FSU football: Explaining player departures and team leadership

Coaches’ Responsibility

The coaches have to set the tone with how this program will operate. The challenge is getting players to understand the standard and being willing to work toward it consistently.

This area is where Jimbo Fisher(later in his tenure) and Willie Taggart went wrong. Mike Norvell and staff not only have to evaluate recruits from a physical standpoint but also from a mental standpoint.

A lot of players have been trimmed from this roster(something Jimbo Fisher failed at), and it’s Norvell’s responsibility to find players with the right mindset, but also the talent to fill those voids. Otherwise, they will be stuck in a perpetual cycle of what we’ve experienced in the past three years.

They can’t afford to waste scholarships the way Jimbo Fisher did late in his tenure. Do they have to have top 10 classes to compete immediately? No, FSU has been getting its butt kicked by teams full of three-star that have been developed the past few years.

I wrote about it weeks ago. FSU has to recruit and develop their players to get out of this hole they’ve dug for themselves. Then, they can begin competing for the elite recruits once they get back to a level of respectability.

The good news is the transfer portal can expedite the process. These players should be able to contribute more readily than freshmen right out of high school.  However, it’s still going to be up to the coaches to evaluate those players the same way they do high school recruits for the right fit for the program.

I expect a large number of players from the transfer portal or JUCO ranks to join the program in the 2021 recruiting class to help stabilize things. There are 15 commits for 2021, and there’s likely room for 10-11 more players.

This offseason will be one of the most important in recent FSU football history, as long as COVID allows practices to continue. It’ll be an opportunity for this coaching staff to lay the groundwork for the future, but more importantly, an opportunity for this team to identify leaders and an identity.

I can vividly remember the transition from Bobby Bowden to Jimbo Fisher. There were some incredibly frustrating times, blowout loss against Oklahoma, losses against NC State and North Carolina.  There were losses to Wake Forest and Virginia in Fisher’s second season. However, there was a feeling the program was on the right track as a fan because you could see the progression each year.

This program is lower now than it was then, but keep looking for that progression and trusting the process. Lastly, if you are not a Seminole Booster, I encourage you to join here. All it takes is $70. If this piece reaches 50,000 FSU football fans or more as I expect it to, and they all contribute that amount?

That would be at least 3.5 million dollars. This program needs money to compete with the elite programs. Fans can whine and complain all day and expect change, or support the program and help become part of the solution.