Florida State football fell to 5-7 with a humiliating loss to the rival Florida Gators on Saturday night. The loss embodied what’s wrong with the entire FSU program.
It was the opportunity for FSU to become bowl eligible and end the season on a high note by beating a rival with an interim coach.
FSU was in a position to make something happen after a rough first half. The FSU defense got a three-and-out to start the third quarter, trailing 17-14, and the offense got a first down and then faced a third and one from the FSU 40-yard line.
FSU failed to get that one yard on two tries, and Florida scored a touchdown three plays later, effectively ending the game.
FSU has not been a player-led team for the past two years. There’s no brotherhood because there’s no accountability from the top down. Ironically, that’s exactly what Auburn’s new head coach, Alex Golesh, preached in his first interaction with his new team:
Alex Golesh said John Cohen gave him the opportunity to be head coach at "around 1 in the morning."
— Justin Hokanson (@_JHokanson) December 1, 2025
"Accountability will build discipline. We will become a process-driven program."
Good stuff from Golesh's first team meeting.pic.twitter.com/5mBWFnh9JC
This is the message FSU football needs to hear. I don’t know if Mike Norvell can say stuff like this now, and it would hold weight after the last two years. It’s like a parent allowing a child to get away with stuff for a long time and then trying to enforce rules. It usually doesn’t go well because the child wonders why you didn’t enforce those rules from the get-go.
This is the message FSU football needs to hear. I don’t know if Mike Norvell can say stuff like this now, and it would hold weight after the last two years. It’s like a parent allowing a child to get away with stuff for a long time and then trying to enforce rules. It usually doesn’t go well because the child wonders why you didn’t enforce those rules from the get-go.
However, there is clearly no leadership on that team. This team didn’t want to play for one another. If so, they would have played better complementary football. There was still a lot of “I” in this team, and it started with the quarterback. His comments after the Florida loss told you all you needed to know.
I mentioned the quarterback position as the No. 1 position FSU had to upgrade immediately going into 2026. Whoever that guy is must be someone who can set the tone for this program from a leadership perspective. Otherwise, this program will never get to where it needs to be, but this message from Alex Golesh is a perfect illustration of what’s been wrong with FSU.