Florida State is just a few days away from kicking off the Week 10 clash against Boston College, and a new theme is developing in Tallahassee. Former longtime Middle Tennessee coach Rick Stockstill, who had been serving as an offensive assistant, was named interim coach following the firing of Mike Norvell after the loss to Clemson.
The temporary promotion of Stockstill was a notable one, as the coach has decades of experience and 224 games as a head coach under his belt. Stockstill has seen and done everything on offense throughout his career, and Florida State added a similar level of support to the defense via a brand new face.
Pete Thamel of ESPN dropped an interesting piece of news this morning, revealing that the Seminoles will be adding former head coach Paul Pasqualoni as a defensive analyst. At 77 years old, Pasqualoni brings decades of experience to the defense, along with 246 games as a head coach.
Pasqualoni made his mark in college football during his 14-year tenure with Syracuse, where he finished with a record of 107-59-1. More importantly, Pasqualoni had a record of 73-34 against ACC opponents and four conference titles. The coach is essentially the defensive version of Stockstill, and experience like this might be what Florida State needs to salvage the season.
Florida State's experienced staff members are likely going to be pivotal to success moving forward
Taking over for a fired coach midseason is something that no staff member truly dreams of, but sometimes programs need to make tough decisions. In order to navigate those situations, Florida State opted to go with veteran leadership and people who have seen it all as a coach.
Pasqualoni joined UConn as the head coach in 2011 after leaving his role as the Dallas Cowboys' defensive line coach. Pasqualoni had a rough stretch with the Huskies, going 10-14 in two seasons before being fired in his third year following a 0-4 start. Since then, the coach has bounced around and most recently spent time with Avon Old Farms, a premier private school in Connecticut.
At this point in time, Pasqualoni may not have what it takes to call plays or lead a program as the head coach, but that won't be what Florida State asks of him.
Legendary former Florida State linebacker Ernie Sims was promoted to interim defensive coordinator following the firing of Tony White. Sims was previously promoted to the position of linebackers coach, which is a title he will continue to hold this season. Sims will be calling the plays in a role that he previously only held for three games with South Florida during the 2022 season.
Sims has very limited experience calling plays, something that he was vocal about in his first press conference after taking over the interim defensive coordinator role. Rather than potentially letting him drown, Florida State went out and brought Pasqualoni in to help assist with the defense. The coach likely will not have much of an influence on the play calling, but his support will certainly help put Sims in a more prepared position.
Add us as a preferred source on Google