How did Jimbo tank the program after the NC?
He went to 1 playoff, 2 New Years 6 games during the reign of Deshaun, and probably was in a far better situation in 2017 had Francois not gone down. I think it’s fair to he might’ve let his divorce get the best of him from 2015-2017, but let’s stop acting like his 5-6 2017 season is in anyway the same as Taggart’s 5-7. Jimbo at least can make the argument that he only got blown out once while his quarterback was out for the year and beat Florida on the road. Taggart was in a dogfight with Samford, got blown 5/6 losses, and lost to Florida with a team full of preseason awards watch list players.
I don’t see how exactly any of 2018 was Jimbo’s fault unless you make the case that there was a can’t miss recruit from the 2018 class that could’ve had an immediate impact that Jimbo missed, but then again “why couldn’t Taggart got him back to Tallahassee?”
FSU is on shaky legs because they believed Jimbo was going to be like Bobby and Mike Martin in that they stay for life and don’t make financial demands. They were wrong. Then they hire Willie because they know he won’t make those demands either. The only problem is they know the natives realize Taggart isn’t going to win a championship and probably won’t get them to 10 wins within 4 years, and they have to find a way to divert attention elsewhere before they see for sale signs in lawns.
After some more research, I stand by the tanking characterization.
Fisher's success can be better characterized as a function of Jameis Winston. In the three year post-Winston era, the 'Noles first showed some signs of cracking, then they got worse, then the bottom fell out. That's tanking.
Jameis' last season was 2014. In 2015, the Noles lost three games, two of which were in the ACC (one to eventual NC Clemson...no shame there), and one of which was to an unranked team. But that doesn't tell the whole story. There were also close calls to Boston College, Wake Forest and Miami, all unranked teams. The Noles won all three, but the wheels were clearly beginning to squeak. Scored only 14 points at BC. Won by 8 at Wake as an 18 point favorite (2 WF turnovers were killer there). As an 8.5 point favorite, had to come from behind at home to win in the 4th quarter against a Miami team that ended the season 8-5.
Taken individually, each of those can be explained away. Taken collectively, it's clear that there were cracks.
2016
More erosion, with three ACC losses.
Lost by
43 to #10 Louisville and Lamar Jackson. It's not the loss so much as being blown out 63-20. And a look at the stats will tell you the game wasn't even that close. FSU was down 63-10 before scoring 10 points in the last five minutes -- including an embarrassing FG inside of 2 minutes while down 63-17.
Lost to unranked UNC at home. Lost to Clemson -- again, no shame there.
The best win looked like at #10 Miami....until Miami followed up with three straight subsequent losses to unranked teams.
They beat Michigan in the Orange Bowl, which created the expectations for the 2017 season (cue ominous music).
2017
The wheels had been squeaking. This is where they fell off.
First game: A loss to Alabama that wasn't as close as the score. FSU never could generate any offense, and a porous OL was getting Francois pounded all night. Sitting in a low row, I actually had a decent feel for the beating he was taking, and it was brutal. Why Fisher left him in the game after it was no longer in doubt is beyond me. He was already beat to a pulp when his knee (and FSU's season) finally blew out.
Follow that up with five more losses and an embarrassing argument over whether an FCS game could count toward bowl eligibility (the NCAA said it could). Giving incontrovertible evidence that his mind had been elsewhere, Fisher de-camped for aTm before the regular season was even over -- an assistant coached the final regular-season game against La Monroe, as well as the bowl.
And all the more damning is the combination of material he had to work with and the overall weakness of the ACC (outside of Clemson, of course).
24/7 Ranking of FSU's recruiting classes leading up to Fisher's exit:
2017 #6
2016 #3
2015 #3
2014 #4
2013 #11
That performance, in that conference, with that material, is dismantling a program.