I see a ton of post that keep mentioning that FSU lost because of coaching. I have had this argument for a very long time with other members on message boards. Is coaching or talent more important. I have always believed while coaching is important that even the greatest of coaches won't win without talent. Take Saban, he was at Michigan State and never won a title. I am not sure he even won a conference championship. He goes to LSU and then finally Alabama and becomes the GOAT.
As for coaching and play calling, I feel Mike Norvell is a top five coach. Fans used to hate Jimbo's play calling and he won a NC. Play calling and coaching comes down to EXECUTION. The better your talent...it becomes much easier to coach them up. I spoke to a HS coach yesteray and we spoke about this one kid at Chaminade and I was like coach, He makes you look like a better coach when you call a play. Why, because Jasen Lopez catches every pass. It does not matter if its in the dirt the kid finds a way to come up with it. GREAT PLAYERS OR REALLY GOOD ONES make play callers and coaches look better. Keon Coleman made it look easy while most of the receivers at FSU right now make it look hard.
MN, I feel along with Lincoln Riley, Mike Gundy, Rhett Lashlee, Lance Leipold, Jamey Chadwell, Kalen Deboer....these are the best in the business at running and offense and calling plays. Mike can flat out call plays. I feel that on Saturday there were plays he called and DJ just could not execute it. There was one pass right in the middle of the field and DJ never released the ball it was a TD. Some guys just can't see things. I am working with a QB at Carol City right now and his QB coach off the field has asked me to watch him film. I saw him make a play the other day and I was thinking what was he looking at. Now the play call was not great but he basically just stared at his receiver before the snap and the defender saw it and came over and picked the ball off.
I feel that if you want to blame a coach...blame them for RECRUITING or the the TALENT on the team. While Taggart was not a good coach most of these guys are. I have been around them and COACHES in college KNOW FOOTBALL. Can they translate their ideas to the players. That is the question. I do feel that with the way college football is stuctured now it is going to be very difficult year in and year out to win. If you have teams replacing 40-50 players each year how are you going to have any consistency. Football is the ultimate TEAM SPORT. Guys have to play together. The more players you bring in the less likely they are going to GEL. Yes there are teams like Ohio State and UGA right now that are recruiting at an elite level but also those teams are not losing 40-50 kids. Why is Ohio State good this year. They retained all their top underclassmen and on top of it brought in a great portal class and recruiting class. This is their year.
So what is the issue....FSU lost 24-21 and you would have thought reading these message boards they were blown out. You look at the stats and FSU did not turn the ball over once (O INT/O Fumbles). Penalties - FSU HAD 1 Penalty....1. That is not a team that looks poorly coached. FSU QB threw for 70 percent. The biggest issue this year and the fans just thought well Mike is a great coach which he is....that this team would just come out this year and roll teams again. I am not going to blame this site because I don't think Jerry and this crew did it but there was some major hype by other people. WHY....My friend Manny Navarro of the Athletic gave me a breakdown of teams last year and FSU team snaps by player was one of the biggest in college football. Meaning each player on the team had more actual snaps then most if not all the teams. They had almost triple of Miami and double of UF. That was an experienced team with a veteran QB (Travis) who has been in the system a very long time. Now you bring in a QB who has been inconsistent his entire career and expect him to be great. By the way DJ did not lose the game and on the final drive it mattered most was CLUTCH. He led the team down the field and tied the game. Now if you want to blame him for the defense not getting a stop go ahead.
So now what....Lets wait and see what happens the next two games. I do feel FSU is going to get better but the question is HOW MUCH. This team lacks play makers, especially on offense. Hykeem Williams has the physical talent but unless he takes that next stpe forward TALENT AND POTENTIAL DON'T MEAN MUCH. I do think the biggest problem you have is their best talent at receiver is in their freshman classes. I think that Danzy and Kam Davis are the only two backs on the team who will be able to give you the big play.
FSU right now has an offense that is going to take 8-9-10 plays to score. This puts so much pressure on the offense. It puts pressure on the play caller (Mike Norvell). Even with running the ball last year with Benson....There was always the chance that he could bust off a long run for a TD. Look at his performance against Florida. FSU right now has Toafili who is basically Jermaine Thomas....Very good back by the way. But this offenSe needs Dalvin Cook. They need a race horse because they don't have that difference maker at RB. I do feel that Davis could be the guy but once again he is a freshman.
THE DILEMMA - FSU has a problem with this team. They have less margin for error. Last year the team could play a D game on offense (Florida) and the team and talent was so good they could over come it. This team has to play as a B team on both sides of the ball or they won't win these games against certain teams. This team is not good enough.
Take Kevin Knowles. Is the kid terrible - No. He gets ripped but he made some plays. That being said he should be a depth piece. He should not be starting. Then you have #9 - GREAT KID. I met him when he committed to FSU. REALITY - After watching saturday's game coaching is not going to fix his issues. He can't start. He also can't take that many snaps. It is not a knock on #9. #22 Another player who just looked physically over matched out there. He was out of position and missed a ton fo tackles. These two guys played a ton of snaps the other day. Neither would have seen the field on last years team. HOW Is that coaching. You have two holes on defense. Not one but two. Add in the poor play by the defensive line which is the strength and it is why you lost. You went from a defense which you could count on bailing you out last year to one that could not get it done.
MOVING FORWARD - This year is going to be one that there are highs- FSU will beat someone they probably will be the dog to. They will probably lose to another team they should not lose to. I thought they could win 10. I will hold judgment on that but it is probably more of a 8-4 or 9-3 team which gets better at year end.....
Solution - I would hold off on OVER SPENDING ON THIS YEARS recruiting class. YOU SAY WHAT...Yes, I would go after guys like Koby Howard from Chaminade. I would not get into bidding wars with these other schools. I would see what happens this fall. The reality is there are going to be a ton of HS players who fall through the cracks. If Kromenhoek and and Glenn are not the guy for 2025 - I am going all in for DJ Lagway this off-season. Keep the money and spend it on him. He has already been paid so you may actually get a kid whose parents want development and a winner so going to FSU would be important. You give him a player like Lagway and the Noles are not only playing for a playoff spot the next two years, they may win the title. ELITE TALENT.....Helps you hide flaws at LB. Elite Talent at QB makes those freshman talented receivers look much better then they are. You also get a Lagway and other top receivers who hit the portal...want to come to FSU. The only other option and I think a ton of teams will go after him is Avery Johnson at Kansas State...Who camped at FSU. I think he has a big season, hits the portal and would be that GUY.....
As for coaching and play calling, I feel Mike Norvell is a top five coach. Fans used to hate Jimbo's play calling and he won a NC. Play calling and coaching comes down to EXECUTION. The better your talent...it becomes much easier to coach them up. I spoke to a HS coach yesteray and we spoke about this one kid at Chaminade and I was like coach, He makes you look like a better coach when you call a play. Why, because Jasen Lopez catches every pass. It does not matter if its in the dirt the kid finds a way to come up with it. GREAT PLAYERS OR REALLY GOOD ONES make play callers and coaches look better. Keon Coleman made it look easy while most of the receivers at FSU right now make it look hard.
MN, I feel along with Lincoln Riley, Mike Gundy, Rhett Lashlee, Lance Leipold, Jamey Chadwell, Kalen Deboer....these are the best in the business at running and offense and calling plays. Mike can flat out call plays. I feel that on Saturday there were plays he called and DJ just could not execute it. There was one pass right in the middle of the field and DJ never released the ball it was a TD. Some guys just can't see things. I am working with a QB at Carol City right now and his QB coach off the field has asked me to watch him film. I saw him make a play the other day and I was thinking what was he looking at. Now the play call was not great but he basically just stared at his receiver before the snap and the defender saw it and came over and picked the ball off.
I feel that if you want to blame a coach...blame them for RECRUITING or the the TALENT on the team. While Taggart was not a good coach most of these guys are. I have been around them and COACHES in college KNOW FOOTBALL. Can they translate their ideas to the players. That is the question. I do feel that with the way college football is stuctured now it is going to be very difficult year in and year out to win. If you have teams replacing 40-50 players each year how are you going to have any consistency. Football is the ultimate TEAM SPORT. Guys have to play together. The more players you bring in the less likely they are going to GEL. Yes there are teams like Ohio State and UGA right now that are recruiting at an elite level but also those teams are not losing 40-50 kids. Why is Ohio State good this year. They retained all their top underclassmen and on top of it brought in a great portal class and recruiting class. This is their year.
So what is the issue....FSU lost 24-21 and you would have thought reading these message boards they were blown out. You look at the stats and FSU did not turn the ball over once (O INT/O Fumbles). Penalties - FSU HAD 1 Penalty....1. That is not a team that looks poorly coached. FSU QB threw for 70 percent. The biggest issue this year and the fans just thought well Mike is a great coach which he is....that this team would just come out this year and roll teams again. I am not going to blame this site because I don't think Jerry and this crew did it but there was some major hype by other people. WHY....My friend Manny Navarro of the Athletic gave me a breakdown of teams last year and FSU team snaps by player was one of the biggest in college football. Meaning each player on the team had more actual snaps then most if not all the teams. They had almost triple of Miami and double of UF. That was an experienced team with a veteran QB (Travis) who has been in the system a very long time. Now you bring in a QB who has been inconsistent his entire career and expect him to be great. By the way DJ did not lose the game and on the final drive it mattered most was CLUTCH. He led the team down the field and tied the game. Now if you want to blame him for the defense not getting a stop go ahead.
So now what....Lets wait and see what happens the next two games. I do feel FSU is going to get better but the question is HOW MUCH. This team lacks play makers, especially on offense. Hykeem Williams has the physical talent but unless he takes that next stpe forward TALENT AND POTENTIAL DON'T MEAN MUCH. I do think the biggest problem you have is their best talent at receiver is in their freshman classes. I think that Danzy and Kam Davis are the only two backs on the team who will be able to give you the big play.
FSU right now has an offense that is going to take 8-9-10 plays to score. This puts so much pressure on the offense. It puts pressure on the play caller (Mike Norvell). Even with running the ball last year with Benson....There was always the chance that he could bust off a long run for a TD. Look at his performance against Florida. FSU right now has Toafili who is basically Jermaine Thomas....Very good back by the way. But this offenSe needs Dalvin Cook. They need a race horse because they don't have that difference maker at RB. I do feel that Davis could be the guy but once again he is a freshman.
THE DILEMMA - FSU has a problem with this team. They have less margin for error. Last year the team could play a D game on offense (Florida) and the team and talent was so good they could over come it. This team has to play as a B team on both sides of the ball or they won't win these games against certain teams. This team is not good enough.
Take Kevin Knowles. Is the kid terrible - No. He gets ripped but he made some plays. That being said he should be a depth piece. He should not be starting. Then you have #9 - GREAT KID. I met him when he committed to FSU. REALITY - After watching saturday's game coaching is not going to fix his issues. He can't start. He also can't take that many snaps. It is not a knock on #9. #22 Another player who just looked physically over matched out there. He was out of position and missed a ton fo tackles. These two guys played a ton of snaps the other day. Neither would have seen the field on last years team. HOW Is that coaching. You have two holes on defense. Not one but two. Add in the poor play by the defensive line which is the strength and it is why you lost. You went from a defense which you could count on bailing you out last year to one that could not get it done.
MOVING FORWARD - This year is going to be one that there are highs- FSU will beat someone they probably will be the dog to. They will probably lose to another team they should not lose to. I thought they could win 10. I will hold judgment on that but it is probably more of a 8-4 or 9-3 team which gets better at year end.....
Solution - I would hold off on OVER SPENDING ON THIS YEARS recruiting class. YOU SAY WHAT...Yes, I would go after guys like Koby Howard from Chaminade. I would not get into bidding wars with these other schools. I would see what happens this fall. The reality is there are going to be a ton of HS players who fall through the cracks. If Kromenhoek and and Glenn are not the guy for 2025 - I am going all in for DJ Lagway this off-season. Keep the money and spend it on him. He has already been paid so you may actually get a kid whose parents want development and a winner so going to FSU would be important. You give him a player like Lagway and the Noles are not only playing for a playoff spot the next two years, they may win the title. ELITE TALENT.....Helps you hide flaws at LB. Elite Talent at QB makes those freshman talented receivers look much better then they are. You also get a Lagway and other top receivers who hit the portal...want to come to FSU. The only other option and I think a ton of teams will go after him is Avery Johnson at Kansas State...Who camped at FSU. I think he has a big season, hits the portal and would be that GUY.....
