Willie Taggart Comments on Florida State Departure Prove He Still Doesn't Get it

Florida Atlantic University completed a deal to make former Florida State head coach Willie Taggart their newest signal-caller.

The signing comes after Taggart's short-lived two-year stint in Tallahassee, which saw the Seminoles finish outside of NCAA bowl contention with a record of 5-7 in his first season at the helm after Jimbo Fisher's departure to Texas A&M -- the team's first losing record since 1976.

It was also the first time they failed to receive a bowl invite since Bobby Bowden's tenure in 1981, and their performance raised multiple questions from the Noles fanbase regarding Taggart's legitimacy for the position.

Year two was another audition year for Taggart's then-incredibly warm seat, and with fans already chomping at the bit (literally) for his firing, he was unable to surmount a winning record in 2019 either -- going 4-5, and subsequently being let go mid-year. The firing was a sizable blow for Florida State's checkbook, with the school being forced to shell out nearly $20 million.

Taggart, though, appeared confused by his release in his first public comments since being let go by the program. In his introductory press conference at FAU, he finally shed light on the situation that led to the team outing him:

"You gotta win fast. I thought we had things going in the right direction and unfortunately we just didn’t get enough time to finish it,” he told reporters. “Florida State is a prideful place with great tradition and they’ve never been in a situation like that before. No one there really knew how to get out of it or knew how long, everybody just wanted to win again. It don’t work that way."

Unfortunately for the job's sake, Mr. Taggart, it has to work that way, and fans ultimately don't care about any other statistic than the one that brings them out to the games -- winning.