2017 season: 7-6, 3-5 in the ACC (6th in the Atlantic Division)
Head coach: Willie Taggart (1st season)
After entering the 2017 season with the No. 3 three ranking and being named a preseason favorite to win the ACC, Florida State failed to live up to lofty expectations. In the first game of the season, the Seminoles lost preseason All-ACC quarterback Deondre Francois for the season and ultimately were unable to recover. The team nearly missed a bowl game and head coach Jimbo Fisher resigned at the end of the regular season to take the same position at Texas A&M.
The Seminoles then hired former Oregon and USF head coach Willie Taggart. And while he had relatively limited success in his one year with Oregon, Taggart was able to build a program from the ground up at South Florida, going from two to 10 wins from 2013 to 2016. His hands-on approach should give a jolt to a relatively lackluster offense from last year.
The Seminoles are returning talented position players as they seek to improve this year. Recently, Francois was named starting quarterback for the 2018 season, and should receive major help from Cam Akers—who rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season—and a deep threat in senior wideout Nyqwan Murray.
Although Duke is not slated to take on Florida State this season, the teams could meet in the ACC championship game, where they clashed in 2013 en route to the Seminoles' undefeated national title run.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.