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FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 19, 2018

Willie Taggart

Tallahassee, Florida

WILLIE TAGGART: Good afternoon everyone. Well, I'm excited about an opportunity this week to play our rival at home with something to play for. It's always great when you can have a game like that and we are all really excited about it. Knowing this rivalry and how important it is and the things that matters to us going forward is really exciting for this opportunity and I again I know last week we got a win and a must needed win for our football team and we didn't necessarily play our best but we played hard for four quarters and gave ourselves a chance to win that ball game and guys stepped up and made a play when a play was needed. And I was excited not only with the win but how we won. I thought our football team needed to win a game like that and hopefully that can propel us on to better things moving forward and we're going to build off of that from last week and knowing that it's going to be another physical ball game this week.

Q. This is your first time being a part of the Florida State/Florida rivalry --
WILLIE TAGGART: I've always been a part of it.

Q. What are your memories of this rivalry growing up?
WILLIE TAGGART: The ones we won. I remember all the ones we won. Don't think about the ones we lost. But it was a lot of great players playing in all those rivalries. I think if there's anything, a lot of great players and a lot of great coaches throughout all of those games. Again, you can throw out all the records and all the stats, it doesn't matter that game, you got to come ready to play and play for four quarters.

Q. I think on Saturday Stanford said this will probably be biggest game of the year. Obviously the bowl streak's on the line. Is this kind of a game where you can kind of find out a lot about those players and see how they perform in these kind of situations?
WILLIE TAGGART: You want every game to be that way for your players, not just the last game or just a rivalry game. It's the most important game because it's the next game, it's the last regular season game and I think whenever you end the season you want to win that game and go into the off season with a win. So this game is important for a lot of reasons. Again, for us it's our rival, these seniors, their last game in Doak, our seniors and our football team have a chance to go bowling. For our seniors to finish off their career, never lose to go Florida, that's a lot to play for. So I guess you can say it's important for a lot of reasons, different reasons and our guys understand that.

Q. It's a group that's been through a lot the coaching change going in their last year, what can you say about the seniors and what they meant and to you coming in here for your first year?
WILLIE TAGGART: I appreciate them all because they bought into what we asked them to do. They didn't ask for the change, they didn't ask for any of those things, but they bought into what I've asked those guys to do and really helped me and our staff and our underclassmen set the foundation of what we want our football program to be going forward and I commend them for that, I thank them for that and I will be forever in debt to them for them helping us set the foundation for what we want this program to be.

Q. You mentioned this is going to be a physical game this week just like last week. What did the defense, how did they get prepared to be, to go against a physical offense like Boston College? Was that just a mindset thing or something schematically or just guys wanting to do it?
WILLIE TAGGART: Well I think I challenged our coaches and our players to get back to what we said we were going to be from day one. We kind of got away from it with all the things that was going throughout the season and trying to find answers to get going and we kind of got away from ourselves and who we were. From day one Coach Barnett said on defense we want to be fast, physical and aggressive. We kind of got away from that. I challenged those guys, let's be fast physical and aggressive in this game and I think we saw that out of our guys. Part of it is we were a lot simpler on defense and allowed those guys to do that. The same thing on offense is, we said from day one we wanted to be lethal simplicity and go fast and we simplified some things on offense and the tempo picked up and it helped us when we had some explosive plays, especially in the running game that we wasn't getting earlier and it was good to see it in the game. But I think it's more of that just getting back to who we said we were going to be and allowing our guys to do those things and it paid off for us.

Q. How similar are Boston College and Florida's offenses? Florida likes to run the ball a lot and they like to be physical.
WILLIE TAGGART: Not similar.

Q. At all?
WILLIE TAGGART: No, it's different style of ball play. Florida's going to run -- you see some of the things we do and they run the quarterback a lot more -- but it's more spread, you're not going to see two or three tight ends a lot in that being your base offense, they're going to spread it out with 11 personnel, which is three receivers and a tight end. And you'll see a little bit of 12 personnel with two tight ends but not as much as you seen against Boston College. And you see Florida in the gun and not under center as much.

Q. You talked about the seniors Jacques Patrick is a guy who came back this year and probably hasn't had quite the year he expected, but he had the block on the last pass, just I guess talk about him and the season that he's given you.
WILLIE TAGGART: Well he's one of those guys, again, you appreciate so much. He wanted to come back and I remember talking to JP about coming back when he was contemplating whether to leave or not and we both had big goals and plans for himself and unfortunately the season didn't go the way any of us wanted it to go and I think he's going to have a great NFL career, somebody's going to get lucky with him, he's not only a good football player but he's a better person and a great teammate and again I think on that pass play that you're talking about, that's just him being a great teammate and helping the offensive linemen out on the block and again that's what it takes sometimes. But he's been that way throughout the year. For someone that had big expectations for himself, along with Cam and all he could have easily just tanked it and just said he didn't want to do it and he hasn't done that not once. He's been trying to do everything he can to help this team and want to help this team and I tell you he's helped me a lot just sitting down and talking to me about the team and where we're at. He loves Florida State and he wants to make sure he leaves here the right way.

Q. I know you spoke about how important this win is for the players but can you just elaborate on how important this may be for the fan base and for the university to get a bowl win.
WILLIE TAGGART: Oh, it's very important. Like I said, after the game, we're a prideful university, we pride ourselves on winning and you think about the streak, that's winning. We have been winning every year. So it's very important that we go out and give our fans, our alumni, our former players and coaches that have been here and our current players and coaches everything we can to see that we get this victory and keep it going. That's important to us and we know what is at stake and we got to go take care of business.

Q. Saturday wasn't the most well attended game but how important is it to have a full crowd for this one rivalry game and what type of impact can the crowd have on a rivalry game?
WILLIE TAGGART: Well I tell you what's, it probably wasn't full, but it was heard. The fans that were there, they did a great job of supporting us and making it loud and we appreciate it and I can tell you this it made a difference in our players and the way they performed out there and I took my headphones off on that last pass down there and just heard how loud it was and like, wow, that was really, really impressive. It makes you think of what Doak can be like if we continue to make plays like that and I think our guys see that too and understand it and again whenever you're playing a rival and a good football team like we're going to play this week and you play them at home you always count on your fan base and everyone to have your back and help you to get through this game. So it's really important that they all be there and show up and I've been told before that fans don't like showing up at 12, we need them to show up at 12, show up early and stay there and help us the entire time because we need it. But it's part of being a team, it's not just us, it's all of us, fans and players.

Q. You've seen it before this year but this team's fight, their resiliency, they showed that again on Saturday but how important was that in that win and kind of heading into this week, this rivalry week?
WILLIE TAGGART: Oh it was very important because again it was a must win game for us and our guys kind of put things together, things that were really hurting us. We put them together, we did some bad things in the game but we were able to overcome them and not continue to let those things define us. We kind of stayed to the plan and stayed positive and not get down when things didn't go our way, which happened early in the game and I was really impressed with that because I knew eventually that we would overcome those things if we just stick to it and our guys, they did it and it paid off for us. So hopefully again that's something that we can continue to build off of when we get in those situations and it could be this week again and that we can fight through it and overcome those things. I know this, we're one of a few teams that's come back from behind this season from more than 10 points or more, so our guys know they can do those things, but we also know if we don't put ourselves in position where we have to come from behind like that it's a lot better, less stressful as well.

Q. When a decision is made during a game a player's struggling, a switch is made, is that the position coach that makes that decision, is that you, is that the position coach maybe coming to you saying I want to do this and you approve I'm curious how that whole thing works?
WILLIE TAGGART: No, that's my discussion. That's my decision. If a player's struggling and not playing well, that's a decision that I'm going to make, not necessarily a position coach.

Q. Injury up date. The prospects of Levonta Taylor and then Cole Minshew can you get either one or both of those guys potentially back?
WILLIE TAGGART: Levonta he was out yesterday running around and trying to get himself back right. I think we'll know more on Tuesday it's just again with the hammy, you never know, especially until you get out and you can run just go all out on it and see how it goes. So I think we'll know more on that on Tuesday. He ran around a little bit yesterday, so I think he's getting closer. Cole, we're waiting on some results to see how we're going to go forward with him. He's still doubtful, we're just waiting to get some results back to see how we go from here.

Q. You guys had several explosive plays in that game, I'm sure it was mostly scheme, but could you talk about the way the playmakers stepped up and made plays because the week before against Notre Dame you guys didn't make a lot of plays?
WILLIE TAGGART: Yeah, it was good. I think overall we just executed better. I talked about it in after the Notre Dame game and the North Carolina State game is we're not consistently executing and I thought on Saturday we executed consistently a little bit more than we had all season and it paid off for us and again guys were locked into what we're doing and it helped that we simplified some things and so we're not thinking as much and I think when you're not thinking as much you can execute a lot better and it showed on Saturday, our guys were able to do that in every aspect. But it was good because our guys that didn't execute and didn't make the plays that we wanted to in the game before they came back and made them in this game. You think about Tamorrion and the game he had at Notre Dame and I know he told the entire football team that he was going to make up for it and sure enough he did. And even Terry early in the game, not getting as many catches, but staying locked into the game and coming up big for us there at the end was big.

Q. Do you think that the outcome of this game matters from a recruiting perspective in terms of going in state and recruiting against the University of Florida in terms of perception that, sort of thing?
WILLIE TAGGART: I think any game, winning any game helps with recruiting. It's big. Not necessarily because it's Florida or anything. I know the perception, oh, you win a game then you get all the recruits. I wish it was that easy, then we should have them all if that was the case. But recruiting is about building relationships and I know for us it's about getting the right fit for what we want for us and how we're going to build it. So I don't think all that has to do with just with winning, winning helps big time, I mean I think every recruit wants to go to somewhere where you can win, but a lot of recruits have things they want too out of a program, what they're looking for too. So we're trying to find the right fit what we're looking for and what they're looking for and hopefully it's a great match, but winning helps.

Q. I know you said after the game that the energy and effort have been there all season you've been happy about that to see it kind of culminate in the win and the fact that guys are still playing hard even after that three game losing streak what does it say about where this program is at and how they bought into you as a coach?
WILLIE TAGGART: Well I think not just me as a coach, they're buying into the culture, they're buying into the vision of what we set out to do with our program. And I think our guys seeing everything we're doing is benefiting them, everything is catered towards them and putting them first, whether it's in the classroom or off the field and trying to hold guys accountable and everything we're doing is it's about our players. And I think they appreciate that and when it comes to football and the losing streak and they didn't, not giving up or anything, I think it's just each individual being real with themself and asking themself, are you doing enough to help this team or are you doing something to hurt this team and if you are, let's work to make it better. But I think watching film together as a team and has lessened the finger pointing to where you can have that division from within because everybody sees each other make the mistakes and so it's hard to point fingers and get on someone else. I think guys appreciate that and it makes them come out and practice that much harder knowing that we got to correct those things, it's on us. So I think those things have helped us and a lot of it is just part of the culture that we're building and we still got some more work to do but we laid the foundation and we're going to keep moving.

Q. That was the most success that you guys have had on the ground this year. Was that due to the offensive line, were they playing at the best level they have played at this year and just why do you think that is at this time?
WILLIE TAGGART: Yes, I think if you look over the last two weeks you can see our guys up front improving. Again, I think you probably seen a little more if we didn't get so far behind in the North Carolina State game, but I think you see an improvement in those guys the last two weeks and that's a big part of it. But again I think because we simplified some things to allow them to just play and not think as much has really helped our guys and allowed them to play with a lot more confidence and when you can play with the confidence you can execute a lot better and that's what they're doing right now, executing better and a lot more confident in what they're doing.

Q. How much is Keyshawn Helton an example of a guy who is earned his playing time through practice but also capitalizing on his opportunities in being able to make plays?
WILLIE TAGGART: It's, that's who he is. He's always been doubted, he's been the small guy and everyone thinks the small guy can't play football but Keyshawn is one of those small guys that have one of the biggest hearts. He's one of those guys you want on your team because he's going to give everything he has to help you try to win. I know he loves this place and he's a big time football player for us. I think he earned the respect from his teammates from at the end of the day one when he got here and he told everybody what he was going to do and now he's starting to show us all what he's capable of doing and again we felt like especially a lot of the freshmen that are playing for us we felt towards the end of the season we're starting to see more of them and see what they can do and all those guys are starting to show us and it was great for Keyshawn to come in and make those plays for us that he did because we needed him and he sparked, he gave us a spark there.

Q. Is there any value in looking at a guy like Dan Mullen and his past in terms of the way he coached maybe the first 11 games of his regular season and the way he would approach a rivalry game at the end of his season?
WILLIE TAGGART: Say that one more time.

Q. Is there any value when you're going up against a guy who has played in a really heated rivalry game at the end of his season to kind of see the way that maybe he approaches that game differently by looking at the way he coached in previous games in his regular season before going into that final game?
WILLIE TAGGART: I think it depends on who you are and what you're looking for. I probably could look and might find something but I think we're going to continue to look at the film that we watched of them and how they coached and the tendencies that they have shown and I don't think they're going to get too far away from their tendency, they have had a lot of success doing what they're doing and they're not going to get too far away from it. But again I don't think it's about Florida, it's got to be about us and about what we're doing and we got to be on our A game in what we're doing. We feel like our A game, if we're on our A game we feel like it's good enough. But we have to be on that and again against a good football team and we can't make the mistakes that we have been making. We got to be sharp on everything we're doing and doing it at a high level and again it's the last game of the season, we need to practice that way, we need to meet that way, we need to walk that way and then do it on Saturday. We got one last opportunity at home in Doak to put it all together and so it's more about us and if we can do what we need to do, we feel good about it.

Q. Was it part of the game plan to get Deondre to run more? I think he had like eight or nine attempted rushes. He wasn't Tommy Frazier or Willie Taggart for that matter?
WILLIE TAGGART: I was going to say are you going to skip me out?

(Laughter.)

Q. Even Willie Taggart. But is that something that has been coming, is he healthier, he just looked maybe a little different, a little quicker.
WILLIE TAGGART: He's healthier. I told him before the game, we're going to run you more. And he said, go ahead, coach, I want to run. And he's been healthy all year, we just hadn't ran him much. And I think he wants to run the ball, we didn't run him much and in that game we decided to and knowing that we were going to have some running lanes for him. It was good to see him go out there and run with a purpose and get us some yardage that we needed when it happened. So I know there's things we can do that can help us on offense with him running the football, but it was good for him to go out there and for us to call the plays to allow him to do that.

Q. Florida's had a Top-30 defense this year and they have been really strong against the pass. I guess what have you seen from them this year and what do you think are some challenges they can present?
WILLIE TAGGART: Well they're very skillful and they take advantage of opportunities when they come. When those -- and then they do a good job of taking the ball away with fumbles and interceptions and just getting you behind the sticks and making you play behind the sticks and whenever you can do that it makes life a lot easier for you defensively. But they're very talented as a defense and from top to bottom and they have the kid, Polite who is a big-time pass rusher for them that gets to the quarterback, and Coach Grantham has done a great job with some of the schemes that he did for those guys. But they're a talented group and they play well together.

Q. Going back to the senior theme, Noonie had a career game on Saturday and he also, his big pass in the first half, his big catch in the first half was a big momentum shift. So talk about his impact on the team and maybe being a playmaker like he was on Saturday.
WILLIE TAGGART: Noonie, I mean I think when you watch, if you go back you see he's one of the guys that's consistently made plays for us throughout the year. And we all know he's a playmaker. He's a competitive young man and loves playing the game and he's one of those guys that want the ball every play if he can get it. You love those kind of guys. But he's a guy in a game like this you got to lean on because he's been in games like this, he relishes games like this, and you know he'll step up and make a play for you in games like this. Not only that the thing is this is his last game in Doak and knowing that his grandmother is going to be up there and probably her last game cheering in Doak, too, I'm sure he wants to put on a show to make sure she's dancing once again in Doak. So I'm sure he's going to be fired up and be locked in to have the best week of practice so he can go out and have his best game at Doak.

Q. We haven't seen much of you in a locker room after a game. We saw you do a little nice little one, two step, I don't know what the kids call it these days, but you seemed to be enjoying the victory. Want to get your thoughts on how cathartic that was for you. And also one of your players seem to have recorded a little bit of your post-game speech and put it on social media. Is that something that you're okay with or a little deal, big deal, no deal?
WILLIE TAGGART: No deal. I'm not going to say anything that's going to degrade our program, so I guess that's no big deal and after the win I think we are all happy and again, now days the social media and all that those things happen. I kind of thought about the dance when I was in the middle of it saying, man, this is going to be all over social media right now. But I was in it, couldn't stop, it was just one of those things you get caught up in the moment, just seeing how happy our guys were and knowing how hard they worked and just, it was just, for me it was one of those they were doing it and they were doing a dance I felt like I can do, so I jumped in with them. So at least I don't look like a jerk out there and not know what to do. So I got in and I had to whistle in my mouth so I had a little tune to it, too. But it was really out of the joy of our players and just seeing how happy and excited they were and they worked hard and they deserved it and it was a fun time.

Q. The other side of the ball for Florida what are your impressions on their offense, you talked about it a little bit but them and Feleipe Franks what are your observations on him?
WILLIE TAGGART: You can tell he's improved from last year and I think Coach Mullen and his staff has done a great job of playing to his strength and he's doing that with the entire offense that's helping them be successful and they're doing a good job of run and pass and running the quarterback as well. So I think he's going to put, Coach Mullen hasn't really put him in position to hurt him, he put him in position to help him and it's helped him so far.

Q. A little obscure, I'm doing a story on Izaiah Prouse-Lackey. How much exposure have you had to him, he's a walk on that's been in the program now for his four years, which is pretty rare, a lot of walk-ons don't stick for four years. And he also is a guy signalling plays for the defense. I guess what are your interactions with him and I know he wants to go on to coaching and so I think it's, this has been a valuable experience for him.
WILLIE TAGGART: It has been and he's been coming up when they have down time he'll come up and help out around the office and being around young men that want to coach and you can appreciate guys like that because some guys want to coach but they don't want to put in the work to go coach and you think about him being a walk on and not playing in games but coming to practice every day and doing everything we ask him to try to help our, give a good look on the scout team and then help coaches on game day. I know for me it's pretty neat to sit down there and see him with his hat on and headphones and I think that's pretty cool. That's like that was me one day before and hopefully it's something he wants to stick with. He hasn't really had the long hours yet, so hopefully as he continues to grow and get into it he'll appreciate it and realize that the impact that he can have on young men when it comes to coaching and hopefully he cherishes that and wants that to be a part of his life to help impact others.

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