FSU football: Top 5 takeaways from ‘Noles 2021 season
By Kelvin Hunt
Adam Fuller Told Critics To Shut Up
One coach that caught a raw deal in 2020 was defensive coordinator Adam Fuller. Most fans wanted him fired, despite dealing with COVID and several defensive players failing to play at a high level.
I wanted to give him an offseason to implement his scheme and build player trust before declaring someone firable.
The calls to fire him continued through the 2021 season for whatever reason. However, the defense was never the main issue with the team. I’ve said it several times, but the defense played well enough for FSU to win 7-8 games.
The lack of offense or the offense turning the ball over 13 times in the first five games was the issue. People have to stop looking at just the number of points allowed and see the big picture. It’s tough for a defense to stop a team from scoring on a short field.
More context is the FSU defense faced some of the better quarterbacks in college football this season.
Despite all of that, the defense improved drastically in nearly every statistical category when compared to 2020. Is Adam Fuller elite? I wouldn’t know because he doesn’t have a crop of elite talent, but the man understands defense and puts players in a position to make plays.
If he gets better players and puts those players in positions to make plays? Good things will happen.