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FSU Football Season Wrap · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: We need to listen to something else, some Christmas cheer.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: It's the third hour of the Morning Show with Preston
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Scott and I'm joined by the managing editor at warchan
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: dot com. I'm just not feeling the fight song right now.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Ira, How you doing, I'm good. I can't decide if
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: I want to say by humbug or be happy that
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: the season's over. I'm not sure.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Well, I was going to ask you. I caught you
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: and Corey in your postgame post mortem. I guess is
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: what we might best refer to that as. So now
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: it's a few days later, Florida State got embarrassed by
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: a three and eight team that became foreign eight at
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: your expense. What are you thinking right now as you
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: look back on the season in that game Saturday night
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: in Gainesville?
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that game was really to me depressing
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: from a standpoint of just competing. You know, I thought
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: some guys competed on offense. I didn't think Florida State's
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: defense showed up, and that is, you know, physically not
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: being good enough. You know, I think Florida, you know,
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: Florida should have been a lot better than they were
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: supposed than they are you know early this season, you know,
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: they look like a team that could compete with with
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: just about anybody. They've got a very good line of scrimmage,
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: but they haven't played well all year. Their quarterback has
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: been pressured into making bad decisions. He came in with
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: thirteen touchdowns and thirteen interceptions. There's been calls for him
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: to be benched for a freshman. You know, he's had
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: a really bad year. You never got any pressure on him.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: And then their running back is really good and they're
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: off ative line just ran it down your throats the
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: entire game, and Florida State's defense just didn't show up.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: So that that's depressing because you know, you did get
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: a boat of confidence in some degree in Mike Norvel
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: last week where there's the you know that he's coming
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: back next season. You would like to have seen some
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: response to the team, and instead they kind of defensively
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: went in the tank. And it's just a terrible way
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: to end the season. You know, it's a bad season anyway,
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: but that was about the worst way, in my opinion,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: you could have ended the season.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Help me reconcile. This first game of the season, they
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: were physically dominant against Alabama, and everybody who says, well,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: that was Alabama's first game, well it was Florida State's
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: first game too, and they were better in every phase
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: of the game than the team that is going to
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: play for the SEC title this Saturday against Georgia.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: What happened?
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think we lost a bunch of
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: players to injury, So what in the world has gone south?
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah? No, I mean the more evidence you got as
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: the season went on, you started to think that, Okay,
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: you have to look at the fact that Alabama, Yeah,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: it's the same team that is there now, but they
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: didn't play the way they're playing now. And I think
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: that they had spent all off season hearing about Florida
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: State's two and ten team and watching video of that.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: And I think Florida State did a good job. You
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: had a new coordinator on both sides of the ball,
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: throwing some things at them that they hadn't seen before.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: And Florida State made plays. You know, early in the game,
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Squirrel White lays out, makes a beautiful catch from Tommy
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: Castelana's You know, they just made plays. They played with confidence,
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: and Alabama just didn't. Before they realized they weren't for
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: a fight. It was too late, and uh, you know,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: I think if they played again ten times, I'm not
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: sure if Florida State beats them more than once. Maybe
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: so it was just their night. But but I think
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: what's happened over the year is this team just lost confidence.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: They stopped making those plays other than Do Robinson and
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: a couple guys here and there, you know, in the
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: last game of low Wayne mccoyt receiver, But for the
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: most part, you've just seen guys not make plays, not
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: catch wide up and passes, not pick offf interceptions that
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: are there to be made, not finish sacks that are
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: there to be made. Really, it just seemed like a
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: team that kind of lost its way from a confidence
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: and just mentality standpoint.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: What are you hearing is next?
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I think there's two different things going on.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: One is what Florida State plans to do in terms of,
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: you know, from the front office. I think those are
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: the big structural changes that the administration's pushing Mike Norbell
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: to make. I think that likely means a new general
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: manager position with somebody who's got more autonomy or at
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: least more input into what the roster is going to
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: look like to help Mike Norvel put together a better roster,
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: and that process is ongoing. I don't know that we're
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: going to get a quick solution on that. I think
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: that's something they're working on, but I don't know if
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: it's going to impact you know, like signing day is Wednesday.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: I don't think it's going to have an impact on that.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: And then the transfer portal opens in a couple of weeks,
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: in a few weeks, and I'm not sure that's going
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: to be in place for that. We'll see. But the
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: other thing we have to be keep keeping an eye
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: on is the coaching staff and what changes either Mike
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: Norvel wants to make and also what coaches end up leaving.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: I mean, there's a lot of questions inside the program
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: about whether or not Gus Malsan's going to be back
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: for another season, Tony White, whether he'll be back for
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: another season as defensive coordinator. And then if those change,
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: if there's any changes there, what does that do to
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: the rest of the staff Because they each brought in
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: assistant coaches with them, So those two different things going out.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: One I think Florida State's really pushing and the other
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: one they may have to react to what happens.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: Irah, not to put you on the spot, but you know,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: I've argued to people that as much as i hate
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: what's happened on defense, and I'm not sold to Tommy
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: Castellanos really as a quarterback, that's gonna get you over
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: the hump. I just I think that's why the offense
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: didn't travel very well away from home. I just don't
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: think he's physically gifted enough to play that position consistently well.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: And that's you know, I think that that's the guy
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: you got to have on the road. That being said,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: do you think that would you bring Gus and Tony
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: White back?
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: I would, Man, I started feeling pretty good about Tony
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: White the last month, you know, after the pit game
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: mid season, I was I was not real thrilled with
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: that change. But the last month they started looking better.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: But then Saturday they just didn't show up at all. Yeah,
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: I mean, I don't think I would. I don't think
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't say that Tony White's the problem in terms
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: of the defense. I do think they've got to get better,
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: especially upfront, So I wouldn't necessarily push to make a
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: change there if he wants to come back the gust situation.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: To me, I don't. To me, I'm not in love
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: with what they're doing. And it was his choice to
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: bring in Tommy Castalanos. That's the quarterback that he wanted.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: I don't know if him going back to being a
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: coordinator is what he wants. You know, he took this,
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: made this move to get out of his situation at UCF.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: I think there's a possibility he might retire. You know,
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't feel really good about running that back on
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: that side of the ball. But then again, now you're
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: do you go back, do you hire a new offense coordinator,
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: or do you go back to Mike Norbell calling the plays.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: I actually wouldn't have a problem with that. I thought
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: he was a good play caller. I don't blame twenty
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: twenty four on his play calling because they just had
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: a terrible roster and that's why you're making these changes
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: to help the front office. But you know, again, I'm
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: not enamored by the idea of bringing those guys back
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: and running it back. At the same time, anytime you
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: make changes, you kind of bring a lot more risk
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: into the equation.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: Again, but at the same time, if you look at
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: them offensive and you know, the broadcast showed it the
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: growth offensively that the team put up numbers. They just
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: couldn't score touchdowns.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no question, it definitely put up numbers. I also
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: would say, again, the roster is a whole lot better.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: You know this, you know, And that's what the thing
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: I would just encourage people to think about when they say, Okay,
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Mike Norvelt was the coordinator in twenty twenty four, you
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: saw what it looked like. Gus Malzan was the coordinator
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty five, and you made all this improvement.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: It's a completely different roster. They had a whole new
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: offensive line, they had a whole new you know, new quarterback,
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: new receivers, you know, the whole team, the whole offense
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: was different. And yeah, to me, where I got frustrated
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: with Gus Malzan, it wasn't between the twenties. It was
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: in those crucial situations, the third ones, the fourth and ones,
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: the red zone. I mean, they just were terrible in
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: the red zone. And you know again that there's a
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: reason you were able to move the ball the length
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: of the field, but you can't move it in the
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: red zone, and to me, that goes back to play calling.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: Okay, lastly, what are your thoughts on where FSU goes
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: looking if they decide to bring in a quarterback or
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: do they just stay with the guys that are behind
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: Tommy Castellano's namely Kevin Sperry.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: You know, I really wish and I asked my Norvell
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: about this a month ago. You know, I just when
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: this season clearly wasn't going to be what they hoped
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: it was going to be. You're out of contention for
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: the ACC and everything else. You need to look at
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: these younger quarterbacks, particularly Kevin Sperry, and see what he is,
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: see what he looks like in game action. The only
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: really chance he got was that Stanford game where they're
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: down on the road and it was just kind of
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: an emergency situation, and you know, they've only they had
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: to stick with Tommy because he gave him the best
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: chance to win. But my point was, if you plan
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: to come back in twenty twenty six, Mike Norvell hope to,
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: and he is, it would have been nice to know
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: what Kevin Sperry is to how hard you have to
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: go after a transfer quarterback. I think they're going to
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: have to go hard after a transfer quarterback. I just
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: think that there's too much riding on this next season.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: They can't have a third straight terrible season. But it
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: would be nice to know. But hey, maybe Kevin Sperry
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: is the guy. They were really excited about him and spring,
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: they talk about his future all the time. But at
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: this point, I don't know how you could ride with
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: him because he just hasn't done it in a game yet.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: And then that circles right back to the It's like
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: chicken in the egg. That circles back to who's going
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: to be your offensive coordinator?
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: No question, and that's gonna yeah whoever you're that has
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: to be resolved first and that person's going to have
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: a say. And then the other part of it that's
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: going to be interesting is if you do bring in
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: a new general manager and that person starts pretty soon
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: and you have a head coach who's used to having
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: control over the roster, and then you bring in a
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: new offensive coordinator or if it's Gus whoever, But who's
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: going to make that decision of who that quarterback is
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: going to be? And again, that decision is going to
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: go a long way and determining you know what kind
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: of season you have.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: I right, you're a champ. Thanks so much for making
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: time for us all season long, and we'll circle back
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: after the first of the year.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: Thank you, sir, Thank you Preston. Merry Christmas, Happy Hollidays.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Iras Chafell, Managing Editor, war chant dot com. Subscribe,
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: I subscribe, Yeah, I subscribe. I get there stuff. I
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: think they do a great job war chant dot com