Long time lurker, first time post. I’ve been watching the board for a long time and to be honest, this is the first time I’ve really felt like I needed to voice an opinion. The last game definitely has really put things into perspective for me and it really makes me sad. It’s not because of the coaches or the players. It’s us as fans. How quickly we turn on our coaches and players is really astounding. From the Fire Trickett or Fire Kelly or Fire Jimbo rhetoric. Or turning on players, like Dalvin – questioning his heart and effort. I understand how disappointing the loss was; heck, I was pretty depressed. But at the end of the day, that’s why the games are played. These things happen. As I reflected on everything, it hit me that we are dealing with the growing pains of youth. Not only from the players, but coaches as well.
What I’m referring to is that our staff is relatively young in terms of experience working together. Everyone compares Jimbo to every other winning ball coach but have we really thought about how well he is doing considering his inexperience as a head coach? I compiled some quick facts to illustrate what I mean. Note, I’m only counting head coaching at college level.
Jimbo Fisher – Going into 7th year. 70-15 record. 1 national championship.
Nick Saban – Going into 21st year.199-60-1 record. 5 national championships.
Dabo Swinney – Going into 9th year. 78-27 record. 0 national championships.
Les Miles – Going into 16th year. 114-33 record. 1 national championship.
Urban Meyer – Going into 15th year. 157-27 record. 3 national championships.
Bobby Petrino – Going into 12th year. 103-39. 0 national championships.
I could continue the list but I think the trend is evident. Jimbo has been doing a pretty good job here at FSU considering his short tenure as head coach. Yes, this past game (amongst some others) is head-scratching. But his total body of work is impressive. Consider also that we’ve had changes at assistant coaches as well. This group is trying to figure out their identity just as much as the players are. It’ll take time for everyone to gel and figure out what our program is about. As Jimbo puts it, we are building a program – not a class, or team or single year run. It’s about building the foundation and there will be growing pains. Think about other programs that still haven’t recovered – Miami, Florida, Nebraska, USC, Tennessee, etc. It’s a long list.
And everyone has bad games. Saban was whooped a few times: Purdue beat his team 52-28 when he was at Michigan State; Alabama rolled on him 31-0 when he was at LSU; Utah beat him 31-17 at Alabama. Urban lost to Alabama 32-13 and 31-6 as UF head coach; and to us 31-7. And how can anyone forget the 54-14 drubbing we put on Dabo and his Tigers.
I’m not trying to offer any excuses. The last game was inexcusable. But I want to point out how lucky we are to have Jimbo, who’s not only a great ball coach but a great person as well. Everyone on our staff is. We have a bunch of great kids playing for us. Things aren’t going to be perfect. I’m sure we’ll have hiccups on the way. And as hard as it is sometimes, I I’m going to try and appreciate everything they’ve done so far in getting us back into the National Championship conversation every year. And I’m going to continue and try to be patient as they build our program to be successful for the long term. I trust that the coaches and players are going to work hard to get us back on track.
I just hope we as fans can show the same type of composure and dedication that our team does every week. Let’s give our team a fan base to be proud of, just as they have provided a team to be proud of. Hope no one takes offense to this - that's not the intent. Just trying to add a bit of perspective to where we are at as a program.
Thanks and I appreciate being able to rant. GO NOLES!
What I’m referring to is that our staff is relatively young in terms of experience working together. Everyone compares Jimbo to every other winning ball coach but have we really thought about how well he is doing considering his inexperience as a head coach? I compiled some quick facts to illustrate what I mean. Note, I’m only counting head coaching at college level.
Jimbo Fisher – Going into 7th year. 70-15 record. 1 national championship.
Nick Saban – Going into 21st year.199-60-1 record. 5 national championships.
Dabo Swinney – Going into 9th year. 78-27 record. 0 national championships.
Les Miles – Going into 16th year. 114-33 record. 1 national championship.
Urban Meyer – Going into 15th year. 157-27 record. 3 national championships.
Bobby Petrino – Going into 12th year. 103-39. 0 national championships.
I could continue the list but I think the trend is evident. Jimbo has been doing a pretty good job here at FSU considering his short tenure as head coach. Yes, this past game (amongst some others) is head-scratching. But his total body of work is impressive. Consider also that we’ve had changes at assistant coaches as well. This group is trying to figure out their identity just as much as the players are. It’ll take time for everyone to gel and figure out what our program is about. As Jimbo puts it, we are building a program – not a class, or team or single year run. It’s about building the foundation and there will be growing pains. Think about other programs that still haven’t recovered – Miami, Florida, Nebraska, USC, Tennessee, etc. It’s a long list.
And everyone has bad games. Saban was whooped a few times: Purdue beat his team 52-28 when he was at Michigan State; Alabama rolled on him 31-0 when he was at LSU; Utah beat him 31-17 at Alabama. Urban lost to Alabama 32-13 and 31-6 as UF head coach; and to us 31-7. And how can anyone forget the 54-14 drubbing we put on Dabo and his Tigers.
I’m not trying to offer any excuses. The last game was inexcusable. But I want to point out how lucky we are to have Jimbo, who’s not only a great ball coach but a great person as well. Everyone on our staff is. We have a bunch of great kids playing for us. Things aren’t going to be perfect. I’m sure we’ll have hiccups on the way. And as hard as it is sometimes, I I’m going to try and appreciate everything they’ve done so far in getting us back into the National Championship conversation every year. And I’m going to continue and try to be patient as they build our program to be successful for the long term. I trust that the coaches and players are going to work hard to get us back on track.
I just hope we as fans can show the same type of composure and dedication that our team does every week. Let’s give our team a fan base to be proud of, just as they have provided a team to be proud of. Hope no one takes offense to this - that's not the intent. Just trying to add a bit of perspective to where we are at as a program.
Thanks and I appreciate being able to rant. GO NOLES!
Last edited:
