Florida State athletic director David Coburn put to rest speculation around Willie Taggart's job status and the rumor that the Seminoles are interested in pursuing former Florida and Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, calling it "nonsense."
"There is a lot of complete nonsense floating around out there right now, and it is a shame that ... I even have to address it," Coburn told the Tallahassee Democrat. "But, that is the world we live in now. People are looking for clicks, not for real information.
"Virtually all of this stuff is complete fabrication, and it is particularly disturbing when supposedly responsible publications put this junk out there, and then people start to believe it."
Coburn aimed to set the record straight by adding: "We have not been in contact with (Taggart's) agent, period."
He also shut down a Football Scoop report that indicated Florida State would try to hire Meyer, who spent six years at Florida before retiring with the Buckeyes after the 2018 season. He currently is a college football analyst for Fox.
"If (Taggart) were hit by a bus tomorrow, we would not target Coach Meyer, period," Coburn said. "I say that with all due respect to Coach Meyer, but we would not target Steve Spurrier either."
The rumors come after Florida State's 22-20 loss to Wake Forest on Saturday. The Seminoles are 3-4, 2-3 in the ACC this season and 8-11 under Taggart, who took over the program in 2018.
"We just need to focus on winning football games and our fans need to focus on coming out and supporting this team," Coburn said.
Florida State, 5-7 in 2018, missed a bowl last season for the first time since 1981.