FSU football's loss to Florida shows how the right hire can change a program | McGahee III

Tallahassee Democrat

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The right coaching hire can make all the difference for a program.

Two years ago, fresh off a 38-22 win by Florida State in Gainesville, FSU and Florida were looking for new head coaches.

The Seminoles hired Willie Taggart from Oregon to replace Jimbo Fisher and the Gators hired Dan Mullen from Mississippi State to replace Jim McElwain.

One made the right hire.

The other didn't.

The 40-17 blowout by No. 8 UF (10-2, 6-2 SEC) Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium showed just how much the programs have split since those coaching hires were made.

"They beat us tonight and we have to give credit to them," FSU interim coach Odell Haggins said.

"We didn’t go out and perform the way we wanted to perform. Doing the little things right. I articulated to my team the lesson we learned tonight is bigger than football by creating great habits throughout your life. You create great habits off the field and as a football player, the great habits will transfer to on the field."

Taggart wasn't even on the sidelines for FSU (6-6-, 4-4 ACC) after being fired 21 games into his tenure on Nov. 3 after the program hadn't shown any progress.

The Seminoles looked like a ship without a rudder against UF, and that's not a knock against Haggins. A month isn't long enough for him to fix the issues that currently plague the program.

The turmoil and uncertainty in the program is something that he wasn't going to be able to overcome in such a short amount of time.

The penalties, lack of discipline, and performance FSU put on the field against the Gators aren't anything new. They've become a staple of the Seminoles' program the last few years, and that dates back to before the Taggart era.

On the other side of the field, Mullen has the Gators in line for their second-straight New Year's Six bowl game.

"There’s a lot of questions in the air not knowing what’s going to happen next and once Coach Mullen came, I think we were able to buy in and kind of head in the right direction," Senior UF receiver Josh Hammond said.

"I think we’ve got this program back to national prominence and people respect Florida in a way. We’ve worked really hard to get it here and I think everybody’s that’s been a part of it definitely knows that.”

The Gators were far from perfect against FSU, but there was plenty of reason to believe they are on an upward trajectory under Mullen. They looked far superior to the team that FSU put on the field, and the perception of the UF program when Mullen took over was lower than that of FSU.

But UF's program has quickly adapted to the system Mullen has installed and he has the program believing it can win again after a decade in the dark.

"I'm very pleased with where we are," Mullen said.

"I got here, we had a team that kind of bought in, had a successful year last year. Guys continued to buy in. I thought we were better this year than last year. Am I pleased with that? Absolutely, because that means we're heading in the right direction, heading where we want to go."

FSU hasn't had that feeling since the Virginia Tech debacle in Taggart's first game. Since that point, there's been a feeling of hopelessness around the program. That sense of hopelessness tipped the scale after the 27-10 loss to Miami and it showed up again in the loss to the Gators.

It needs to find that again and that has to come from the next hire that the Seminoles make.

FSU can't afford to miss on this hire. It can't afford to bring in another coach that can't get through to his players in the way that Mullen has clearly gotten through to his team.

The Seminoles were expected to get blown out in this game. They were 17-point underdogs coming in. But being a 17-point underdog against your biggest rival isn't acceptable at FSU. Losing by 23 isn't acceptable at FSU.

But, once again, that's the state of the FSU program.

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The Seminoles were at the pinnacle not too long ago. The proof is right there in the not so distant past that FSU is still capable of winning at the highest level.

It just needs someone that can captain the ship.

FSU has targeted a number of high end coaches like Penn State's James Franklin and Iowa State's Matt Campbell. The administration has attempted to get more from its boosters so that the program can hire a coach that it believes in.

This next week is going to determine where FSU is going as a program.

Two years from now, will the Seminoles still be languishing in mediocrity fighting to make a bowl game at the end of November?

Or will the program that has won more national championships since 1990 than every program not named Alabama -- FSU is also tied with UF at three -- be on its way back to the top of the college football world?

Reach Wayne McGahee III at wmcgahee@tallahassee.com.