Willie Taggart: Florida State has to stay the course
Wayne McGahee III
Florida State is off to a 1-1 start to the season, but things haven't gone very well for the Seminoles through the first two games.
FSU was beaten 24-3 by Virginia Tech at home to open the season and then went down 13 to FCS Samford before coming back for a 36-26 win on Saturday.
FSU coach Willie Taggart has been justifiably frustrated by the Seminoles' play so far, but isn't about to make sweeping changes off of just two games.
"You've got to stay the course," Taggart said on his weekly appearance on the Jeff Cameron Show.
"I think as a coach you've got to go back and look at everything and evaluate everything you're doing and how you're doing it. Being realistic about what we're doing. Me personally, to go back and watch the film, and we're so close. You see how we're doing it wrong and it's fundamentals and techniques of how we're doing things.
"We've got to do a better job as coaches and our players have to do a better job executing. Staying the course and competing at the level we should and having that mentality is a big part of it. I've got to do a good job of making sure they have that every time they step on the football field."
Taggart has said that FSU has been soft in some areas after both games so far this season and he's looking for a new mentality from his team.
A mentality that he's been trying to build since he arrived, but hasn't really developed yet after last year's 7-6 season damaged the psyche of the football team.
"I've got to get our team to play with a dominant mentality," Taggart said.
"We haven't been playing with that mentality… Our team, still a young team, is fragile. I was really impressed with our guys and how they fought and didn't quit when they could have easily quit. That shows me a sign that our guys are learning to go through and fight through adversity. Those guys made plays that needed to be made when they needed to."
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The biggest area of concern for FSU so far has been the play up front on the offensive line.
FSU hasn't been able to run the football, and have turned defenders loose too many times in pass blocking.
"When you go back and watch the film it's not like from a physical standpoint that we can't block guys," Taggart said.
"Our technique and fundamentals is where guys are beating us and that's the frustrating part of it. That goes back to coaching too. We've got to do a better job of coaching guys. We need more productivity out of our O-line. It's really important that we watch and show them how. It's not that we're just terrible. It's that we're not fundamentally and technically sound in what we're doing. It doesn't matter how strong you are if you're not fundamentally and technically sound."
When FSU has been able to get good play out of the offensive line, the offense has still been hit or miss due to critical mental errors.
Whether it's drops, penalties that negate big plays, or incorrect reads, FSU has to fix those mistakes.
"We've just got to execute better," Taggart said.
"It goes back to execution and that starts in practice. We've got to execute at a high level. Our guys have been doing it in practice. I've said the spotlight does strange things to people when you get out there.
"We still have a young football team and some of those guys are going to make mistakes. We've got to try to eliminate those mistakes, as many as we can, especially during critical situations. Offensively, it's just a matter of focus."
You can listen to the full interview here.