Sent out a number of tweets today trying to add some perspective to what exactly Willie Taggart inherited at FSU upon arrival. This was not meant to absolve Taggart of any blame for the Seminoles’ early struggles, but to add some perspective. We should’ve seen more of this coming. Is he struggling to find answers fast enough? Perhaps. But there were major problems before he arrived.
2/8
Mentioned this a few days ago, but look at the dreadful options he had on the OL based on prior 4 recruiting classes and then remember that 3 of the guys with actual experience are hurt. pic.twitter.com/3jfsgbuVKZ
— A David Hale joint (@DavidHaleESPN) September 20, 2018
3/8
How good was last year’s OL?
* pressure on 31.2% of non-blitz plays (12th in ACC)
* 23.2% of designed runs to be stopped for loss/no gain (61st in P5)
* QB hit on 28% of dropbacks (60th)
* QB hit on 15% of throws 5+ yards downfield, double next worst P5 team— A David Hale joint (@DavidHaleESPN) September 20, 2018
4/8
The rest of the offense followed suit. Stats vs P5…Only 46% of red zone drives ended with a TD (59th out of 65)
Scored on 58% of drives that went inside the 40 (59th)
TDs on 14.8% of drives that began with punt/KO (61st)
TDs on 58% of goal-to-go drives (58th)— A David Hale joint (@DavidHaleESPN) September 20, 2018
5/8
More 2017 FSU stats vs P5
33% of runs went for a loss or no gain (64th out of 65)
Pressured on 38% of dropbacks (54th)
7.2 explosive plays per game (51st)
30% third downs converted (60th)
50% conversions on 3rd & short (58th)— A David Hale joint (@DavidHaleESPN) September 20, 2018
6/8 more 2017 FSU vs. P5
40% of all plays went for loss or no gain (62nd out of 65)
40% of drives failed to gain a 1st down (57th out of 65)
Gained 34% of possible yards (60th)
Avg 1.4 pts/drive (59th)— A David Hale joint (@DavidHaleESPN) September 20, 2018
7/8
The decent finish vs. awful Del St, ULM & So Miss covered how bad it was. FSU scored…7 vs Bama
17 vs Duke
3 vs BC
14 vs Clemson (in garbage time)and overall, was 4-6 averaging 20 ppg vs P5 teams.
— A David Hale joint (@DavidHaleESPN) September 20, 2018
8/8
Willie inherited a train wreck on offense but his No. 1 job this offseason was to fix cultural issues. That meant being positive and upbeat. That was necessary & many bought in. That’s biting him now because a realistic assessment of the situation should’ve been dire.— A David Hale joint (@DavidHaleESPN) September 20, 2018
And, 9/8 I guess… That’s just the offense. It doesn’t touch on the ongoing special teams issues or the fact that FSU ranked 124th in % of tackles returning, per @philsteele042. This was no quick fix.
— A David Hale joint (@DavidHaleESPN) September 20, 2018
Pointing to recruiting stars is disingenuous. For one, OL is notoriously difficult to project because body size changes so much (or doesn’t) in college. Secondly, class rankings are aggregate, so 20 4* DBs = a great class avg but not a great class.
— A David Hale joint (@DavidHaleESPN) September 20, 2018
Didn’t feel like digging too far into this, but a quick look at how recruiting rankings translate to longterm OL success… pic.twitter.com/jooFpZrZpp
— A David Hale joint (@DavidHaleESPN) September 20, 2018
Last year, 8 teams ranked top 20 (in P5) in non-blitz pressure rate & RB yards before contact.
Here’s the number of blue chip OL they signed 2013-17:
UGA, 9
Miami, 6
Oregon, 4
Arizona, 3
Mizzou, 2
Ok St, 0
WVU, 0
K State, 0FSU signed 12 in that span, ranked 44th/34th.
— A David Hale joint (@DavidHaleESPN) September 20, 2018
by David M. Hale 