The once and future king does spring

James Blackman paused after being asked about having a new offensive coordinator in Kendal Briles: “I feel like he’s a great dude, has a chip on his shoulder. Ready to come out here and put in some work and get better.”

He’s not the only one.

Coming off the 2018 season which saw him backing up since-departed Deondre Francois, Blackman — having pulled the sword out of the 2017 season — enters Spring Football at Florida State as the heir apparent. But with transfer quarterbacks likely to be available prior to the fall semester, Blackman will need to earn the confidence of his coaches and peers at QB1. His approach to doing so is simple: “just become better as a leader...as a teammate...in all aspects of the game.”

And he’ll need to do this while being under the third offensive coordinator in three years at Florida State. Fortunately, there is some consistency to help Blackman and the offense this year. Blackman stated that the change in terminology is straightforward, and most importantly that the structure of the offense won’t change: “We’re basically running the same offense. [The Wide Receivers] don’t have to really make that big of a jump...they’ll be in great shape to perform.”

Coach Taggart’s advice to Blackman this Spring? “The same thing he said [to me] last year; just come out here and be you.’” If the future is any indication, Blackman’s history looks bright.