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What's Next For FSU Football? · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

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  Speaker 1: Talk a little FSU football this morning with the managing
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  Speaker 1: editor at Warchant.com. That's where you go. Subscribe and get
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: all the details you want on FSU athletics, all the sports,
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  Speaker 1: and that is Ira Sheffel. Good morning, Ira. How are you?
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  Speaker 2: I'm good. How are you?
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  Speaker 1: I'm doing well. You and I traded a text or
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  Speaker 1: two during the game. Finish this sentence. The primary reason
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  Speaker 1: why Florida State ended up losing to Alabama was was because.
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  Speaker 2: They probably have the worst defense in the country and
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  Speaker 2: one of the worst in college football history. Why? I mean,
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  Speaker 2: they're just– that was ridiculous. I mean, the defense– we
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  Speaker 2: were concerned about the defense after the New Mexico State
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  Speaker 2: game because it didn't look very good. And then even
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  Speaker 2: more concerned after the SMU game where they gave up
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  Speaker 2: 585 yards. But at least the four turnovers by SMU
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  Speaker 2: kind of muted it. But you– I mean– The way
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  Speaker 2: they gave up nine straight scoring drives. I mean, if
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  Speaker 2: the game was still going on, it would be 25
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  Speaker 2: straight scoring drives. Not only did they never get a stop,
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  Speaker 2: it was like Alabama was never threatened by being stopped.
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  Speaker 2: There's been a million different analogies for bad defenses, Swiss cheese,
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  Speaker 2: whatever you want to come up with. This was a
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  Speaker 2: new high because it really didn't matter if Alabama ran
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  Speaker 2: the ball, threw the ball, scrambled, whatever. they were going
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  Speaker 2: to get yards and touchdowns.
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  Speaker 1: My question to that is, how did FSU get stops
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  Speaker 1: early to get that 21-7 or 21-6 lead when they were...
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I texted you. I said, where did this
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  Speaker 1: team come from? Where have they been? Because they were
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  Speaker 1: flying all over the place. And that's the same offensive
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  Speaker 1: line at the beginning of the game. Was it that
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  Speaker 1: Alabama adjusted and FSU simply can't adjust? Is it that
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  Speaker 1: FSU doesn't have the depth to stay with a team
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  Speaker 1: like Alabama for an entire game? What's your best guess?
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  Speaker 2: I think it was a combination of a couple of things.
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  Speaker 2: One was, yeah, I mean, I do think that early on,
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  Speaker 2: I think Alabama was, was just, you know, again, not
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  Speaker 2: get too far into the weeds. I think they were
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  Speaker 2: trying to do some like they call it gap blocking scheme,
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  Speaker 2: more of kind of man blocking early on. And then
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  Speaker 2: Alabama went to more zone blocking and stretch plays and
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  Speaker 2: Florida state really struggled with those. But also I think,
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  Speaker 2: you know, you know, Alabama, I thought Keelan Russell, their quarterback,
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  Speaker 2: looked a little jittery early on in the game. I
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  Speaker 2: think Alabama probably was trying to feel out Florida State
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  Speaker 2: a little bit and see what they could do. But
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  Speaker 2: once they did, and once they got Florida State's defense
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  Speaker 2: on their heels, I mean, it did feel like FSU's
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  Speaker 2: defense played well, but it was only two stops. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: it was the first two drives of the game. And
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  Speaker 2: then after that, Alabama settled in and did whatever they wanted.
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  Speaker 1: So now we're sitting, it's a 1-2 record. Yeah. They
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  Speaker 1: showed that the offense has the potential to move the ball.
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  Speaker 1: I would maintain as much as I like the kid
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  Speaker 1: that Ashton Daniels is a one-read guy. When he doesn't
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  Speaker 1: take the time or get the time to see the
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  Speaker 1: rest of the field, it's not going to be very
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  Speaker 1: good very often. I think that they got fortunate in
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  Speaker 1: that game. But what's your takeaway from the offense?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was good to at least see them give
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  Speaker 2: some of the talent at the skill positions a chance.
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  Speaker 2: And that was kind of the frustrating thing about the
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  Speaker 2: SMU game is it felt like you weren't even giving
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  Speaker 2: Deuce Robinson, Makai Danzy, Jaben Boggs, some of these guys
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  Speaker 2: who we believe have talent, you weren't giving them a chance.
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  Speaker 2: You weren't even trying to throw the ball down the field.
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  Speaker 2: Everything was just kind of short and underneath. And Ashton
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  Speaker 2: Daniels threw for 125 yards against SMU. This game, they gave,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, even the first touchdown, Deuce Robinson, like Ashton
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  Speaker 2: Daniels is about to get hit. And instead of throwing
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  Speaker 2: it out of bounds, he threw it up and gave
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  Speaker 2: his guy a chance to make a play. And sure enough,
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  Speaker 2: Deuce Robinson got a touchdown pass. And so I thought
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  Speaker 2: there was more of that. Guys don't have to be
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  Speaker 2: wide open. You can give an athlete a chance to
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  Speaker 2: make a play. And you saw them do that. And
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  Speaker 2: you saw him put up 377 passing yards, well over
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  Speaker 2: 400 yards of offense, and 34 points against a good
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  Speaker 2: defense on the road. So that was promising. And at
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  Speaker 2: least gives you something to feel like there is a
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  Speaker 2: positive on this football team.
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  Speaker 1: It's safe to say they'll get a win this Saturday
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  Speaker 1: against Central Arkansas. But if you look at the rest
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  Speaker 1: of the schedule, there are zero gimmies on the rest
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  Speaker 1: of that schedule. What are your expectations?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think the closest thing you'd like
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  Speaker 2: to hope is Boston College on the road. But everything
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  Speaker 2: else looks daunting besides the Miamis and Floridas and even Clemsons.
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  Speaker 2: You've got Pitt looks very good. Louisville looks very, very good.
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  Speaker 2: NC State looks like they've, you know, other than their
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  Speaker 2: complete just meltdown at the end of the game the
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  Speaker 2: other day, they actually looked better. So yeah, the schedule
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  Speaker 2: is daunting. And again, you just wonder what this team
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  Speaker 2: plays like as the season goes on, because I thought
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  Speaker 2: they gave a good effort for most of that game
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  Speaker 2: against Alabama. I thought there was some moments defensively where
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  Speaker 2: you kind of felt like maybe some guys might be
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  Speaker 2: checking out. And I think as the season goes on,
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  Speaker 2: that's what you have to watch for more and more.
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  Speaker 1: What is your sense on kind of the status of
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  Speaker 1: Coach Mike Norvell? You know, he was dealing with questions
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  Speaker 1: about the moving truck scene in front of his home. And,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I posted something in response to that, to
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  Speaker 1: the effect that, well, he's on live television right now
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  Speaker 1: doing his nighttime show on ABC. I doubt he's doing
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  Speaker 1: that show if he's on his way out the door.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that whole thing was kind of silly. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I think he's going to end up moving
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  Speaker 2: sooner than later, but I don't think it's going to
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  Speaker 2: be in the middle of the season. But, yeah, you know,
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  Speaker 2: I think he's in deep trouble. And, you know, I
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  Speaker 2: know there were some reports last week that Florida State
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  Speaker 2: would prefer not to fire Mike Norvell this season, and
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  Speaker 2: I think we all know that. Water's wet. They would
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  Speaker 2: rather not pay somebody $ 50 million to go away than
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  Speaker 2: have to do it. But... I think it's going to
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  Speaker 2: become an untenable situation. I mean, we saw what happened
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  Speaker 2: in the SMU game where the fans were booing pretty
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  Speaker 2: much the entire second half, starting in the second quarter.
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  Speaker 2: And that's going to get worse and worse as you
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  Speaker 2: play these games that you're probably not going to be
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  Speaker 2: very competitive in, especially if this defense is going to
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  Speaker 2: play like that. So I just think that they're going
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  Speaker 2: to have to make a change. Whether it's during the
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  Speaker 2: season or when during the season, some good guesses are
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  Speaker 2: if you lose at home to Virginia and don't look
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  Speaker 2: very good, you could see that being the point. If
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  Speaker 2: they go get destroyed at Miami, you could see that
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  Speaker 2: being the point. Or maybe if somehow they play better
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  Speaker 2: but just finish the season around. 500, I think maybe
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  Speaker 2: it happens at the end of the season. But it's
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  Speaker 2: almost impossible to see a scenario where Mike Norvell is
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  Speaker 2: your head coach in 2027.
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  Speaker 1: Do you see a scenario where they give either of
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  Speaker 1: the backup quarterbacks a chance to play?
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  Speaker 2: I would like to think so. I thought maybe late
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  Speaker 2: in that game at Alabama they would, but then the
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  Speaker 2: offense went and scored a touchdown, cut it to seven
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  Speaker 2: points midway through the fourth quarter. So, okay, I felt like, okay.
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  Speaker 2: Maybe they did the right thing there by not giving
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  Speaker 2: Malachi Marshall a chance. But this game, Central Arkansas for sure.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, there's no point really in just letting Ashton
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  Speaker 2: Daniels play for four quarters against a really bad football team.
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  Speaker 2: Malachi Marshall needs to get a chance just to see
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  Speaker 2: what you have because maybe he could spark something. Sometimes
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  Speaker 2: I know it sounds counterintuitive, but we've seen it in sports.
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  Speaker 2: Sometimes if you get the right quarterback... it can elevate
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  Speaker 2: the defense if they feel like they have a chance.
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  Speaker 2: To me, that's your Hail Mary, is that Malachi Marshall
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  Speaker 2: is something special and can kind of give this team
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  Speaker 2: some juice, but you have to see it in this game.
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  Speaker 1: Almost within minutes of us finishing our chat last week,
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  Speaker 1: we find out that Athletic Director Michael Alford has been
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  Speaker 1: terminated as AD of FSU Athletics. I take it you
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  Speaker 1: were not surprised by the decision.
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  Speaker 2: Not really. I mean, it had been going on for
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  Speaker 2: a few months. I mean, going back to, I think
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  Speaker 2: it was in February, it was early in the spring.
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  Speaker 2: I went to a workshop down in Clearwater, the NFSU
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  Speaker 2: Board of Trustees retreat. And I could just tell some
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  Speaker 2: of the vibes, some of the questions he was getting
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  Speaker 2: asked that there were some concerns. And then as we
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  Speaker 2: got closer, you just kept hearing more and more about it.
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  Speaker 2: And so I think ultimately, you know, I'm not going
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  Speaker 2: to say he's a scapegoat for what's going on in football,
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  Speaker 2: but some of the decisions he made in terms of
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  Speaker 2: helping them, you know, adjust to this era where how
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  Speaker 2: much money schools are spending on rosters and all of that.
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  Speaker 2: I think they feel like his leadership wasn't effective. And,
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  Speaker 2: you know, FSU's not spending what some of these other
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  Speaker 2: schools are spending. And I think that's going to be
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  Speaker 2: the focus of the new athletic director, somebody that can
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  Speaker 2: swing deals to bring in revenue to put it into
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  Speaker 2: the roster so you can compete with some of these
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  Speaker 2: other teams.
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  Speaker 1: It's interesting because, as you and I were just sharing
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  Speaker 1: a little bit in the break, he oversaw the renovation
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  Speaker 1: of the stadium, the finish line for the football facility,
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  Speaker 1: made a couple of good coaching hires. He also was
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  Speaker 1: instrumental in the lawsuit against the ACC and finding a
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  Speaker 1: settlement there that was advantageous for Florida State and a
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  Speaker 1: couple of other schools. But it's a mixed bag, and
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  Speaker 1: in this day and era, you can't strike out in
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  Speaker 1: any given area, and it seems as though Even though
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  Speaker 1: Peter Collins and Richard McCullough say that the spending of
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  Speaker 1: FSU on football is top 20, top 25, I think
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  Speaker 1: it was they said, you're suggesting that there's more to
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  Speaker 1: that story.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and you could say top 20 or top 25,
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  Speaker 2: but what does that actually mean? And so there's two
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  Speaker 2: things going on there. There's a huge chasm between... probably
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  Speaker 2: the top six or seven schools and then the next
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  Speaker 2: 15 schools. And to put dollars to it, you have
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  Speaker 2: some schools like Miami and Ohio State, And Texas, some
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  Speaker 2: of those schools that are spending LSU $ 45 million, maybe
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  Speaker 2: up to $ 50 million or even more on their football roster.
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  Speaker 2: And then you've got schools like Florida State that probably
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  Speaker 2: are in the mid-20s, maybe high 20s, $ 20 million. And, again,
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  Speaker 2: we can argue about whether or not this is what
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  Speaker 2: we should be doing in college football, that you should
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  Speaker 2: have a roster that's $ 50 million. But at the same time,
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  Speaker 2: if that's what's going on, that is what's going on.
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  Speaker 2: So that's part of it. And you mentioned, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: there have been some good hires. Link Jarrett, for sure.
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  Speaker 2: Luke Laux looks like he's going to be a good hire. Agreed.
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  Speaker 2: Brian Penske with soccer as well. So those are positive.
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  Speaker 2: But at the end of the day, I mean, it's football.
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  Speaker 2: If football is good, everything else is okay. If football's bad,
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  Speaker 2: nothing's good. And so that's where they are, and you
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  Speaker 2: make a change in athletic director.
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  Speaker 1: Let's set aside the philosophical argument that guys my age
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  Speaker 1: would make, and that is that this is all bad
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  Speaker 1: for college athletics where we've gotten to, but it is
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  Speaker 1: where we are. Having said that, do you anticipate, Ira,
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  Speaker 1: it coming back a little bit to what I'll call
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  Speaker 1: the middle, where they're going to realize, as LSU just
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  Speaker 1: learned the other night, that the budget doesn't equate to wins? And,
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  Speaker 1: you know, they got beat by Ole Miss. And it
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  Speaker 1: was a big punch in the face to Lane Kiffin
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  Speaker 1: and the LSU administration. Are we going to see with
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  Speaker 1: this new advent of money that they're going to end
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  Speaker 1: up spending less over time?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, it's a great dream, but it's hard to
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  Speaker 2: see it. You know, and again, I think– and I
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  Speaker 2: will say this. There's two sides to it. On the
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  Speaker 2: one hand– Nobody can afford this. So the schools that
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  Speaker 2: are spending the $ 45 or $ 50 million, there's not really
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  Speaker 2: a return on investment unless you maybe win the national title.
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  Speaker 2: Everybody else, to your point, is spending the money they
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: don't have because that's what's happening. All these schools are spending,
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  Speaker 2: even the schools that are spending $ 25 or $ 30 million,
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  Speaker 2: didn't just magically find that money last year or two
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  Speaker 2: years when it became legal. they don't have that money.
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  Speaker 2: They're moving it from other parts of the university a
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  Speaker 2: lot of times to make these payrolls. So nobody really
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  Speaker 2: has it. So on that standpoint, you'd say this isn't sustainable.
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  Speaker 2: But on the other side, I just know how sports works,
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  Speaker 2: and you don't ever really see money being spent and
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  Speaker 2: then going back in the other direction. So I don't
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  Speaker 2: know where it's going to go. I hope there is
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  Speaker 2: some controls put in place. I hope that some reality
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  Speaker 2: comes into effect. But it doesn't seem like that ever
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  Speaker 2: really happens.
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  Speaker 1: Last question. Let's merge the Dr. Richard McCullough and Peter
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  Speaker 1: Collins board chair and the future of college football. Let's
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  Speaker 1: merge this all into one at Florida State University. And
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: let's add to it the acquisition of the hospital here
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  Speaker 1: in Tallahassee. I have been told for a couple of
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: years now from people that I trust, FSU has circled
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  Speaker 1: the Big Ten. and that part of the reason for
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  Speaker 1: the hospital acquisition was to gain accreditation in certain circles
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  Speaker 1: to join the Big Ten, that the Big Ten requires
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  Speaker 1: a university hospital research-type hospital connection. Is that your best guess?
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  Speaker 1: Is Florida State's future going to be in the Big Ten?
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  Speaker 2: I would put that as the most likely scenario. In general,
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  Speaker 2: the Big Ten schools are almost all members of the AAU.
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  Speaker 2: They have their research universities. Florida State historically didn't have
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  Speaker 2: that distinction and wasn't really able to do it because
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  Speaker 2: of the way the state was set up and the
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  Speaker 2: legislature and kind of what FSU was allowed to do.
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  Speaker 2: But they've done a really good job, McCulloch, Collins, et al.,
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  Speaker 2: in terms of getting the legislature to let them do that,
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  Speaker 2: get them more into research. Now you have the hospital.
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  Speaker 2: The research funding is just exponentially improving, which it all
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  Speaker 2: builds the case for you to get into the Big Ten. And, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I do think that that's most likely. But if somehow
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  Speaker 2: they were also, if the SEC decided we don't want
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  Speaker 2: to lose Florida State to the Big Ten, we don't
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  Speaker 2: want the Big Ten in the state of Florida, I
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  Speaker 2: think that would be a tough decision. I think Florida State,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of people would want FSU to be in
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  Speaker 2: the SEC. But, yeah, as it stands right now, I
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  Speaker 2: think their best path, if they can get out of
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  Speaker 2: the ACC, is going to be going to the Big Ten.
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  Speaker 1: Ira, as always, thanks for the time. We'll talk again
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  Speaker 1: next week. I appreciate it.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, Preston. Take care.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: Ira Sheffel, managing editor at Warchant.com, with me here on
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: the morning show with Preston Scott.