Florida State embracing expectations
By: Bob Ferrante - The Osceola
The words “realistic expectations” went out the window in the early days of January. Coming off a 10-win season and with the knowledge that most of Florida State’s veterans were opting for one more run in 2023, the hype train has been speeding downhill for all of six months.
July is clearly the slowest month on the college sports calendar. There are definite storylines involving Seminoles this month from those playing in pro softball leagues, the MLB draft beginning Sunday, a group of FSU soccer players training for the Women’s World Cup that starts July 20 and an ACC Kickoff event with football coaches and players gathering at the end of the month (Mike Norvell and FSU players will speak on July 26).
Events like these are the oasis in the July desert, giving us a short respite as we look ahead to August. But, yes, FSU football opens preseason camp next month (aren’t those fun words to read?) and the Seminoles will see how some entertaining position battles unfold on the field ahead of a season where it’s expected they will compete for an ACC championship and perhaps a spot in the College Football Playoff.
“We’ve got big expectations but it’s no pressure because of the teammates that we have, the chemistry, the bonding that we have and we keep building the team chemistry,” tailback Trey Benson said.
This is the mindset of a veteran team, one where coaches have set a tone. Norvell has often referenced this as wanting programs to be coach-led and player-driven.
The benefit Norvell has allowed us since March 2021 is to observe FSU’s spring, preseason and fall practices. While we’d love to watch a scrimmage to get a better gauge of the 11-on-11 matchups than to rely on optimistic coachspeak and what leaks out afterwards, the opportunities to observe player development has given us the chance to shape realistic expectations. And we've seen an evolution of the program.
Coming out of the spring of 2021, with the benefit of extensive time watching practices, we had our concerns. There were days where we shook our heads, when we wondered just how many games this still-very-young team could be pulled forward. One of my desires was to see FSU be more competitive, knock off a rival and be fun to watch. Five wins later, including a satisfying victory over Miami, we had our answer. Our realistic expectations were affirmed.
Through spring and preseason practices in 2022, we saw considerable improvement. And it was no more dramatic than the turnaround at receiver. Our staff expectations were that FSU would make a bowl with relative ease and seven or eight wins were achievable for the regular season. Norvell and Co. exceeded our expectations with 10 wins, including feel-good ones over LSU, Louisville, Miami, Florida and Oklahoma.
What do we make of the 2023 season? The Osceola staff published 10 preseason previews on every position, evaluating through the lens of player development as well as retention while also comparing to the 2021 and 2022 position groups. We also had the benefit of watching practices this spring.
There is a spring training mindset this time of year, one with incredible curiosity and mostly optimism for FSU football. While we have questions about linebacker depth, a need to develop safeties and the kicking game could be more consistent, these concerns are far less worrisome than in prior years.
We can poke personnel holes in just about every college football team. One aspect that stands out about the Seminoles in 2023 is they might have the fewest question marks of any of the ACC schools. From analyzing the position groups, personnel losses (to the NFL or transfer portal, coordinator changes and other aspects, there are for the first time in years more considerable questions about Clemson, North Carolina and other ACC contenders than FSU.
Clemson has a potential star in quarterback Cade Klubnik but question marks at receiver for first-year offensive coordinator Garrett Riley. UNC has a star in quarterback Drake Maye but the defense could again be porous and there’s a first-year offensive coordinator in Chip Lindsey. We can keep going all the way through the rest of the ACC. And now without the Atlantic and Coastal Divisions, FSU looks pretty good (on paper in July, of course) to earn one of two spots in the ACC championship game.
Another intangible in FSU’s favor is continuity among players and the coaching staff. Norvell often brushed off the fact that while at Memphis he expected assistant coaches to jump to the SEC or other Power 5 conferences each offseason. FSU returns both coordinators and lost just one position coach (Marcus Woodson to Arkansas, with Patrick Surtain taking over as defensive backs coach). And while FSU had some assistants depart after the 2021 season, Norvell turned to offensive line coach Alex Atkins to take on an expanded role as offensive coordinator while analysts Tony Tokarz (quarterbacks) and Randy Shannon (linebackers) were elevated to position coaches.
“Coming in a few years ago, there had been so much change,” Norvell said in July 2022. “And there was not the consistency and expectation. Anybody can point to three head coaches, but you look at there were eight coordinators in a five-year period of time. Those are all different voices, different expectations, different languages. And then for the leadership, when they don’t grow up within that consistency, it’s hard to have that example. And for us we’ve been able to build that.”
FSU now has continuity and the leadership, whether it’s Jordan Travis and Fabien Lovett, who have endured the rebuild from the start, or transfers like Benson, Johnny Wilson, Jared Verse and Tatum Bethune who are beginning year 2 in Tallahassee. And they’re collectively putting in the hours this offseason. When talking with the media last week, Travis discussed offseason workouts and remarked, “Our summers are no joke.”
Norvell’s mantra has been one of work but also how the players handle adversity. We’ve also been curious how the Seminoles will handle prosperity, coming off a 10-win season and now with the outside noise of expectations. Players are off this week for the holiday break but then it’s a team that will dial in on the season, a marathon from the start with an opener against a likely top-10 team in LSU.
“We just have to focus on the day in front of us, can’t get too far ahead and think about championships,” Travis said. “We come back, there’s no more breaks. We’re working and then straight into camp and straight into the season.”
By: Bob Ferrante - The Osceola
The words “realistic expectations” went out the window in the early days of January. Coming off a 10-win season and with the knowledge that most of Florida State’s veterans were opting for one more run in 2023, the hype train has been speeding downhill for all of six months.
July is clearly the slowest month on the college sports calendar. There are definite storylines involving Seminoles this month from those playing in pro softball leagues, the MLB draft beginning Sunday, a group of FSU soccer players training for the Women’s World Cup that starts July 20 and an ACC Kickoff event with football coaches and players gathering at the end of the month (Mike Norvell and FSU players will speak on July 26).
Events like these are the oasis in the July desert, giving us a short respite as we look ahead to August. But, yes, FSU football opens preseason camp next month (aren’t those fun words to read?) and the Seminoles will see how some entertaining position battles unfold on the field ahead of a season where it’s expected they will compete for an ACC championship and perhaps a spot in the College Football Playoff.
“We’ve got big expectations but it’s no pressure because of the teammates that we have, the chemistry, the bonding that we have and we keep building the team chemistry,” tailback Trey Benson said.
This is the mindset of a veteran team, one where coaches have set a tone. Norvell has often referenced this as wanting programs to be coach-led and player-driven.
The benefit Norvell has allowed us since March 2021 is to observe FSU’s spring, preseason and fall practices. While we’d love to watch a scrimmage to get a better gauge of the 11-on-11 matchups than to rely on optimistic coachspeak and what leaks out afterwards, the opportunities to observe player development has given us the chance to shape realistic expectations. And we've seen an evolution of the program.
Coming out of the spring of 2021, with the benefit of extensive time watching practices, we had our concerns. There were days where we shook our heads, when we wondered just how many games this still-very-young team could be pulled forward. One of my desires was to see FSU be more competitive, knock off a rival and be fun to watch. Five wins later, including a satisfying victory over Miami, we had our answer. Our realistic expectations were affirmed.
Through spring and preseason practices in 2022, we saw considerable improvement. And it was no more dramatic than the turnaround at receiver. Our staff expectations were that FSU would make a bowl with relative ease and seven or eight wins were achievable for the regular season. Norvell and Co. exceeded our expectations with 10 wins, including feel-good ones over LSU, Louisville, Miami, Florida and Oklahoma.
What do we make of the 2023 season? The Osceola staff published 10 preseason previews on every position, evaluating through the lens of player development as well as retention while also comparing to the 2021 and 2022 position groups. We also had the benefit of watching practices this spring.
There is a spring training mindset this time of year, one with incredible curiosity and mostly optimism for FSU football. While we have questions about linebacker depth, a need to develop safeties and the kicking game could be more consistent, these concerns are far less worrisome than in prior years.
We can poke personnel holes in just about every college football team. One aspect that stands out about the Seminoles in 2023 is they might have the fewest question marks of any of the ACC schools. From analyzing the position groups, personnel losses (to the NFL or transfer portal, coordinator changes and other aspects, there are for the first time in years more considerable questions about Clemson, North Carolina and other ACC contenders than FSU.
Clemson has a potential star in quarterback Cade Klubnik but question marks at receiver for first-year offensive coordinator Garrett Riley. UNC has a star in quarterback Drake Maye but the defense could again be porous and there’s a first-year offensive coordinator in Chip Lindsey. We can keep going all the way through the rest of the ACC. And now without the Atlantic and Coastal Divisions, FSU looks pretty good (on paper in July, of course) to earn one of two spots in the ACC championship game.
Another intangible in FSU’s favor is continuity among players and the coaching staff. Norvell often brushed off the fact that while at Memphis he expected assistant coaches to jump to the SEC or other Power 5 conferences each offseason. FSU returns both coordinators and lost just one position coach (Marcus Woodson to Arkansas, with Patrick Surtain taking over as defensive backs coach). And while FSU had some assistants depart after the 2021 season, Norvell turned to offensive line coach Alex Atkins to take on an expanded role as offensive coordinator while analysts Tony Tokarz (quarterbacks) and Randy Shannon (linebackers) were elevated to position coaches.
“Coming in a few years ago, there had been so much change,” Norvell said in July 2022. “And there was not the consistency and expectation. Anybody can point to three head coaches, but you look at there were eight coordinators in a five-year period of time. Those are all different voices, different expectations, different languages. And then for the leadership, when they don’t grow up within that consistency, it’s hard to have that example. And for us we’ve been able to build that.”
FSU now has continuity and the leadership, whether it’s Jordan Travis and Fabien Lovett, who have endured the rebuild from the start, or transfers like Benson, Johnny Wilson, Jared Verse and Tatum Bethune who are beginning year 2 in Tallahassee. And they’re collectively putting in the hours this offseason. When talking with the media last week, Travis discussed offseason workouts and remarked, “Our summers are no joke.”
Norvell’s mantra has been one of work but also how the players handle adversity. We’ve also been curious how the Seminoles will handle prosperity, coming off a 10-win season and now with the outside noise of expectations. Players are off this week for the holiday break but then it’s a team that will dial in on the season, a marathon from the start with an opener against a likely top-10 team in LSU.
“We just have to focus on the day in front of us, can’t get too far ahead and think about championships,” Travis said. “We come back, there’s no more breaks. We’re working and then straight into camp and straight into the season.”
