Link: The Mess Jimbo Left: Inside FSU's Fall and Willie Taggart's Plan to Rise Again
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Heard about this on the radio this morning. Very interesting. Announcers and the link above, said Jimbo's failure to reign in Crab Legs was a major factor in the programs decline. Disgusting.
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FSU has it's culture to thank for its demise not the football coach. Jimbo was trying to jump ship way before crab legs was on campus.
I have a feeling some of this comes from FSU folks being mad Jimbo jumped ship. That said, I'm sure there is some(or a lot of) truth to it as well.
I think it goes back farther than Fisher, to Bowden and the whole "coach in waiting" fiasco. IIRC, Fisher was impatient and repeatedly attempted to undermine a senile Bowden. Then he recruits Winston who was a locker room cancer from day 1. As for FSU returning to its glory years I am not so sure. Look how long Miami has been a footnote in college football. The rise of USF, UCF, Florida (under Mullen) and possibly Miami (under Diaz) is going to make it tough to get the best recruits out of Florida. As for Taggart, he hasn't been anywhere long enough to see if can rebuild and sustain a broken program. We dodged a bullet when Winston signed on with FSU.
FSU has a built in recruiting advantage having a HBCU, FAMU, right in the same city. Its one of the first places they take some of the recruits especially if the band is performing.
FSU is trying to hide their stupidity in 1) not listening to Jimbo about facility upgrades and 2) hiring Taggart. Jimbo had very little to do with what’s wrong at FSU presently.
Every coach who takes over for a departed coach inherits whatever mess that coach left. And since nobody runs a perfect program, it's only a matter of time before word gets out about flaws and gaps that got papered over.
It's not popular to say around here, but the TRUTH is that when Coach Bryant stepped down as football coach, there were already some cracks in the foundation that had proven so successful for so long.
But Dennis Franchione inherited a colossal mess far worse than what Taggart has down there, and it only took him one try to beat Auburn and two to beat Tennessee and be near the top of the SEC. Yeah, I know what he did next, but considering the situation he walked into, he did better than should have been expected for a little while there.
Urban Meyer LEFT a mess in both Florida and Ohio State, but he also inherited a mess and went on an immediate winning streak.
And by jove, Saban inherited the combined messes of Franchione, what Price did to the program, and the utter lack of discipline of the Shula era. While I realize we can't hold Taggart to the Saban standard, he ultimately has to fix it regardless. When these stories come out, they sound a little too much like "PR in case we lose" to me.
Maybe my mind is just still angry over the yarn spinning Dubious did getting everyone to buy his excuses early in his tenure. Hell, I inherited a mess in my work section when I was chosen as supervisor too, but nobody gives a damn. It's my job to fix it.
It's not popular to say around here, but the TRUTH is that when Coach Bryant stepped down as football coach, there were already some cracks in the foundation that had proven so successful for so long.
But Dennis Franchione inherited a colossal mess far worse than what Taggart has down there, and it only took him one try to beat Auburn and two to beat Tennessee and be near the top of the SEC. Yeah, I know what he did next, but considering the situation he walked into, he did better than should have been expected for a little while there.
Urban Meyer LEFT a mess in both Florida and Ohio State, but he also inherited a mess and went on an immediate winning streak.
And by jove, Saban inherited the combined messes of Franchione, what Price did to the program, and the utter lack of discipline of the Shula era. While I realize we can't hold Taggart to the Saban standard, he ultimately has to fix it regardless. When these stories come out, they sound a little too much like "PR in case we lose" to me.
Maybe my mind is just still angry over the yarn spinning Dubious did getting everyone to buy his excuses early in his tenure. Hell, I inherited a mess in my work section when I was chosen as supervisor too, but nobody gives a damn. It's my job to fix it.
I guess what got my dander up on this is my recollection of Jesse Jackson's complaining (legitimately I would add) some years ago about the lack of black FBS coaches.
His stated concern was absolutely 100% correct.
But then he followed on with the observation that every single time a black coach was hired, he inherited a terrible 2-9 team or whatever, and they were set up to fail.
I kept thinking, "Well, undefeated national championship teams don't usually lose their head coach."
Hopefully, Taggart will get this all sorted out. But I dare say I doubt he inherited as much of a mess as Bobby Bowden walked into back in the mid-70s.
And I concur with those who have noted the whole FSU culture thing with Winston there, too.
His stated concern was absolutely 100% correct.
But then he followed on with the observation that every single time a black coach was hired, he inherited a terrible 2-9 team or whatever, and they were set up to fail.
I kept thinking, "Well, undefeated national championship teams don't usually lose their head coach."
Hopefully, Taggart will get this all sorted out. But I dare say I doubt he inherited as much of a mess as Bobby Bowden walked into back in the mid-70s.
And I concur with those who have noted the whole FSU culture thing with Winston there, too.
I stopped reading after this:
The reality is the landscape of college football has drastically changed since the hay-days of Florida St and Miami ("The U"). They can blame Jimbo all they want. But Jimbo isn't the sole reason Florida St is having problems getting back to their glory days. Just like Miami fans longing for the days of the 1980/90's Miami teams. Today's college football is a different animal and the advantages they had back then do not exist anymore. Everyone's on tv, scholarship limits have been reduced, kids aren't willing to "wait their turn" anymore etc. To unload all the blame on one coach for the reason their program hasn't returned to their glory years that existed in a different era of football is simply an out of touch fanbase.
The reality is the landscape of college football has drastically changed since the hay-days of Florida St and Miami ("The U"). They can blame Jimbo all they want. But Jimbo isn't the sole reason Florida St is having problems getting back to their glory days. Just like Miami fans longing for the days of the 1980/90's Miami teams. Today's college football is a different animal and the advantages they had back then do not exist anymore. Everyone's on tv, scholarship limits have been reduced, kids aren't willing to "wait their turn" anymore etc. To unload all the blame on one coach for the reason their program hasn't returned to their glory years that existed in a different era of football is simply an out of touch fanbase.
Jimbo is a slightly above average coach that really benefited off Urban leaving Gainesville, but he knew Florida wasn’t going to continue to hire dumb coaches forever so he knew the facilities were going to be key for future success. FSU just wouldn’t play ball. So after Jimbo’s nasty divorce, and aTm meeting all of his demands he was gone. FSU then stupidly hired Willie Taggart when there were far better coaches out there. Point is FSU’s problems now are FSU’s fault not Jimbo.
Miami’s key problem is that their home stadium is 45 minutes from campus, and they are absent of a loyal fan base.
This writer obviously has drunk deeply from the well of the Willie Taggart Kool Aid. That said, anybody with a half-a-brain could see the desperation behind Fisher's and FSU's coddling of Winston and the other top players -- treatment that presaged the quick collapse of the program.
Still, I'm trying to understand how the writer and his editors could turn out a piece like this that excuses Taggart so completely -- particularly given the problems last year with his own staff, and a track record for resurrecting programs that, frankly, lacks resurrections.
Still, I'm trying to understand how the writer and his editors could turn out a piece like this that excuses Taggart so completely -- particularly given the problems last year with his own staff, and a track record for resurrecting programs that, frankly, lacks resurrections.
He seemed like a win at all costs slime bag to me when he was at FSU, yet Texas A&M's desperation caused them to sign him to a huge contract. I have a feeling that they will regret it before it is over. It causes me to feel a little ill when I hear some people mention his name when we discuss who may take over for Nick Saban. Then again, maybe he will do things better now that he has another chance.
Here is a question? Why would you stay at a place that refuses to upgrade your facilities, a place that requires you to constantly have to be seen at your chief rival’s town to treat your son who has a rare disease, and has juicy rumors about how your ex wife cheated on you over a program that is upgrading facilities at a break neck speed, has a facility on campus for your son, and you can get further away from the details of your divorce. All the while getting paid way more than your former job would’ve ever dreamed paying you.
Bowden's phony aw shucks act that lasted decades should give FSU a century of bad karma, IMO.
That predates anything Jimbo did to sink the program.
That predates anything Jimbo did to sink the program.
Sounds like stuff you’d hear about the Shula transition. In other words, sounds like it might be getting worse before it gets better with the next coach.
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