Eight months ago, the 2018 FSU football season ended in a humiliating fashion with a 41-14 loss to in-state rival, the Florida Gators. This loss capped off an already disappointing 5-7 season for the Seminoles in head coach Willie Taggart’s first season. And the cherry on top for this dismal season was the ending of Florida State’s streak of 36 consecutive bowl game appearances, which was the longest in the nation. Heading into this season, the Seminoles are looking to put last season behind them and concentrate on this season.
“We put that behind us a long time ago,” said Taggart. “The only time we talk about it is when we are asked about it. We put it behind us. It’s 2019. I don’t think it’s fair to our 2019 team to continue to talk about ’18’s team. We learned from our mistakes.” He also added, “we’ve been working on it diligently since then to make sure we correct those things and don’t do the same things that we’ve done before.”
The Seminoles have several changes to both their roster and coaching staff from last season, with the biggest changes being the additions of offensive coordinator Kendal Briles and offensive line coach Randy Clements. Florida State had one of the worst ranked offenses in the country last season, with their total offense at 102nd in the country. Their rushing offense was even worse, ranked at 126th due to a porous offensive line and being down by multiple scores throughout games. The Florida State offensive line has probably been one of the worst lines in the country the last two or three seasons. Change was needed.
Briles runs a fast-tempo, RPO offense that has been successful wherever he has coached and as it’s an offense that relies heavily on the offensive line, a coach who understands all of the adjustments, the correct personnel and other aspects was needed. That’s where Clements comes in as he and Briles have spent 10 of the last 11 years coaching together, so they have a great working relationship and understand what is needed to make this offense successful. In fact, when Briles was in the process of getting the offensive coordinator job, one of his requirements was that Clements needed to be hired as well.
“That was one of the deals going through the process,” said Briles. “We both were agreeing on if we were going to do this thing, then we wanted to make sure that we could get Coach Clements here.” He also added, “to have a guy who understands exactly where we’re going with the football and what should happen on the play, it’s tremendous.”
Taggart spoke this summer about how this great partnership between Briles and Clements have not only helped players, but also coaches.
“It all goes back to chemistry and being on the same page,” said Taggart. “Not only has it helped the players, but it’s helped the other coaches on the offensive side of the ball, too. I think they both do a good job of teaching. That’s imperative to having success on the offensive side of the ball, and it’s showing in some of the execution that’s going on in practice.”
The biggest change from the roster from last season to this season is the quarterback position, specifically the starting quarterback. Last season, Deondre Francois was the starting quarterback and he struggled to produce. That, combined with multiple of the field behavior issues over the last years, led to his dismissal from the team. Last season’s backup quarterback James Blackman was the favorite to start all offseason and on Monday, after a close battle with Wisconsin transfer Alex Hornibrook, Blackman was named Florida State’s starting quarterback.
“He was excited,” said Taggart. “Coach Briles and I sat down and spoke with him and told him the news, and he was fired up. He was James. He wasn’t necessarily out of the realm or anything. He worked hard for it. This is something he’s been working for and he’s excited about leading this football team. That’s what we expected out of him. He’s fired up and ready to go. I think he’ll do a great job.”
With all of the new changes Florida State has made this offseason, there is a massive feeling of optimism that is surrounding the team heading into the season. The Seminoles will quickly figure out though if they have improved from last season in their first game of the season against a tough Boise State team. Hopefully, these changes that have been made are improvements because if not, it’s back to the drawing board.
The Seminoles will face off against the Boise State Broncos on August 31st, 7PM EST at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN.
Written by Erik Slaby
