We can all argue about the fairness of how FSU is treated by the media. But that won't change anything. The media and the general public does not care if we feel we are being singled out. We are the villain right now. FSU is being used as the example of all that is wrong with college football. Arguing about how we got here does not change anything.
I am by no means a public relations expert. But for everything I have read about rebuilding your image, the first step is to own up to your past mistakes. In our case, it would be players involved in off field issues and more importantly off field issues involving domestic violence. We need to publicly admit that we have a problem here at FSU. This is not easy to do. Knowing what we know about other programs, it tough to act as if we are the only program with issues and basically admit the media is right. But pointing fingers at other programs is only distracting and can only lead to further public scorn. It seems that Thrasher is qualified to get out in front of the media and acknowledge our past issues.
There was a press release late Friday, but there needs to be more. I would love to see Thrasher hold a press conference today and talk about the issues and what the plan is to solve the issues. Most of the diehards on this message board know about our suspension and dismissal policies (and I think FSU has been consistent with this), but to those outside the program, we seem to tailor our policies to the individual involved. If Dalvin is acquitted of these charges and allowed back on the team, you know exactly how the media will react. We need to explain our policy with off-field legal issues and then we can show how we are adhering to our policy.
We also need to develop a program that discusses the issues of domestic violence with the players. This is the real issue with the media. It's not that we have players in trouble, it's that we have had a few star players involved in domestic violence cases. We can argue the merits of those cases, but the fact remains that we have had a Heisman Trophy winning QB, Heisman Trophy candidate RB, and starting RB (Karlos Williams) all accused of some violent act against women. There is no other school that has had that happen with that caliber of player within the past couple of years. We need to have a program to address this with players and then let the media know what that program is.
It is certainly not fair that FSU is being singled out, but this is where we are now. And I hope our admin has a plan to deal with this.
I am by no means a public relations expert. But for everything I have read about rebuilding your image, the first step is to own up to your past mistakes. In our case, it would be players involved in off field issues and more importantly off field issues involving domestic violence. We need to publicly admit that we have a problem here at FSU. This is not easy to do. Knowing what we know about other programs, it tough to act as if we are the only program with issues and basically admit the media is right. But pointing fingers at other programs is only distracting and can only lead to further public scorn. It seems that Thrasher is qualified to get out in front of the media and acknowledge our past issues.
There was a press release late Friday, but there needs to be more. I would love to see Thrasher hold a press conference today and talk about the issues and what the plan is to solve the issues. Most of the diehards on this message board know about our suspension and dismissal policies (and I think FSU has been consistent with this), but to those outside the program, we seem to tailor our policies to the individual involved. If Dalvin is acquitted of these charges and allowed back on the team, you know exactly how the media will react. We need to explain our policy with off-field legal issues and then we can show how we are adhering to our policy.
We also need to develop a program that discusses the issues of domestic violence with the players. This is the real issue with the media. It's not that we have players in trouble, it's that we have had a few star players involved in domestic violence cases. We can argue the merits of those cases, but the fact remains that we have had a Heisman Trophy winning QB, Heisman Trophy candidate RB, and starting RB (Karlos Williams) all accused of some violent act against women. There is no other school that has had that happen with that caliber of player within the past couple of years. We need to have a program to address this with players and then let the media know what that program is.
It is certainly not fair that FSU is being singled out, but this is where we are now. And I hope our admin has a plan to deal with this.
