FSU press conference (VIDEO & TRANSCRIPT)

CUTrevor 2019-10-09 14:28:50





WILLIE TAGGART: Game week. Really excited, another opportunity to get on the field and compete, and not only get to compete, we get to compete against the defending national champions this week, go to their place, and one unbelievable opportunity for our football team. I know our guys are practicing hard, practicing well, and getting ready to take on a great challenge.

Q. From a schematic standpoint, the offense has been pretty similar, kind of as it was last week, but obviously the results have been much better and in your favor this year. Where have you seen the biggest change or growth in the offense?
WILLIE TAGGART: I think just guys understanding what they're doing. Not only understanding what they're doing, last year was the first time a lot of these guys ran the style of offense that we played. Before they were huddling up in the pro style, and so we brought a different style of offensive play, and it took some adjustment for a lot of them, and a lot of guys were young and playing. So there was a lot of mistakes, and now you see guys having a better understanding of what we're doing now and being able to execute a lot better and more efficient without a lot of mistakes.

I think guys are just comfortable with it. Coach [Kendal] Briles and our offensive staff has done a great job of being on the same page and getting our guys to be on the same page, and then taking care of the football.

Q. How did James [Blackman] come out of practice last week, and how is his health, and will you make a decision early in the week or are you going to wait until later in the week about who will start Saturday?
WILLIE TAGGART: James practiced all week last week and practiced yesterday and will continue to be our starter, and they both will play.

Q. Talking about James [Blackman] and Alex [Hornibrook], it seems like both of them have played at a level that can win you football games. Do they bring anything different to the table, or is it just a matter of respecting both of them?
WILLIE TAGGART: They bring something different. James brings James, and Alex brings Alex to the game. So they bring something different from that standpoint. They both understand our offense. They both have done a great job of executing our offense. They both done a good job of taking care of the football, which is always important. So really like what they both have done for us, and hoping they continue to do a great job for us.

Q. We saw Jauan Williams back out there Monday. How is he coming along from the injury, and do you expect to have him back Saturday?
WILLIE TAGGART: He's coming along. He's working his way back in there and practiced a little more yesterday, and again, I think that's one of those things we'll see how the week goes. He practiced in full pads with the team, and I think that will be one of those decisions we make later on in the week depending on how he practices.

Q. You mentioned the two quarterbacks and how they complement each other as players. What about personality-wise? How do you work two guys into the system like that and how have they done with that so far?
WILLIE TAGGART: They've both been good at it. You know, I guess you just work them in however you see fit to help you win a ballgame. Like I say, they both -- they're different, different mindsets. I think Alex [Hornibrook] is more businesslike. James [Blackman] is -- again, he's going to inspire you to do some things out there, his teammates. But like I say, they both have executed our offense the way we need them to, and no matter who's in there we need them to continue to do that, continue to distribute the ball to our playmakers, and then more importantly, take care of the football.

Q. I think something about James [Blackman] you noticed when you first came here is about the emotion he plays with. He plays with such high emotion. Is that something you're able to harness or manage now that you're able to delegate some of the coaching duties? Is that a focus for you?
WILLIE TAGGART: Well, I'm always trying to work with the QB's and making them understand their role as the quarterback, and again, I think each guy has their own traits and things they're good at and things that they can improve on. You never really want to change a person for who they are, but we kind of work with them to help their football team and help it grow, and again, I love James' personality. I think he's one of the greatest teammates ever, and he's a heck of a football player.

But again, no one will change who he is. I want him to continue doing the things he's been doing, continue to develop, continue to become a better football player and continue to be a great teammate.

Q. Defensively you guys have sort of hit your stride the last couple games, but obviously Clemson will be the toughest test so far. Do you take any added confidence away from the fact that Clemson is coming off a performance where they struggled offensively, or is it just about you continuing to do what you've been doing?
WILLIE TAGGART: I think it's all about us. We can't necessarily -- it's going to be about us. Again, we're getting better, and I think we're getting better because we've been focusing on us and focusing on the things we need to do in order to get better. We've been playing winning football for the most part, and we've got to continue to play. Again, I've said it before, you guys probably think I sound like a broken record, but the challenge for us each week is to see if we can play our best, and that's something we haven't done yet, and we're shooting to try to do that.

We know against Clemson we've got to be at our best to win that game. I think it's good to have a bye week to continue to work on some things to see that we can go out there and execute at a high level and play our best football since we've been here, and again, we've been moving towards that direction, and we know we're going to need that in this ballgame on the road in Death Valley against the defending national champs. Again, it's about us and knowing that we're up against a great football team.

Q. Clemson obviously puts up a lot of sacks and they've had a lot of sacks against Florida State the last couple years. How do you balance trying to keep more people in because they're blitzing a lot versus trying to attack them and make them pay for blitzes?
WILLIE TAGGART: We've just got to block them, block them better. We've got to do better than what we've done in the past when it comes to that, schematically what we do from that standpoint. And then again, we've just got to protect the quarterback and not hold on to the ball when we do throw the football, get it to our guys' hands and see if we can play better than what we've done the past couple years. That would be good.

Q. You played Virginia on the road, but Clemson, the environment there is next-level. How do you prepare your guys for that environment and just how tough is preparing for that environment?
WILLIE TAGGART: Well, I thought Virginia was a tough environment. They were excited. Their fans were excited being there, and first ACC game. Again, I've never been in Death Valley so I can't tell you what it's like, but I've been to a football game, and I know in a football game, you'd better be worried about those 11 guys on the other side of you and not the environment around you because, again, that's a pretty good football team. We'll be able to lock into their football team, where guys are going to be, and make sure you understand your assignment so you can get it accomplished. Once the game starts, everything else doesn't matter.

We've got to continue, again, to focus on us and not the peripheral things that's not going to help you win. What's going to help us win is taking care of the football and tackling and not giving up explosive plays and scoring some touchdowns.

Q. After last year's game against Clemson, do you kind of get the impression your team is out to show against a team like this the growth they've had since that moment last year, and how difficult is it to prepare for a team like Clemson as if it was any other opponent?
WILLIE TAGGART: Well, we're not on last year, you know. Last year is last year. We've gone from that. Clemson is a different team from last year. Again, we know Clemson is a good football team, and they're the defending national champs. They're the defending ACC champions, and I think that's what we're all shooting to do is to be champions, and we've been working all season to try to be ACC champions, and we know that we've got to go through Clemson, and fortunately, that game is this week, and that's what we're up against. We've got to play our "A" game to keep our goals intact and what we want to get accomplished, and that's what we're focusing on. Again, it's a football game, we've got to go play.

Q. I was just curious if you could update the status on Logan Tyler; is he still with the program?
WILLIE TAGGART: No, he's not.

Q. And then also, Anthony Grant, is he -- he's been kind of in and out a little bit?
WILLIE TAGGART: Yeah, same with Anthony as it's been before. He's dealing with personal things, so hasn't changed.

Q. I don't even know if we want to call it a two-quarterback system, but you are playing two quarterbacks on Saturday. Do you see how they both play and then ride the hot hand? What is the process in the middle of a game as to who's going to be the quarterback after they've both had some reps?
WILLIE TAGGART: We'll see on Saturday. I don't know if that's something I want to give Dabo [Swinney] or anyone else what we're going to do. It's going to be a tough challenge as it is. I don't want to give out anything other than they both will play. Again, we'll have a plan for them both and want them to go out and execute like they've been executing, and we'll be happy.

Q. Clemson's wide receiver unit is as talented as there is in the country. What have you seen on film from them and how difficult is it to prepare for the athletes that they have at that position?
WILLIE TAGGART: They are talented, and I think we have some talented receivers, as well. Just as talented. They're tall, they're long, and again, you watch film, they do a great job of throwing the ball with the back-shoulder throw, and it's clockwork for them doing it that way. And they have a great quarterback that gets them the ball. Trevor Lawrence is one of the top quarterbacks in the country. He's very accurate with the football, and when you have a guy that can throw it like that, he can make a lot of guys look really good. Again, they're very tall, they're very athletic, they can run, and Clemson -- they've done a great job. Dabo [Swinney] has done a great job of building his team how he wants it, and they're all pretty good. No matter who's in there they're all pretty good. Again, we're going to need our "A" game. It's going to be a game where we, again, got to play 60 minutes of good smart football.

Q. With Janarius Robinson out for the first half, what's kind of the plan there? Is that an opportunity for Josh Brown, Adonis Thomas, somebody there to maybe step in?
WILLIE TAGGART: Yeah, guys gotta step up because he won't be with us in the first half, so those guys gotta step up and do a good job, and again, we count on them to do a good job. We look forward to having a great week of practice, and again, that's why they came here, too, to play in games like this, and like I say, what an unbelievable opportunity for them, as well, to go in the game against Clemson and see if they can have their best game.

Q. You guys have been really good as far as not giving the ball away. When you look at it, are you seeing guys doing things that make that possible in terms of ball security and whatnot? And then how important can that be in this type of scenario going on the road against Clemson?
WILLIE TAGGART: It's important in every ballgame, and if you just watch us as a football team, if we don't turn the ball over we're going to be in every ballgame that we play in, and that's really important going on the road and playing against, again, the defending national champions. You can't give them extra possessions. You've got to do a great job. The reason we've done a great job of emphasizing it in practice and our guys have done a great job of taking it over to the game field and understanding how important it is to take care of the football. But in games like this it's a must. Again, we've got to take care of the football and we've got to get some takeaways. It's important that we get the ball back.

Q. Last week you talked about how well practice went and it gave you that good feeling heading into the game. What do you feel like really went well because you said it was like one of the best practices you've had during the season.
WILLIE TAGGART: I think it's just the attitude and the approach that our players took coming to practice. You know, they came every day ready to work, and they wanted to get better, and it was just everybody who came that way, whether scout team or the guys that were playing. They were ready to work. That wasn't just on the practice field, it was in the meeting room, as well. It was a different vibe. It was a different approach that they came with.

I mean, they always come and our guys always want to compete, but it was more businesslike last week of getting better and making sure they truly understand our opponent, and it paid off for them. Hopefully that's one of the those things that they continue to do knowing that it'll do a good job for them.

Q. You've mentioned a lot about team camaraderie, team chemistry, playing for one another, the love that the teammates have for one another. Is that an even more important thing, a really important part of the formula to beat a team like Clemson?
WILLIE TAGGART: Well, I think to beat any team you've got to play as a team and play -- being unselfish as players, I think that's so important for any team. You look at a team that wins championships, that's what you see is a group of young men out there playing for each other, having fun with each other and making plays for one another. I will say I think that's a big part of why our football team is improving, it's because we're getting a lot of that selfishness out of here and guys are starting to buy into the team concept and taking pride in their university and doing whatever they can to help the football team win, and to me that's why we're having some success now is a lot of that selfishness is leaving. The team is becoming first.

Q. You obviously can't go back and change a couple of the results earlier this year, but do you feel like when you look at the team right now this is closer where you wanted it to be, the way they've been playing the last couple weeks?
WILLIE TAGGART: Well, our football team, I think until we get the culture and things the way that we wanted to, again -- we don't have a lot of seniors that won a lot. We don't have a lot of juniors that won a lot around here, so there's a lot of things that goes on that they've got to get better at, and one of the things for us, I want our team to learn to play and have a certain standard about how we play. I think where our football team is, we kind of play up and down to the level of competition that we're playing against, and it's hard to win a championship doing that. It's got to be a standard, and I think that's what we're building it to get to, where we're playing and we have a standard of the way we play no matter who we're playing against. Our guys are learning that.

I will say since we've been playing Power Five opponents, our guys have been playing at a higher level, and again, we've got to learn to do that no matter who we're playing. When we go out on Saturdays that's just the way we play. I think we all know that's kind of what we're all accustomed to Florida State playing that way, and we want to get it back to being that way, what we got on Saturdays.

Q. With James [Blackman], it didn't go great, but he has played in that stadium before. Do you think that helps, and as a player does that give you something that maybe you wouldn't have otherwise?
WILLIE TAGGART: Well, I think, yeah, he played in a rowdy environment before, but like I say, when you're on the football field, you kind of block a lot of those things out. You don't hear it a lot. You're so locked into what's going on. Again, you start thinking about those things against a team like Clemson, you'll get your head knocked off. We'd definitely better be locked into what we need to get accomplished on the football field and again, not worry about anything that's not going to help us win the ballgame out there, help us execute while we're out there. Again, that's why they all came to Florida State to play in games like this in an environment like that. I mean, unbelievable opportunity.

Q. As you come out of the first bye week, I don't know if this is an opportunity to assess freshmen or guys that you're maybe going to redshirt, maybe not redshirt, but the guys that haven't played yet, do you think you'll try to maintain their redshirt and specifically a guy like Jordan Young, does he have an opportunity to see some action as the season progresses?
WILLIE TAGGART: I think everybody on our roster for the most part has an opportunity to play this year. We still aren't thinking about redshirting anyone. You have the four-game rule where you can redshirt guys, so guys still can play and still be redshirted. Again, we're always going to do what's best for our football team, and if a guy can help us win, we're going to put him in and try to win some ballgames, and if he's not ready then we're going to let him continue to develop and be ready for us later on.

We haven't really sat back and said we're going to redshirt this guy or that guy. We're just trying to get better and continue to develop those young guys because you never know. I mean, with the season the way it goes and injuries, you never know what may happen. So we can't stop developing those guys as we go through the season.

Q. There's been a lot of national conversation about Clemson and whether they're living up to their expectations, how they fell to No. 2 despite not losing. I assume when you look at them you don't buy into any of that kind of talk or perception?
WILLIE TAGGART: I really don't buy into any of that talk. I watch the film and our guys and watch them and go off of that. What are we talking about, Clemson is the defending national champion. All that is just talk, which that's what happens this time of year, and they're still defending national champs the last I know. It's been a while since they lost a ballgame. I think that's the obvious -- they found a way to win last week, and they're still undefeated. All that talk is what it is. Again, we've got an opportunity to go against the defending national champs this week.

Q. Have you ever had in your career a “two-quarterback” system?
WILLIE TAGGART: No, I don't think many people have. But it always -- there's always change, you know. Sometimes you just never know. I had two quarterbacks on the team, but not where we just played two. But if it works and it works out for us, it's good. Like I said, we're always going to do what's best for our football team. Again, I think both guys can play and run our offense and do a good job at it. We'll be fine.

Q. You had some extra time with the bye week to go out and recruit. Obviously you can't give specifics, but how beneficial was that to get on the road a little bit and see some kids?
WILLIE TAGGART: It's huge whenever you can get out. For a lot of these guys we hadn't seen them since the summertime or some of them in the spring. To be able to get out and go watch some games and go visit with some coaches, it's always good. And so it was good for us to get out and see them and watch, and I'm sure they're as excited to see us present there, as well.

Q. Do you notice a difference, just kind of the mood, the fact that you guys have won a couple conference games in a row? Has that given you some momentum in recruiting?
WILLIE TAGGART: Yeah, our guys have still been there, and they've been there with us the entire time. I think, yeah, it's been different winning. The mood is different everywhere when you win, at the gas station, and even the dog doesn't bark at you as much when you win. They're okay with it. But the mood is different. You walk into the school and everyone is talking about the win. They're not talking -- you're not getting as much, I'm praying for you now. I wish I'd keep those coming. I don't want them to stop praying for us. Prayer changes things. But you get less of those now, and again, you want them to keep coming.

Q. Will you just talk about Cam [Akers], what his mentality is like this week? Every time we talk to him, he's ready to go, but especially with Clemson, what's it like right now?
WILLIE TAGGART: He's still Cam. I mean, that's just who he is. You ask Cam, Cam will say, You don't have to get ready when you stay ready. So he's always ready, and he's excited. I think our entire football team is excited about this game and the opportunity they have in front of them. We won't have this opportunity again this year to play the defending national champs. I think everybody on our football team is excited about this opportunity and understand the challenge that we have in front of us, and again, that's why you come to Florida State is to play in games like this, and Cam understands that, and we need for him to have a good game in order for us to be able to win this game against Clemson.

Again, our goals are still in front of us. Our goal is to win the ACC Championship, and in order to be the man, you've got to beat the man. So Clemson is the man, and again, we understand the challenge, but we look forward to it.

Q. You said you kind of block out the noise and really just focus on the film. Were you able to see anything that North Carolina did specifically to keep that game close?
WILLIE TAGGART: They played smart football. They didn't turn the football over. I think the quarterback didn't get sacked much. They didn't have a lot of penalties, and I think they had like three penalties for 20 yards. Again, they played winning football for the most part. They just didn't finish at the end.

And they didn't give up a lot of explosive plays. I think that's something Clemson lives on is explosive plays, and they did a good job of limiting those. Clemson is very talented, and North Carolina did a great job of eliminating those explosive plays or minimizing them and did a great job of tackling in space. Those are always a challenge playing against a team like Clemson, and they did it for 60 minutes. I just thought they played really smart football.
 



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