FSU fans want Willie Taggart fired. ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt says ‘relax.’

Florida State’s slow start under Willie Taggart has sparked criticism among fans to the point that there are early calls for his firing.

Former porn star Mia Khalifa, who is a noted sports fan, started a GoFundMe account to buy Taggart out of his contract.

It’s raised $71 of the $21.2 million goal so far.

The first-year FSU coach, who turned around Western Kentucky, USF and Oregon in his previous coaching stops, led the Seminoles to a loss to Syracuse — for the first time since 1966.

The Seminoles (1-2) struggled with Football Championship Subdivision program Samford the week before. FSU won the game that saw Kelvin McKnight, who attended Manatee High in Bradenton, Florida like Taggart did, torch the Seminoles’ defense for 215 receiving yards.

While fans are voicing displeasure via social media, ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt weighed in on the matter during Monday night’s “Scott Van Pelt Show.”

“I have seen solid chunks of Florida State’s three games and they look a mess, I mean bad,” Van Pelt said on his show. “But Willie Taggart is the football coach. That’s who the university hired. If you want to have a referendum now on why they hired a head coach with a losing record in the first place, it’s a little late because he’s the guy. So take a deep breath here.

“I don’t know when we got to the point when fans got this impatient, and maybe that’s not what’s new, but the idea that the face and leader of your program was as easy to replace as a Styrofoam cooler, ‘Hey, this one’s busted, go to the gas station get a new one.’ Well that feels new and it’s ridiculous. It’s a reflection of this new place we’ve landed where when we get made at something, the solution is someone has to get fired. How about everyone relax for a second?”

Van Pelt also mentioned UCLA’s Chip Kelly and Nebraska’s Scott Frost, who are also off to slow starts with their new teams, along with Taggart for the “1 Big Thing” segment Monday.

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This story was originally published September 18, 2018 at 2:36 PM.