College Football Preview: New Florida State Coaching Staff Looks to Win

Florida State has gone from having the greatest 15 year run in college football history to becoming an inconsistent, excuse ridden mediocre team only good for a punchline (Chris Rix, Wyatt Sexton, Fred Rouse). Will the 5 coaching changes in 2007 result in old-school FSU dominance for coaching legend/antique Bobby Bowden?

The War of Attrition

An often overlooked aspect of a team's development is attrition. FSU has lost this war far many times to expect championships. There defense is pretty much always stifling, but when you look at the offensive side of the ball, it is just plain dismal. Combining FSU's record over the past 5 years, and assuming their record last year was about #33 since they finished outside the top 25, they have a cumulative average ranking of #20 (AP). Remember, from 1987-2000 they never finished out of the top 5.

Comparing that to their recruiting rankings from 2002-2007, they averaged a #13 finish in recruiting by Scout.com and a #8-9 ranking by rivals.com. It is fair to say, if you care to invest credibility into recruiting rankings, that FSU has been performing 10 spots behind where they should. This would indicate that not only are they not keeping guys around like they should, but they not recruited the same depth in talent.

QB

Drew Weatherford and Xavier Lee come into the their Junior seasons already toasty from being thrown in the ring in their first two seasons. Weatherford has more proven more reliable, Lee has a ton of untapped potential. Whether either steps up in their Junior years is besides the point. In the old Florida State System, we'd probably be seeing a Junior vs. a redshirt sophomore for the starting spot. Back when FSU was always really good, their starting QB's have lacked experience and were forced to start at QB in their freshman seasons.

Chris Rix, Adrian McPherson, Wyatt Sexton; insert joke here.

OL and RB

Another issue is the offensive line, a position that most reflects a teams depth. They have been terrible when a young QB would need them most. In their spread formation, the running game has been non-existent---and they have had some talented backs. This year 2005 prep phenom Antone Smith will be a true sophomore and he is expected to carry the bulk of the load.

New offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher, replacing Jeff Bowden, will bring the focus of the offense to a 3-wide running attack. The O-line must be ready to meet this challenge or the offense will be left scratching their heads, again.

Chuck Amato is back at FSU as linebackers coach and exec. assistant head coach after a head coaching run at N.C. State , Rick Trickett is the new Offensive Line coach and alumni Todd Stroud is the new strength and conditioning coach.

With all of the changes that were made there are bound to be more questions than answers.

Unfortunately for Florida State, they play an obsurd 7 games away from Doak Campbell stadium in 2007. This includes @ Clemson, @Colorado, @Wake Forest, @Boston College, @V-Tech, and @UF. That is a tough.

Bobby Bowden is in a peculiar position. He is the all-time wins leader, but Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno could catch him if he retired any time soon. Basically he has to coach until JoePa retires, or dare I say, dies. FSU fans are hoping for the former, for Bowden to go out a winner and for his last run with his last staff to be a memorable one.

I have not formed a list outside my top 10, but when I do, I'm putting FSU at #11.They will need to learn to live up to expectations before they can expect to surpass them.