TALLAHASSEE, Fl. (WTXL) - Willie Taggart kicked off fall camp with a press conference Sunday, and on Monday morning the helmets are strapped on tomorrow for day number one.
"Just seeing the guys get back on campus, seeing the smiles and excitement, you know it's football season," he smiled. "Our guys understand the work we have in front of us and they look forward to the challenges we have in front of us."
There are a lot of questions as we enter fall camp. One of the big ones is who will take snaps. Taggart joked Sunday that he hopes to know by Labor Day, but there is no timetable on making a decision.
Taggart will be calling plays on game day, but offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Walt Bell will be on stand-by if need be, and of deciding who will be QB1? That's a process in itself.
"The job description of quarterback is make the other ten guys better. To me, who can do that at a higher rate, that'll be the guy you entrust as your quarterback," he said of the intangibles of the guy who will eventually win the job. "I think that'll be the guy your teammates can trust. I think you earn that in a multitude of ways, whether it's how you speak, how you treat people, the relationships you create, but again, I go back to make the other ten guys better."
The Florida State offense will look different, but so will this Seminole defense. The Noles are switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense, and their main goal? To stop the run.
Harlon Barnett, who comes from Michigan State, is heading this defense. He'll work with a lot of young, talented guys, and Barnett said he is happy with what he's seeing so far.
"There's some dudes down here man," he said. "Guys that jumped out at me that had really good springs? Brian Burns. That's a dude. That's a dude. Janarious Robinson really stepped up his game. Kyle Myers, good player. AJ Westbrook, I could go on and on. I think they appreciate the simplicity of our defense and being able to not only know what they have to do like I said earlier, but understand how the offense is trying to attack us."
Florida State opens the season at home on Monday, September 3rd when they host Virginia Tech.
