A Return to Dominance in 2008

By Trey Cosby

The years have been growing long as the fans of Florida State University have suffered through many seasons of mediocrity since 2000.  After finishing among the top four college football teams in the country for 14 straight years, the Seminoles from Tallahassee, Fl., went into a tailspin that has lasted almost nine years.  Gone were the devastating, innovative offenses, the speed demon receivers, the shutdown corners and the linebackers who would chase you down even if you were straight across the field.  There was no longer any awe or fear in FSU’s opponents when they dared to enter Doak Campbell Stadium, and we never saw again any dominant home winning streaks like we did so often in the 1990s.  Once offensive coordinator Mark Richt moved on to take the head coaching job at the University of Georgia, the offense disappeared and never came back.  The FSU staff made a grave mistake by hiring Jeff Bowden to be the next offensive coordinator, and it paralyzed the team for years.  It was the type of mistake that can kill a program and that is exactly what it did.  Right about the same time that Richt left, the Seminoles were dealt another crippling blow when linebackers coach Chuck Amato headed out to accept the head coaching job at North Carolina State. 

People don’t realize how difficult these losses were.  Richt and Amato both meant so much more to this team than the public can imagine.  They basically ran the entire team.  Head coach Bobby Bowden would offer suggestions and he would get involved every once and a while, but for the most part Richt and Amato ran both the offense and defense. 

The entire foundation that took 15 years to build crumbled to the ground in no time flat.  Once Richt and Amato left, the Seminoles have had only won 10-win season and have not been ranked among the top five teams in any national poll.  Jeff Bowden was finally forced out in 2006 when the Seminole alumni could not take any more of this nonsense.  After ranking among the worst offenses in the country for years, the alumni devised a plan to buy out the rest of Bowden’s contract for right around half a million dollars. 

Once Bowden was relieved of his duties on the Seminole staff, University President T. K. Wetherell hired the former offensive coordinator of the LSU Tigers, Jimbo Fisher.  Fisher had previously turned down an offer to become the new offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama, under the tutelage of head coach Nick Saban.  Saban had just been hired, and went after Fisher for his first choice.  The two had coached together for a long time at LSU where they won a National Championship in 2004.  It was quite a shock when Fisher did not take the job.  Seminole fans from all around figured that there was no way he would choose FSU over Alabama, but he did and it set the Seminole Nation on fire. 

Fisher has been known as one of the best offensive coordinators in the game for quite some time.  He is young, he is intelligent and he is able to get the most out of his players in any situation.  His first year at FSU in 2007 proved that he had things moving in the right direction, as the Seminoles improved week after week, and finished the season with a respectable record and a berth in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, TN.  Fisher then received the reward of a lifetime, when he was named “Head Coach in Waiting” by Wetherell once the season was over.  He will take over as the FSU head coach once Bobby Bowden retires. 

Fisher has proven his worth even more since the 2007 season ended.  He went on the warpath and recruited some of the best high school players in the nation.  Anchored by high school All-American quarterback E. J. Manuel, who is one of the top-five best players in the country, this class will be one that is not soon forgotten.  The Seminoles filled their needs and got players who are disciplined, well-coached and ready to make an impact when the 2008 college football season rolls around.  Head strength coach Todd Stroud has made sure that these players will be getting serious in the weight room.  By emphasizing a new order of speed and quickness, the coaching staff is looking for players who are going to stand out in the crowd with their athleticism.  They will be lean, they will be mean and they will be in the mood to punish their opponents for 60 minutes of pure hell on Saturdays. 

Fisher and his staff will not stand for mediocrity.  He has won with every team he has ever coached.  It won’t be long before you will be seeing the Seminoles back on top.  With a new team concept and an innovative coaching staff, this team will succeed mightily.  Watch out College Football, there is a sleeping giant who has been taking a nap.  Right now the giant is in the process of waking up and standing upright once again.  When the blood rushes back into the foundations of their limbs, this is going to be a team of giants that you will not want to play.  Return to dominance in 2008…I THINK SO.