Florida State University Athletics
Practice Report: Taggart Pleased With Progress As Noles Wrap In Bradenton
8/15/2019 3:27:12 PM | Football
BRADENTON, Fla. – After a Thursday morning practice that ended just moments before yet another thunderstorm rolled through southwest Florida, the Florida State football team loaded its busses and headed home to Tallahassee.
Thursday’s third and final session at IMG Academy was FSU’s 12th of fall camp, and, as coach Willie Taggart addressed the media before hitting the fields, it was apparent that things are about to get serious.
The Seminoles will practice on Friday afternoon, then compete in their first team scrimmage of the fall on Saturday.
From there, FSU will hold its annual media day and fan day on Sunday. And, starting Monday, the Seminoles will have a full week of night practices designed to simulate the schedule of an evening kickoff.
After that, it will be time for classes and – can you believe it? – game week.
The Seminoles’ opener against Boise State is just 16 days away, and Taggart believes his team is on schedule.
“I absolutely do,” he said, when asked if he likes where the Seminoles are after 12 practices. “I love where we’re at. I love how our guys are competing and how they come every single day to practice, excited about practice. I can honestly say that we haven’t had a boring practice or a practice where we haven’t gotten better.”
Taggart, of course, hopes that trend continues on Friday and on in to Saturday, when the team will hold a situational scrimmage for the first time this fall.
A situational scrimmage is exactly what it sounds like – the Seminoles will work a variety of scenarios (third downs, goal line, two-minute drill) to see which players A) can properly react to the different things they’ll encounter in a game and B) rise or wilt to the occasion of an in-game setting.
Taggart said he wants to see a “clean” game – meaning minimal penalties, drops and missed assignments.
“Really looking forward to seeing how our guys do that,” he said. “Every night in training camp, our coaches get up and teach a certain part of the game. They try to get our guys to understand that each situation is different from a coordinator’s standpoint.
“There’s tendencies on what you like to do in those situations. Our guys have got to understand that like coaches.”
Rain doesn’t dampen IMG visit: Inclement weather in Bradenton altered two of FSU’s practices at IMG Academy, and threatened a third.
But Taggart didn’t seem to mind the schedule changes. Not only did it allow for the Seminoles to spend some extra time with Derrick Brooks and Tony Dungy, but it also gave them a chance to adapt when things don’t go according to the scheduled plan.
That sort of thing can come in handy on a football field.
“I actually thought it was a good thing for our players to deal with a little sudden change,” Taggart said. “Things aren’t necessarily (always) going the way that we want them to, and I was impressed with how our guys responded to it.
“Times before, usually you go in (from the weather) and players don’t want to come back out. But our guys were begging – ‘Coach, can we go out? Are we going back out? Can we get back out there?’ … I thought our guys did a great job responding to it.”
Kaindoh still on the mend: Defensive end Joshua Kaindoh is continuing to recover from a “tweaked” hamstring, although Taggart didn’t sound too worried when discussing his status on Thursday.
The junior sustained the injury early in fall camp and has been limited ever since, although Taggart allowed that Kaindoh is permitted to do some light work on the practice fields.
“We let him get a couple (reps) here and there,” Taggart said. “But, again, we’re going to do what’s best for Kaindoh and our football team, and make sure he’s ready for August 31.”
Kaindoh has seven career sacks and, along with redshirt junior Janarius Robinson, is expected to be a big part of FSU’s pass rush as it transitions into life without first-round pick Brian Burns.