Why did Florida State fire Willie Taggart with three games remaining in the regular season?

The reasons for the actual decision can be found here and here.

The reasons for the actual timing is about getting a head start in the hiring process. FSU athletic director David Coburn met with the media on Monday to answer questions about the hiring process, the timeline on a decision and what he’s looking for from FSU’s next head coach.

Here are some of Coburn’s most important comments on the upcoming decision and questions to common answers we’ve seen on the message board:

What is FSU’s timeline for making a hire?

Coburn said he’d “like to have a coach in place ready to go when the season ends, if not before.”

So we’re looking at about a month, or earlier, as an ideal timeframe to hire a new coach.  

Why fire Taggart now and not at the end of the season?

"In terms of doing it now, we looked at the pluses and minuses, and we didn't really see any upside to waiting," Coburn said. "We wanted to go ahead and get started with a search, see if we could get somebody in here ready to go as quickly as possible. Frankly, 6-6 isn't good enough, and we didn't see an advantage to waiting until the end."

With the Early Signing Period coming up on Dec. 18., getting a coach in place earlier could help mitigate the disadvantage new staffs have when dealing with a truncated window.

"I think we want to be able to have somebody ready to recruit. There are going to be a lot of schools out there looking for coaches. There are every year once the season ends," Coburn said. "And our feeling was if we could get positioned and be ready to hit the ground running, it would be a significant advantage."

Will FSU utilize a search firm to make this hire?

Yes. FSU plans to “engage a firm.”  

Who will be involved with the decision-making process?

Coburn, FSU president John Thrasher and board of trustees president Edward Burr will spearhead the hiring process while getting input from boosters.

The boosters, giving that substantial funds were raised to buyout Taggart and make a hire, will have serious input during this process.  

What is Coburn looking for in terms of attributes from FSU’s next head coach?

“Well, we're looking for somebody that can win National Championships. I don't have an explicit set of criteria other than that, and I'm going to look at every option I can find. But we're going to win, we're going to get back to the standard of Florida State University football. That's what's going to happen.”

Will FSU retain any of its current assistants?

That will be up to the new head coach, although Coburn specified that he expects there will be “some combination of people leaving and people staying.”

The FSU assistants who are under contract through 2020: DC Harlon Barnett, OC Kendal Briles, OL coach Randy Clements and WR coach Ron Dugans.