John Papuchis-Linebackers Coach/Special Teams
What more can I say about FSU linebackers/special team coach John Papuchis? He probably should have been the first guy fired, and probably should have been fired last year. AThe defensive end play last year was terrible(when he coached that unit), and the linebackers didn’t play well in 2025 after moving over to coach that unit.
True, it was a new scheme, but the FSU linebackers couldn’t even execute spying the quarterback. They lacked physicality, took poor angles, hit the wrong gaps, and were poor in coverage.
Their situational awareness and play recognition were abysmal. Papuchis hasn’t been a good recruiter on top of his failures as a coach.
Let’s not talk about how poor FSU special teams play was under his guidance. FSU can’t field punts for anything in year six.
FSU could promote Ernie Sims to linebacker coach or go out and grab a young up-and-comer who’s familiar with the 3-3-5 defensive scheme Tony White uses. They also need someone who’s a dawg on the recruiting trail, because Papuchis lost so many recruiting battles, it’s not funny.