye. It is not a good look, CWT out there running around like a chicken with his head cut off, trying to do it all himself.

What bowls were those teams in again.... remind me?
 
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Jimbo quit on FSU and the program now has someone excited and motivated to be there. That is all the argument I need. Also, if there is any truth to the rumored DC, OL and WR coaches coming in the staff should be better, top to bottom, than anything they had short of the MNC season. If that falls apart who knows? It should be obvious that Willie is waiting on guys currently on bowl teams though.
 
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Jimbo quit on FSU and the program now has someone excited and motivated to be there. That is all the argument I need. Also, if there is any truth to the rumored DC, OL and WR coaches coming in the staff should be better, top to bottom, than anything we had short of the MNC season. If that falls apart who knows? It should be obvious that Willie is waiting on guys currently on bowl teams though.

actually there are tons of DCs better than Kelly and Trickett should have been gone a long time ago, so it shouldn't be too hard to replace those guys.

...and the rumored coaches are?
 
Jimbo quit on FSU and the program now has someone excited and motivated to be there. That is all the argument I need.

I think that is fair

Also, if there is any truth to the rumored DC, OL and WR coaches coming in the staff should be better, top to bottom, than anything they had short of the MNC season.

What are the rumors? And the only change after the MNC was @ DC?

It should be obvious that Willie is waiting on guys currently on bowl teams though.

That is also my guess.
 
Paco, I said "rumored". That is not the same as "it's happening". Go get your little scoop shovel out and dig for yourself if you want names.
 
MJ, as far as I recall that was it. The DC loss left its mark. The guy FSU needed most left and the fat and happy stayed or got promoted.
 
Not going to disagree with any of this, but do want to say that FSU will not recruit better with Taggart. I don't think FSU could recruit any better than they did under Jimbo. UF on the other hand, has a huge upside potential in recruiting, due to us being awful at it for the past number of years.

Also, if you have organizational concerns, just look at the results of our last two, quite disorganized coaches if you want an idea of what is coming.

agreed. Fisher was already a top 5 recruiter. Only Saban exceeded him in top 10 classes during his tenure at FSU. WT just needs to make sure he is filling needs AND must find a DC and OC that can help him with game planning, etc. Losing Leavitt was a big whiff. He needs to find some quality at those positions and get them on board by the end of next week. It would be nice to have them on board when home stretch of recruiting kicks into full gear after the dead period.
 
Not going to disagree with any of this, but do want to say that FSU will not recruit better with Taggart. I don't think FSU could recruit any better than they did under Jimbo. UF on the other hand, has a huge upside potential in recruiting, due to us being awful at it for the past number of years.

Also, if you have organizational concerns, just look at the results of our last two, quite disorganized coaches if you want an idea of what is coming.
Jimbo when he is on his game is an elite recruiter and evaluator of talent. He was not that the last 2 years during all the personal problems, so yeah. I think the recruiting can get better. Will that translate to proper roster management for CWT, which is a key part of recruiting? I have no idea. There is no history there. And, as Mets says, I am very happy that there is new energy to the program. The JImbo era was over and he inflicted some damage on the way out the door. C yu
 
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What bowls were those teams in again.... remind me?
what relevance does UF filling out it's coaching staff have to do with them being able to attract coaches and FSU not? That "we still have a bowl game" stuff was floated on FSUTwitter and spread for whatever reason I don't understand. Miss State, Texas AM, UCLA, Oregon...all have bowl games ....all are much further along filling out the staff...all punched above their weight class during early signing. We significantly punched below our weight class, not surprisingly with no staff.
 
Agreed



He has that reputation. But none of his recruiting classes have been particularly notable. And the biggest question of all, will he be better than Jimbo in recruiting?



I can hardly be called unbiased with regards to FSU, but I have yet to hear a cogent argument where Taggart is an upgrade on Fisher. If that is true, then FSU is paying Fisher kind of money for something less than Fisher.
He will NOT be better than Jimbo recruiting...Jimbo brings in one of the best classes in the country almost ever year!...he's getting great players and he'll continue to do that at AM...we'll see what kind of "honey badger" Taggart will be.
 
The only rumors I’ve heard are former FSU players coming back as assistants. I’m not a fan of that “Michigan Man” mentality. If the best available played at Montana State then get him. Having to go after former players reeks of desperation to fill our staff out. His Oregon staff had two Florida guys at key positions, we were hoping to get one of them. We got neither. There are no rumors out there that will have our rivals concerned right now.
 
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actually there are tons of DCs better than Kelly and Trickett should have been gone a long time ago, so it shouldn't be too hard to replace those guys.

...and the rumored coaches are?

OL - Grey Frey from Michigan
WR - Ron Dugans from Miami
DC - Brian Leonhard from Wisconsin, T Rob from SCar and Corey Raymond the DB coach from LSU
LBs - Current Southern Miss DC Tony Pecoraro
 
The only rumors I’ve heard are former FSU players coming back as assistants. I’m not a fan of that “Michigan Man” mentality. If the best available played at Montana State then get him. Having to go after former players reeks of desperation to fill our staff out. His Oregon staff had two Florida guys at key positions, we were hoping to get one of them. We got neither. There are no rumors out there that will have our rivals concerned right now.

You're pretty off base in every thing you just said. Willie knows what he is doing and is going to bring a good staff. Leavitt was a done deal but no one was expecting Oregon to offer him $1.7 million. There are plenty of rumblings of quality staff hires if you are connected enough.
 
FWIW, Regarding his resume...some good things...some questionable things.. He is going to be a Honey Badger on the recruiting trail. But, The lack of plan B on the Assistants' front is alarming to say the least... it is consistent with what USF people told me about his lack of organizational and planning skills. At the end of the day, I can only wait and see what results he brings....he was not my first pick, but Jimbo left us in a bad spot and he was probably the best available.

How do you know there is a lack of plan B? Most of this staff wasnt going to be named until after our bowl game or until the guts we are going after played in their bowl game. We knew Pimpleton and Woodie would come with. We got Lockette who has ties to Miami from Oregon St and we retained Odell. The rest of our current coaches are still under contract so they are no vacancies to report on.

Once we play tomorrow things will start to happen. Just relax.
 
You're pretty off base in every thing you just said. Willie knows what he is doing and is going to bring a good staff. Leavitt was a done deal but no one was expecting Oregon to offer him $1.7 million. There are plenty of rumblings of quality staff hires if you are connected enough.
Three of the people on your list either played at FSU and one was a former support staff guy here. I hope he can put together a great staff but as I said none of those names are scaring Clemson, Miami, or UF.
 
OL - Grey Frey from Michigan
WR - Ron Dugans from Miami
DC - Brian Leonhard from Wisconsin, T Rob from SCar and Corey Raymond the DB coach from LSU
LBs - Current Southern Miss DC Tony Pecoraro

Dugans has been rumored for a while and that will be a plus, but I am not as concerned with position coaches as I am coordinators. What I am concerned about are position coaches possibly being our next DC or OC. This staff already has plenty of good recruiters so I do not understand the logic of Trob or Raymond being ready for DC. WT truly needs help with experienced and proven coordinators since he is a relatively inexperienced and yet to be proven P5 coach that can sustain a program. He needs a couple guys who can come in and implement a quality and capable defense, game plan for any opponent, and adjust accordingly. Raymond has never done it. TRob is just wrapping up his first year and he is operating under Muschamp who is a defensive guru who probably has a huge influence on the big decisions. It is difficult to know how much overall control TRob really had in just one year. I am not sure what quality options are left. A guy like Leavitt or Grantham would have been ideal for a head coach like WT to lean on. Pruitt can take a chance on an up and coming position coach like Sherrer because defense is his specialty. WT needs a guy who can come in and take immediate control with confidence.

Jim Leonhard (not Brian) is an interesting option. Chryst is actually an offensive minded guy, but knows how to organize a program. He selected Leonhard to run the defense this past year. Leonhard is also a finalist for the Broils award. I think I would be more comfortable with him at DC versus the other two. The other two would be great recruiters, but I do not think this staff needs any more great recruiters if it is at the expense of actually having some coordinators who can execute there three things I already mentioned. Leonhard at least seems like a guy who had more total control over the defense than the other options.
 
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You're pretty off base in every thing you just said. Willie knows what he is doing and is going to bring a good staff.

You hope, you hope, you hope. That this prediction is a bit better than your last one

There are plenty of rumblings of quality staff hires if you are connected enough.

And no doubt you are just the guy to tell us. Minions all of us on a public message board. So we can marvel at how connected you are
 
I'm not even sure TRob could wipe his own butt without Muschamp there to do it for him. That dude has made a living hanging on Muschamp's coattails.
 
You hope, you hope, you hope. That this prediction is a bit better than your last one



And no doubt you are just the guy to tell us. Minions all of us on a public message board. So we can marvel at how connected you are

Based his past history, sounds like he put together a quality staff at Oregon. If he can make good hires at Oregon, I am sure he will be able to make good hires at FSU.
 
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Based his past history, sounds like he put together a quality staff at Oregon. If he can make good hires at Oregon, I am sure he will be able to make good hires at FSU.

TRob is not that exciting to me but oh well. He might be the next Pruitt but he might not be. Not sure Raymond is realistic. Leonhard is the guy I would love to have but again I am not sure how realistic that is. There are a couple of things that work in favor of FSU but I am not sure it is enough. Better half being a clue(and a leap of faith assumption on my part).

Frey is a tremendous upgrade assuming he signs like rumored. So is Dugans (rumored) and I am a big fan of Dawsey simply based off of his playing days. That said he needed to be released. Hopefully he gets an admin job at FSU. Willie is apparently going to be the OC and handle QB's. Seems like too much to me but we will see. If it saves FSU money to throw at Leonhard I will roll with it but I am not sure he is completely motivated by money. Hope I am wrong.

For the record, the names listed by Kai are the names I have heard but being the content was on paid boards I didn't think it was my place to talk about them outside of that. All bets are off now.
 
TRob is not that exciting to me but oh well. He might be the next Pruitt but he might not be. Not sure Raymond is realistic. Leonhard is the guy I would love to have but again I am not sure how realistic that is. There are a couple of things that work in favor of FSU but I am not sure it is enough. Better half being a clue(and a leap of faith assumption on my part).

Frey is a tremendous upgrade assuming he signs like rumored. So is Dugans (rumored) and I am a big fan of Dawsey simply based off of his playing days. That said he needed to be released. Hopefully he gets an admin job at FSU. Willie is apparently going to be the OC and handle QB's. Seems like too much to me but we will see. If it saves FSU money to throw at Leonhard I will roll with it but I am not sure he is completely motivated by money. Hope I am wrong.

For the record, the names listed by Kai are the names I have heard but being the content was on paid boards I didn't think it was my place to talk about them outside of that. All bets are off now.

Frey is a tremendous spread OL coach. I mean elite. Not sure how he recruits but CWT will take care of that.
 
Should we add Deion Sanders to that potential staff list and does it need to be pointed out he’s a former a player? I’m not against it at all but that kind of hire seems more about recruiting than it does developing.
 
MJ you should be much better than that. Cristobal and Leavitt are not coming. But some are. And the fact that we hired lockett should really concern you.

Jimbo I think may be in for a long 3-4 years. TAMU has always had resources and has always been meh. Sometimes it is the place. If he pulls it off I will give him his due, but playing in the West and getting arguably the 4th best job could very well be a crushing blow. We all saw how he did with adveristy this year. He was obviously rattled.

Taggart was not my first choice. However, I do enjoy his exuberance for wanting to be here. Lets see how this plays out. While not your first choice I feel the Gators did well in their hire. We will have to see how we did.

The one thing I will say, is we have a better cupboard right now. So a “turn around” should be much quicker, if Taggart is the man for the job.
 
Welcome back. You are one of a few FSU fans I enjoy having over here.

MJ you should be much better than that. Cristobal and Leavitt are not coming.

But FSU was counting on at least one of them

But some are. And the fact that we hired lockett should really concern you.

Why? Another failed HC? He is a decent recruiter. And you guys will need that, trying to replace Jimbo's recruiting

Jimbo I think may be in for a long 3-4 years. TAMU has always had resources and has always been meh. Sometimes it is the place. If he pulls it off I will give him his due, but playing in the West and getting arguably the 4th best job could very well be a crushing blow. We all saw how he did with adveristy this year. He was obviously rattled.

Agree with all this

Taggart was not my first choice. However, I do enjoy his exuberance for wanting to be here. Lets see how this plays out.

I watched his interview during your bowl game today. First bowl game I watched all year, but I wanted to see his interview. (Congrats on the win.) Maybe he is burned out a bit trying to do everything, but he seemed very dead and unemotional.

While not your first choice I feel the Gators did well in their hire.

We both agree here

We will have to see how we did.

We will indeed. Other than a stacked roster, you guys have a lot more unknowns that Florida, at least in the coaching arena

The one thing I will say, is we have a better cupboard right now. So a “turn around” should be much quicker, if Taggart is the man for the job.

No question.
 
Thank you MJ.

While I do think people wanted Leavitt, I agree he is good. I have always wanted Manny Diaz. We would get a legit DC with FSU ties and hurt Miami at the same time.

We also look to be able to pull Ron Dugans back to FSU.
 
But also MJ I believe you and I are speaking about 2 different Locketts. I’m not talking about locksley.

I’m talking about Telly Lockett, the ex Miami northwestern and ex Miami central hc
 
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