Former FSU defensive coordinator Adam Fuller was fired after FSU suffered a blowout loss against Notre Dame, the eventual 2024 National Champion-Runner Up.
FSU football fans were never in love with Fuller when Mike Norvell made the hire on his original team before the 2020 season. The defense he inherited wasn't great, and there was no spring or summer to practice and install his scheme.
However, despite some limitations with his scheme, the defense improved each year, culminating in a top 10 defense in FSU's undefeated 2023 ACC Championship season.
The Chargers are set to hire former Florida State DC Adam Fuller as the team’s new safeties coach. He’s a veteran college defensive coordinator with stops at FSU, Memphis and Marshall. He served as the head coach at Assumption College in 2008. pic.twitter.com/wNemXiv7Qi
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 5, 2025
The 2024 season saw some slippage, with the loss of several NFL Draft selections. However, the defense performed well enough for FSU to win over two games. Georgia Tech, Memphis, and Duke losses were not on the defense.
There were several other games where it was hard to judge the defense because the offense was so anemic. If you're a defensive player and you know the offense isn't capable of scoring more than 14 points, at some point, it's natural to stop giving 100 percent, and I believe that's what happened in the second half of several games.
Fuller had his limitations as a defensive coordinator but was probably better than FSU fans give him credit. The LA Chargers reportedly hiring him as a safeties coach should validate that claim.
Safeties was the position he coached along with defensive coordinator duties at FSU. Fuller was never a great recruiter with high school players but played a key role in several players from the transfer portal.
His personality probably meshes better with older, more mature guys, so it's not surprising he's transitioning to the pros. FSU replaced Fuller with Nebraska's Tony White, who's on the opposite end of the spectrum regarding scheme flexibility. FSU will be multiple with the ability to play man-to-man and zone coverages. The latter is something Fuller rarely did or they didn't do it well.
Fuller's a good guy, and it's good to see him land on his feet so quickly.