Florida State = Soft

At least according to Bobby Bowden who said, in no uncertain terms that the Seminole team’s of the last couple years have been appreciably softer than the ones who came before them. I am not sure that soft is the right word. Lazy seems to fit much better. From the 2002 season onward the team became lazy, well the offensive side of the ball became lazy. Since the 2002 defensive disaster the Nole’s have been a fixture in the top 25 in total defense. That side of the ball has brought the wood. Since 2000 there have been 9 Nole’s drafted in the first round of the draft, only one of them played on offense, unless you count Sebastian Janikowski because he scored some points. In all fairness the FSU has never been known to consistently unleash devastating offensive attacks upon the rest of the nation. Not in a year after year after year the way that Nebraska did in the mid 90’s with one Tommie Frazier and the utterly unstoppable option. But FSU has always been able to put points on the board. Not any more though. The last 5 years on the offensive side of the ball have been a nightmare for the fine people in Tallahassee. They have not sniffed a top 25 total offense rating since 2002. FSU has had some devastatingly good offensive squads, the 1999 team comes immediately to mind. Then the “Free Shoes University” tag comes right after it. But I have always remembered FSU for the relentless way they played the game. They were always on the attack, always forcing the issue, making them guard what they couldn’t guard against, namely the mind numbing speed that few teams could match. And that wasn’t just on the defensive side of the ball, they unleashed wave after wave of highly skilled, extremely fast wide outs and running backs. What has happened in the years since Mark Richt took the top job in Athens is really very simple. For whatever reasons FSU has not been able to utilize the potential of their offensive players, and there is a place where that has been readily apparent. It is not that the athletes left to go play somewhere else which has been implied by some, there has simply been no continuity. The machine of old had simply broken down, and the problem part was easy to spot. The offensive line. Which is where the soft tag comes back into play, there is no denying that the line play for the Noles has been categorically soft. That’s why the biggest change to the coaching staff this year has been the addition of Rick Trickett, not Jimbo Fisher. Make no mistake the hire of Fisher is huge but the problem hasn’t always been the scheme, its been the lackluster play of the line that has doomed the Noles to mediocre performance. Rick Trickett seems to be the type of coach who is foul, profane and the definition of a pain in the ass. Any kid who has ever played the game has had a coach or two like Trickett, I certainly did, and I loved playing for the man because he always got the best out of the team. I wouldn’t be surprised if the not-as-big-as-they-were-before boys in Garnet and Gold start too emulate their coach on the field. At least that is the hope; for Trickett to re instill that attacking and aggressive play of old in a unit that has never, ever been described as either attacking nor aggressive. The starting point? Easy, the weight room. Bowden wants his line to be slimmed down, more athletic and more aggressive. Now, that should sound familiar because that is the same thing being told about Jake Long and Co. in Ann Arbor before the start of last season. That this was a leaner meaner team and that the giant lumbering linemen of old would be replaced simply with giants who no longer lumbered. The plan sure worked out well for Michigan, and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see it work out for FSU.