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Jones: Great expectations might be asking too much

 
Florida State doesn't have to win a national title to maintain its status as one of the top programs in the country. [Getty Images]
Florida State doesn't have to win a national title to maintain its status as one of the top programs in the country. [Getty Images]
Published Sept. 3, 2015

There are a whole batch of things that can get a college football coach fired. Or, at the very least, get his seat a little toasty.

Recruiting scandals. Player arrests. Academic fraud. All not good.

Right up there, however, are expectations. Specifically, high expectations. Nothing can sink a coach's ship more quickly than failing to meet expectations.

Expectations of the boosters, of the fans, of the student body, of the media.

What makes it rough on a head coach is that those expectations typically are as high as can be. They are usually too high.

Teams that, in actuality, are bad are expected to be decent. Teams that really are decent are supposed to be good. And teams that are merely good are expected to make a national championship run.

Forget whether those expectations are realistic. Anything short of those lofty goals is a reason to point the finger at a head coach and call the season a failure.

That brings us to the three football programs that most people in these parts care about: USF, Florida, Florida State.

These programs have very different goals in mind for this season, but I'm already getting the feeling that too much is being asked.

Start with USF.

Willie Taggart is going into his third year as coach of the Bulls. After going 6-18 in his first two, Taggart already is feeling the heat. Some believe that anything short of a bowl game, maybe even a bowl victory, will cost Taggart his job.

Seriously? Has everyone suddenly forgotten the shambles left behind by previous coach Skip Holtz?

This is a guy who took a program that had four consecutive winning seasons and promptly went 8-5, then 5-7, then 3-9. He couldn't recruit a lick and left Taggart with a bad team and a bare cupboard.

Now, Taggart might be a lousy coach. So far, the Bulls haven't looked good under his direction. But he might be a good coach. It's way too early to tell. His third recruiting class hasn't stepped on the field yet. He still has a bunch of players recruited by Holtz. Because Taggart took over a program that was going in reverse, how about we let him have a few seconds to put together his team and get it moving in the right direction? How about we give him a chance to have a team made up mostly of his own players before we run him off?

How about a little patience?

Patience also is needed at Florida, where Jim McElwain takes over a stinky mess left by Will Muschamp.

When Muschamp was kicked out the door after winning only six of his final 18 games, he bragged about what he was leaving behind and said, "Don't let that new guy tell you he ain't got any players.''

Well, I'll say it. The new guy ain't got any players. Not enough, anyway. Not enough to be competitive in the SEC, and certainly not enough to make a national title run anytime soon. Glory days have left Gainesville.

So if the expectation is that Florida can simply line up and become an elite program again like it was under Urban Meyer or Steve Spurrier, those expectations will need to be lowered.

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You have to like the idea of McElwain. He's an offensive guy in an offensive game. But when you've sunk the way Florida did under the defensive-minded Muschamp, it might take a couple of years to clean up the mess. It might take McElwain some time to find a quarterback and crank up the offense again.

I wouldn't expect McElwain and the Gators to lose to the likes of New Mexico State or East Carolina. But I don't expect them to beat LSU or Florida State, either.

Ah yes, Florida State.

Almost as bad as having a really bad record for a couple of seasons in a row is having a really good record. Under Jimbo Fisher, FSU has been practically unbeatable the past two seasons. It lost only once in 28 games, won a national title and came within a victory of playing for another.

You simply can't be that good every season, but once fans taste that kind of success, they expect more of it. Winning one national title isn't good enough. Fans want a dynasty.

But when you lose 11 stars in a weekend to the NFL draft, including perhaps the best quarterback in school history (Jameis Winston), you can't expect to play for another national championship.

FSU is in a mediocre conference, still has plenty of talent and even has an experienced quarterback in Notre Dame transfer Everett Golson.

But Golson is not Winston, and the Seminoles cannot be expected to have a third consecutive season of dodging upsets and competing for a national championship.

In the end, USF shouldn't have to make a bowl game for Taggart to keep his job. Florida shouldn't have to compete for an SEC title to have a successful season. FSU doesn't have to win a national title to maintain its status as one of the top programs in the country.

The Bulls won't be good, they'll be decent. Florida will be better, but not too good. FSU will be good, but not great.

You shouldn't expect anything more.