Few people on this planet knew Mike Martin Sr. better than Chip Baker, who worked for him for 35 years at FSU as an assistant coach and then as his director of baseball operations. I caught up with
Chip this morning to hear his memories of and stories about the FSU baseball legend that was 11.

Please see a list of schools/prospects that Mike Norvell and the FSU staff have seen this week.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

Henderson expected in Tallahassee on Friday:

Players like James Ramsey and Tyler Holton as well as broadcasters like Gene Deckerhoff and Eric Luallen share their memories of 11:

WVU DE transfer Tomiwa Durojaiye spoke confidently in his first FSU press conference about believing he will be a first-round draft pick and wanting to win a national title. After a busy portal recruitment, he believes FSU is where he can accomplish those things.

The Osceola met with Seminole Booster President and CEO Stephen Ponder to discuss what is a very pivotal moment in FSU history. The Boosters are incurring upwards of $400 million of additional debt on the Doak renovation project and the Dunlap Football Operations Center on top of the existing $200 million in debt, fending off threats from Alabama for Mike Norvell, providing raises for Norvell and his assistant coaches, adapting to NIL and the transfer portal, all at the same time the FSU Board of Trustees and Atlantic Coast Conference are embroiled in a lawsuit to escape to another conference.

The hour-long interview was broken into two stories.
Importance of keeping Mike Norvell and how the projects will be paid for
Clarifying misunderstandings about Doak project

Nobody won more ballgames in college baseball history. And nobody did so with consistency, 40 wins or more for 40 straight seasons.

Mike Martin Sr. was promoted to Florida State’s head coach in 1980 at 36 and it became his vocation for the next four decades. With grace and a warm smile, “11” built FSU’s program into one that annually was among the nation’s best.

Martin died on Thursday, just a few days shy of his 80th birthday on Feb. 12. He battled Lewy body dementia, a disease that affects the brain as well as thinking, mood, behavior. Martin is survived by his wife, Carol, as well as son, Mike Jr., and daughter, Mary Beth.

Since his retirement in 2019, Martin Sr. made few public appearances. But last spring he stepped on the field that bears his name when the program honored Buster Posey.

Martin set a national record for wins, one that may not be rivaled for decades to come (his career record is 2,029-736-4). The Seminoles consistently accumulated victories in the regular season and were formidable in the regionals and Super Regionals, and Martin’s teams won 73.6 percent of their games.

We will update other prospects who plan to be on-campus as we confirm them.

FSU has four commitments at this time:

OT Solomon Thomas 6'4-315 (Jacksonville Raines)
DE Javion Hilson (Cocoa) 6'4-225
LB Ethan Pritchard (Seminole Sanford HS) 6'2-200
QB Tramell Jones (Jacksonville Mandarin) 6'0-180

QB - Tramell Jones - I have now watched him live at the state title game, live at the Battle event and honestly if FSU wants to win and compete for national titles he can't be the top option in any class. He is a high level G5/low-end P5 prospect. I get it that Luke Kromenhoek signed this past season but that can’t force you to not take a look at the top options on the board. That leads me to....

Antwann Hill - Warner Robbins (Ga.) Houston County - FSU is recruiting him and Hill is interested. We will need to see what happens this spring and if he takes a visit to FSU's summer camp they will be in it for his services. You can't turn away prospects like this. Hill has all the tools to be special. Georgia is all over him as well.

DB DJ Pickett - Zephyrhills - Been told he will transfer to Lakeland this spring or during the fall. As I stated in my breakdown FSU was the leader early on. Now they are trying to get back into the picture. You can't just concede players like this. Miami leads for his services but this one is far from over. FSU was in this position early on for Hykeem Williams. You must make a legit run — these types of kids help you win titles.

WR Koby Howard - Chaminade - Howard has the Seminoles on top. Tennessee is also in there for his services. He is now at his third school in three years. This is a concern because once in college does he bail if there is not early playing time? Howard does have the Seminoles in the lead and will visit again. Follow the visits.

DB Gregory Thomas - Plantation American Heritage - FSU leads for Thomas. He is not in my first group of defensive backs. He has size and decent speed. Not as fluid as players like Ben Hanks and Pickett. He is more of a Renardo Green-type corner with probably more size. I project him to move to safety in college.

WR Dallas Wilson - Tampa Bay Tech - I can’t stress this enough. YOU WIN WITH ELITE PLAYERS. Pickett is elite. Dallas Wilson is also elite. He has great hands and runs very good routes. He is also a MAN. He is built like a college receiver right now. He is interested in FSU and I heard him say a visit will happen either for a junior day or this spring.

WR Cortez Mills - Homestead - It will be interesting to see what happens. Mills has not gotten much bigger since his freshman season. That being said he has ELITE hands. He snatches every pass throw his way. Sometimes physical appearances should not matter. He is too good to pass up. He likes FSU. We will find out if they end up liking him.

Drake Stubbs / Jaime Ffrench - I put these together because both are tied to Jones. FSU bought the cow. These guys are the milk. They need to land both players. Ffrench will come down to FSU/Miami. Stubbs - I feel he is a Seminole at this moment. Things can change. They have a legit shot at landing both players.

CB Chris Ewald - Chaminade- Another solid corner. I would not put him in the ELITE category. I do think FSU sits in a good spot for the South Florida native. Should be on campus again soon.

Login to view embedded media - First clip...don't need to see much more. Maybe Armella moved that well on film. Big guys who move like that are potential NFL prospects down the road. FSU needs to land this kid.

FSU sports information:

In the middle of pursuing their fourth national championship, the Florida State women's soccer team found great success in the classroom as eight players were named to the All-ACC Academic Women's Soccer Team the conference announced on Thursday afternoon. Lauren Flynn, Olivia Garcia, Heather Gilchrist, Ran Iwai, Sophia Nguyen, Beata Olsson, Cristina Roque and Kaitlyn Zipay were all named to the team.

Roque led the way as she picked up her fourth consecutive All-ACC Academic honor. All eight athletes were returners to the All-ACC Academic Team. Academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0-grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one's academic career. In addition, student-athletes must have competed in at least 50 percent of their team's contests for the season.

FSU had one of the best seasons in school history as they completed their first undefeated season in school history en route to the program's fourth national championship. FSU dominated their final 12 games as they outscored their opponents 37-4 including 21-1 in the NCAA Tournament.

Lauren Flynn***, Florida State, D, Public Administration
Olivia Garcia**, Florida State, F, Music
Heather Gilchrist**, Florida State, D, Finance
Ran Iwai**, Florida State, M, Sociology
Sophia Nguyen**, Florida State, M, Business Marketing
Beata Olsson***, Florida State, F, Environment & Society
Cristina Roque****, Florida State, GK, Business Administration

Ask any coach about the fundamentals of recruiting and you’ll hear familiar words: Relationships matter. Winning, of course, makes the program more attractive, too.

Florida State coach Mike Norvell and his staff have put the work in on the recruiting trail since they arrived, even if they were sidelined with face-to-face communication by the prolonged dead period due to the pandemic. The Seminoles lost recruiting battles years ago, but seeds of a relationship were planted and now the results are bearing fruit.

“I feel like it might not have been the right time then, but that played a big role in why I’m here now,” offensive lineman Terrence Ferguson said. “And I feel like it’s the right time now.”

The right time is now for four Seminoles who spoke on Tuesday and Thursday, the first of a large group of interviews set to come with transfers and freshmen who enrolled early. Ferguson was recruited by Norvell and Alex Atkins. Malik Benson was recruited by Norvell and Ron Dugans. Davante Brown was coached in high school by Patrick Surtain and in college by Randy Shannon.

Relationships matter. Of the 15 transfers FSU has landed in the January portal window, eight had taken a visit (unofficial or official) to Tallahassee during earlier recruitments.

WR BJ Gibson (Rochelle, Ga./Wilcox County HS)

WR Jalen Brown (Miami, Fla./LSU)

DL Grady Kelly (Navarre, Fla./Colorado State)

DL Tomiwa Durojaiye (Philadelphia, Pa./West Virginia)

Lately I've noticed a lot of cars driving with fog lights on, especially during the day in clear weather. It seems newer cars are sold with fog lights but without turn signals as more people use fog lights than directionals. This morning at 6am on a 10 mile drive I counted over 30 cars with fog lights on. Keep in mind it was clear, no fog or rain or any other weather issues. Why use them? Are they on auto on some vehicles? It's like turning on your wipers when there is no rain.

Maybe I am in the minority but these coaches need to stop with the analytics ALL THE TIME. The Lions were up 14 and could have gone up by three scores and decide to go for it on the 4th down instead of taking the points. The Niners have not shown the ability to come back from big leads. The Lions head coach decisions are why they were not at home playing this game as well. I would be pissed off today if I was a Lions fan. They don't get the first down and on the next drive the Niners score and change the entire momentum of the game. STUPID. These coaches at times need to realize the moment of the game....Take the damn points.

We too often discuss the GoR without having any idea what it actually says. I don't know if FSU has tried to hide it by not actually getting a copy, but it's worth a try to obtain it. I figured some here would be interested so I will continue to post the correspondence in this post with edits and dates of edits for reference. If someone thinks it's worth pinning, that's fine. If not, that's fine. I posted this in the TCCL, too because I knew we could keep a civil discourse, but let's try to keep this one civil, too, even with those posters with whom we disagree on this issue.

I sent this today, 7/21/15:

Hello, I am not a member of the press, so you may not be the right person to whom this should be directed. Please confirm by reply email if you are. If you are not, please let me know and let me know who is. I am copying Carolyn Egan to ensure the General Counsel's office has notice of this request.

This request is being made pursuant to Section 119.07 and all related statutes, constitutional provisions and/or administrative rules.

I would like to obtain a copy of the contract or agreement ("the Agreement") signed or otherwise agreed to by Florida State University ("FSU") or its agents and the Atlantic Coast Conference ("ACC") and/or its individual member institutions in 2013, as well as any amendments to that document. If it helps in identifying this document, it has at times been referenced as the Grant of Rights Agreement and you can see this news link discussing the agreement - http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...r/22116192/acc-approving-grant-of-rights-deal. Please note I am identifying the document based on its purpose and effect. I am not suggesting it is titled as I describe it and my failure to identify it by title when I do not have a copy should not cause any delay in complying with this request. If you have any doubt as to identity of the document to which I reference, please let me know and we will get it clear.

I would also like to obtain copies of any and all notes, correspondence, memoranda or other written materials relied upon by FSU in entering into the Agreement. If no such materials exist, I would just like that confirmed.

Finally, if there are any contracts, agreements or other documents showing any other agreements between FSU and the ACC and/or any and/or all of its member institutions containing additional agreed to terms which form the rights and responsibilities of the various parties under the Agreement, I would like copies of those, also.

Thank you in advance for your prompt consideration and response to this statutory request. Compliance by mailing physical documents to my work address at **** , Tallahassee, Florida 32301 or by emailing .pdfs is sufficient.

Sincerely,

[Allnoles]

____________________________________________________________________

Ok, I decided as long as we are at this, we may as well find out what exists as to the ND Agreement. Too many claim there is some long term agreement to have ND join. I would like to know if there is any basis whatsover for that claim.

Sent this am, 7/22/15 -

Hello, I am not a member of the press, so you may not be the right person to whom this should be directed. Please confirm by reply email if you are. If you are not, please let me know and let me know who is. I am copying Carolyn Egan to ensure the General Counsel's office has notice of this request.

This request is being made pursuant to Section 119.07 and all related statutes, constitutional provisions and/or administrative rules.

I would like to obtain a copy of the contract or agreement entered in 2012 between the Atlantic Coast Conference ("ACC") and/or its member institutions and the University of Notre Dame ("ND"). I will refer to this as the "ND Agreement" herein, but my titling of the document is for reference only and should not limit FSU's response solely to documents with that as an official title. This request includes any amendments to the ND Agreement. If there is an confusion as to what I refer, you can see this link for a news story on the deal - http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8369070/notre-dame-sports-football-hockey-acc. If there are still any questions as to what I refer, please let me know immediately and we will get it cleared up.

I would also like to obtain copies of any and all notes, correspondence, memoranda or other written materials relied upon by FSU in voting for the ND Agreement as an ACC member institution. If no such materials exist, I would just like that confirmed.

I would also like to obtain copies of any and all notes, correspondence, memoranda or other written materials generated by any FSU agent or employee (whether internally within FSU or sent to anyone outside of FSU) in discussing, evaluating, analyzing or otherwise considering the ND Agreement, before or after the vote as an ACC member institution. If no such materials exist, I would just like that confirmed.

Finally, if there are any contracts, agreements or other documents showing any other agreements between ND and the ACC and/or any and/or all of its member institutions containing additional agreed to terms which form the rights and responsibilities of the various parties under the ND Agreement, I would like copies of those, also.

Thank you in advance for your prompt consideration and response to this statutory request. Compliance by mailing physical documents to my work address at ***, Tallahassee, Florida 32301 or by emailing .pdfs is sufficient.

Sincerely,

[Allnoles]

___________________________________________________________________________

Response to both is the same for now, am 7/22/15 -

Mr. ***,

This is to confirm that we have received your public records request. It has been provided to the General Counsel’s office for processing, per our normal protocol. We will be in touch.

Regards,
Browning

Report from Sportico:

The private equity talks were internally nicknamed “Project Osceola” — after the famous Seminole leader and FSU mascot — and they appear to center on the creation of a NewCo to house commercial rights from the school’s athletic department. That entity could then take on outside capital. This structure has become common for PE investments in sports, including Silver Lake’s backing of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team and CVC’s financing of LaLiga, the top Spanish soccer league.

Sixth Street is still in active talks with Florida State about a possible investment, while Arctos is not, according to multiple people familiar with the negotiations. Representatives for Sixth Street and Arctos declined to comment. Representatives for JPMorgan and Florida State did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Alabama's offseason conditioning program under Nick Saban was the gold standard. Therefore, two former Bama players now at FSU praising Tour of Duty speaks volumes.

"I see why Florida State does what they do because of this conditioning program."

Sorry if I missed it but has Fiske opted out.

More news on FSU and others here:

Until we can get rich donors, we are not going to be able to compete with the high power schools for top talent. Is there anything on the horizon for us to improve our NIL status. Is the NCAA talking about caps such as the NFL had?