FSU President Defends Coach After Racist Social Post

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — Florida State University's president defended football coach Willie Taggart in the wake of a racially charged social media post that surfaced after the Seminoles ended their worst season since 1976, the Tallahassee Democrat reported Sunday.

Taggart, the first black head football coach in Florida State's history, went 5-7 in his first year in Tallahassee, which ended with a season-ending 41-14 loss to archrival Florida. It was the first losing season for the Seminoles since 1976 and ended an NCAA record 36-year streak of bowl game appearances.

"A recent racist social media post aimed at our football coach is ignorant and despicable," university president John Thrasher said in a statement, which FSU announced via Twitter. "I speak for the entire FSU community in expressing our disgust and extreme disappointment, and I am glad the state attorney is investigating.

"Coach Taggart has our full support and as true Seminoles know, he is a respected member of the FSU family."

Thrasher did not identify a specific social media post in the tweet, the Democrat reported. However, according to ESPN, a screenshot of a meme that was posted on Facebook showed Taggart's head edited onto an image of a man being lynched with the caption, "Believe in something even if it means sacrificing your rep."

When the poster was called out on the FSU fan page on Facebook, he responded that he was "dead (expletive) serious. This is how far I'm willing to go to get rid of this clown," the Democrat reported.

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