Thoughts From the Morning After: FSU 30 Miami 26

Nov 15, 2014; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles running back Dalvin Cook (4) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Miami Hurricanes during the second half at Sun Life Stadium. FSU won 30-26. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The South Florida Edge

Jimbo Fisher is now 5-0 in his career against Miami. That means for the last half-decade Fisher has made one of college football’s most storied rivalries one-sided. A big part of that has to do with the way Fisher has recruited south Florida.

Dalvin Cook, Travis Rudolph, Ermon Lane, Jesus Wilson– they’re all south Florida guys that FSU plucked out of Miami’s backyard. You can even add Rashad Greene — an Albany, GA native who finished his high school career at St. Thomas Aquinas in Ft. Lauderdale — to the list if you like. On both sides of the ball, FSU has high-profile south Florida players making an impact.

If you want a reason FSU has had the upper-hand so much lately– that’s a big part of it.

Sure, some of it is the uncertainty that hovered over Coral Gables during the Nevin Shapiro scandal. Some of it was Randy Shannon and Larry Coker letting the program slip after Butch Davis built it up again in the early 2000’s. But a big part of it is also the fact that Jimbo Fisher — who has always recruited the area — has been cleaning up in South Florida since taking over Florida State.

It’s interesting too, because if you were to ask someone to give you the part of the country that a guy like Jimbo Fisher — the blue-collar son of a West Virginia coal miner — would recruit the best, I doubt many people would guess it’s South Florida. Specifically Miami.

But that’s where Fisher seems to have the most success. FSU regularly comes down to South Florida and pulls two or three of the best players out of Miami’s backyard. It’s been happening since before the program was “back” too.

And it continues to pay dividends.

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