FSU football is taking the steps to rebuild the program from scratch.
I watched the FSU football game Saturday night and discussed it live with all of the 12K+ fans of our Twitter account.
It’s clear most FSU football fans watch in anguish and frustration, but that’s part of being a fan of a once-dominant program.
I think most rational FSU fans are aware this is a complete rebuild with Mike Norvell. However, there’s another segment of those that believe Mike Norvell should snap his fingers and win games or attractive five-star recruits just because it’s Florida State.
Look, the standard is the standard at FSU football. The goal is always to win the conference and national titles. However, there are times when expectations have to change even though the standard doesn’t.
Here’s an example:
In college, the fastest I could run the mile was around 5 minutes and 50 seconds. We had to run the mile every Monday for time, and the expectation was to improve on our times every Monday.
Fast forward twenty years later, and earlier this year, I began running again while my kids rode their bikes to get out of the house when COVID-19 emerged.
I hadn’t run for distance or time in quite some time, but do you think I had any expectations of running the mile in five minutes and 50 seconds?
Absolutely not. However, I had to set a baseline, so I ran the mile for a time after a couple days of just running with my kids. The first timed mile I ran in eight minutes and 10 seconds. A couple of weeks later, I ran it in seven minutes and 52 seconds. A month or so later, I ran it in six minutes and 52 seconds. The next time I ran it for time I managed to get it down to six minutes and 25 seconds.
That last time I ran the mile for time, I ran it in 6 minutes and 10 seconds. I was running basically every day or every other day in between the times I ran for time. I said all that to say this, I couldn’t go out and run 5 minutes and 50 second mile when I hadn’t been working to reach that standard in 20 years.
I had to put the work in to try to reach a standard I had set for myself a long time ago. I’ve gotten close, but it didn’t happen overnight, and I had to put the work in to reach that goal.
21 Games Isn’t The Standard
There’s a small pocket of people out there still pining for Willie Taggart for whatever reason. I rode for Willie Taggart as hard as anyone, but it was the right move to fire him when it happened.
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Some people believe 21 games wasn’t long enough for him to turn things around, but the fact of the matter was it wasn’t going to get turned around.
Now, some people want to use 21 games as a measuring stick for Mike Norvell to gauge progress. I shouldn’t even waste my time addressing this, but I’m going to put it out there in clear terms.
Mike Norvell inherited a significantly less talented team than the 2018 roster. The talent on the roster from 2018 onward did not get properly developed on the field or in the weight room.
Here’s an example:
What if you were driving a car that had some problems but was mostly dependable, but you sold the car because you needed some money. The person you sold it to drives it every day for two years and only changes the oil once and never rotates the tires or gets them aligned.
Would you expect that car to perform as good or better than when you were the owner?
No, you wouldn’t. That car would need a full inspection, and likely some things replaced before it could perform at an optimal level again.
The same goes for FSU football.
Final Thoughts
The standard is still the standard, but expectations have to change until the work is put in to reach that standard.
It’s why I used me running as an example. I hadn’t put the work in to maintain or exceed the time in college. Therefore, it would be dumb on my part to expect to run a time close to what I ran 20 years ago.
Luckily for me, I could put the time in every day if I wanted to try and reach that standard again.
Unfortunately, college football doesn’t work in the same way, and there are many moving parts. There are injuries, players leaving, new players coming in, opposing teams changing, etc.
The coaches and support staff only have so much time with these players each week. The only way the team is going to improve is by putting the work in on and off the field.
They have to make every rep count in the weight room, at every practice, and every film session. The coaches have to evaluate and recruit players that want to come in and help turn this thing around.
If there’s a mass exodus from the program? It’ll be because those players didn’t want to put in the work necessary to get this program back to the standard, so them leaving isn’t a bad thing.
This rebuild is a process where all of the players have to be on the same page. If you’re not with us, you’re against us mentality.
Be patient as FSU football fans. Find ways to look for positives and progress as small as they may be. It doesn’t mean the standard has changed, but it means expectations change until the work can be put in to reach the standard.