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Ira Schoffel Talks FSU Football - Present and Future · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Well, here we go. It is the third hour of
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: the radio program known as The Morning Show with Preston Scott.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Great to be with you. It is Monday, September the 14th.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: He is Jared. I'm Preston. And this is the managing
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: editor of Warchand.com. I cannot imagine what his job is
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: like right now. It's like being in the battlefield. He
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: is Ira Sheffel. Good morning, Ira. How are you?
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: I'm good. How are you doing, Preston?
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: You tell me. How has it been since SMU?
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: Uh, you know, I think it's, it's the SMU game.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: I don't think it was shocking. I mean, I think, uh,
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: even going into the season and going into the off season,
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: a lot of people thought that was going to be
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: a huge game for Florida state and a game that,
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: you know, we figured they probably would be an underdog
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: in and they were, so it's not shocking that they lost,
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: but I think it was a little bit, um, you know,
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: about a validated concerns we had after the first game,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: you know, I thought FSU defense looked pretty bad. poor
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: and unprepared in the season opener against New Mexico state.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: And they, they fortunately were playing a team that really
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: couldn't take advantage of it. And then a lot of
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: those same things happened against SMU and they had almost
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: 600 yards of offense. So you could look at it
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: one of two ways. Yeah, they did a great job
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: of getting four turnovers, but if they didn't have those
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: four turnovers, they might've lost at home by 25, 30 points.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: And so, you know, it's, it's a, it's a tough
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: time right now for FSU fans and they're staring a
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: top 15 Alabama team this week on the road.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: Ira, I followed Tony White when he was at Nebraska,
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: and he was considered one of the best defensive coordinators
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: in the country for what he had done at Nebraska against,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: I don't think it's even arguably better talent in the
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Big Ten than what the ACC collectively has. So I'm
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: not of the opinion that people become stupid coaches. So
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: what in your best informed opinion is what's happening here?
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: Are the kids incapable of understanding the complications and nuances
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: of his defense or what?
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: It's a great question. One of the major storylines for
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: this team all offseason was the fact that they got
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: rid of some guys from either the previous defensive coordinator
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: or previous secondary coach, some guys on the team that
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: they didn't feel like were all bought in, that fought
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: them on some things last year and were not just
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: very coachable. And then so they brought in more guys
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: that they think are what they want in terms of
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: how hard they've worked. That's all we've heard all offseason.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: You know, you hear that every year, but this year
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: it was like way more than usual that these guys
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: spend every waking hour in the football facility. They live,
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: breathe and eat and sleep football. So that all sounds
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: really good. But then when you go out there and
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: receivers are running free. or your defense isn't lined up
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: correctly on a third and sixth, they're all 12 yards
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: off the line of scrimmage. I mean, those things imply
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: that either you're teaching poor fundamentals and poor techniques or
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: the guys aren't listening. So it's a mystery. Again, it's
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: not as if, to your point, it's not as if
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: Tony White's never coached before. He's had success in the past.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: But for whatever reason, it doesn't seem to be working
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: with this group of players.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Did you go back and look at the SMU game
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: on tape? Did you look through it again?
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: What stood out the second time through? Um.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: You know, I think, again, I think they played hard.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: I think this team, especially defensively, like I hate killing
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: them totally because usually when you really criticize a defense,
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: you know, you really, a lot of times it's maybe
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: you see lack of effort. You see guys loafing and
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: you don't see that. I mean, I think these guys
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: play hard and they're pretty physical. They're just not smart.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: And then offensively, you know, I just thought there was
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: a lot of things that the quarterback Ashton Daniels just
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: doesn't seem to be he, he either he's not seeing
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: it right. Or Mike Norvell is petrified of letting him
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: throw the football because I thought they were extremely conservative
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: on offense to the point where you can't, you're not
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: going to, you're not good enough to be conservative on
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: offense and be decent teams. So that part is fascinating
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: to me. I don't know if Ashton just is being
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: overly protective and not wanting to turn the ball over,
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: so he's not taking chances, or Mike Norvell just doesn't
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: trust him at all.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: 11 past the hour. Ira Chappell with me from warchant.com. Subscribe.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: That's where you go and get all kinds of intel
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: on FSU. You'll get some good objective analysis of what's
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: going on Inside the athletic program and joining us is
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: Ira Sheffel. Ira, you sit down weekly with George Henshaw
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: during the season and George, of course, vast NFL and
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: college experience, coached with Coach Bobby Bowden for many years.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: What is his analysis of what's going on on the
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: offensive side and maybe more importantly, surrounding quarterback Ashton Daniels
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: and the play callings?
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: You know, I think he, I think he's not, I
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: don't want to say not, I don't want to say confused, but,
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: but you know, the, the, his premise, his premise, when
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: he looked at the signing of Ashton Daniels, and when
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: you look at Ashton Daniels previous career that, you know,
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: clearly you were not expecting him to be coming to
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: be a guy that's going to throw for 300, 350
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: yards a game. Like that's just not who he's ever been.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: So if you're going to go with a quarterback, quarterback,
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: like Ashton Daniels, then you need to have a good
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: running game and a good defense. And he feels like
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: he could be that kind of quarterback to win those games.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: And so. You know, when you look at a game
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: like last week where we were talking about it in
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: the last segment, that they were so conservative offensively. And
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: SMU is daring FSU to throw the football. They're bringing
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: their safety down. Even though you've got Deuce Robinson, who's
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: one of the best, you know, he's a 6'6 wide receiver,
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: a great downfield threat. But Kai Danzy, one of the
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: fastest players in college football. You have guys that should
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: be able to stretch the field, and you're not taking
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: shots down the field. You're not throwing the ball vertically.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: You know, so people are frustrated about that. But, you know,
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: Coach Henshaw's point is, but this isn't really that quarterback.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: You know, he's not really built for that kind of offense.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: He's not a guy you're going to drop back 35,
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: 40 times. And so to some degree, and he didn't
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: say this, but I think this, they're kind of in
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: the same position they were with the two years ago
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: in 2024 with DJ. We don't go away because that
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: was the same idea with him is that he's more
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: of a kind of a, you know, he can run
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: and get you some yards when you need to, but
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: he's not necessarily a guy you want to drop back 35,
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: 40 times in a game. Well, If you can't play
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: defense and your running game isn't good enough against a
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: team that's going to stack the box, which they weren't
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: then and they aren't now, I mean, this running game
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: is solid. I like Cromwell a whole lot, and I
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: like Sam Singleton, but they're not good enough to be
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: able to run in short yardage situations when everybody's stacking
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: the box. So you have to be able to make
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: some plays throwing the football. And so I think his
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: point was, People want them to be more aggressive offensively,
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: and I said I would like to see it. His
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: point was, well, now you might take a three-point loss
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: and turn it into a 20-point loss because if you
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: drop Ashton Daniels back and ask him to just win
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: you a game throwing the football, that's probably not going
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: to work either.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: So that leads me to then question the makeup of
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: the roster, which we were all led to believe the
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: new general manager of football was a great talent evaluator.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: It sounds like what's being described is a mismatch. We
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: bring back, I mean, that's the way to say it, right?
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: We bring back Deuce Robinson, Micaiah Danzy, paying them ostensibly
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: a good amount of money. And for good reason, they're talented,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: but we're not throwing them the football. So what happened?
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I think you look at the offensive
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: line and you just say, well, can you pass protect?
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: I mean, in that game, they could not protect the passer.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: And then Ashton has to see it faster. So, you know,
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: one of those two things has to happen. Either you
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: have a very good offensive line that gives your quarterback
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: time to figure it out and make good throws, or
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: you have a quarterback that's so quick at processing and
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: getting the ball out quickly that you don't have to
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: have a great offensive line. I don't think they have
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: either right now. And I think when you look at
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: the offensive line, they end up having to move two guys.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: They had to bring somebody off the bench, move the
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: right guard to right tackle, which is something they didn't
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: want to do during that game against SMU. That's how
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: much they were struggling. And so that's a big part
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: of the issue. And you have to go back to
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: the off season. The three big questions we had about
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: this team were quarterback, offensive line and defensive line. And
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: so far, It doesn't look like they've hit on those
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: three positions, and they may be your three most important
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: positions on a football team. So after two games, Preston,
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: it doesn't seem great.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about the elephant in the room, and that
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: is the circumstances of Mike Norvell's employment. Could this get
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: so bad that the university makes a decision after Alabama
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: based on how that game goes this weekend?
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: I mean, if it went just terribly wrong, if they
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: just got obliterated and looked like they didn't want to
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: be there and the players weren't trying, then you might
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: have to make that decision. But I think if they
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: just play and lose, I don't think that'll happen. You
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: come back home, you've got Central Arkansas. It's parents weekend,
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: family weekend. So there'll be a good crowd no matter
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: what that's built in. People have been, you know, they've
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: got kids at FSU. They've been planning to come this
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: weekend or that weekend for months and months. So I
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: don't think there's a major need to do it then. But,
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: you know, if you then turn around and you lose
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: Miami and Virginia, those kinds of games, I could see
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: it happening during the season. They don't want to do that.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: Everything I've been told from people in the administration is
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: they don't want to fire Mike Norvell in the middle
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: of the season. They don't feel like firing the head
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: coach usually leads to good results. But the problem is
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: if you don't make some sort of change after the
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: way he was booed repeatedly last week in Game 2
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: of the season– I just don't know how you keep
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: bringing him back because I think it's going to affect
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: the ability to get people in the stadium.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: If I were to suggest they either have to win
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: at Alabama or play well and be competitive for Coach
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: to get a chance at finishing the season, how far
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: off do you think I am?
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: You know, I still think it's a little bit up for...
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: If they just... If they don't... play well and lose Alabama,
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: but they come back and they beat Virginia at home.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: They play pretty well at Miami. I think it could
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: be okay. Like he could, he could survive at least
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: make it till the end of the season. But it's
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: another step in the wrong direction. Sure. I mean, it's, it's,
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: there hasn't been anything to hold onto this season. You know,
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: you were favored by 30 at home against New Mexico state.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: It was a seven to 10 point game in the
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: second half. You are playing at home against SMU, a
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: team that historically you should definitely beat at home, and
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: you give up almost 600 yards of offense. So every
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: week you're just giving more evidence that a change needs
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: to be made than, yeah, it diminishes your chances. But
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: I do think if they somehow found a way to
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: beat Virginia at home and play well at Miami and
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: maybe beat Clemson, who looks very beatable, then maybe it's
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: not the end of the world.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: What if I said to you, West Central Arkansas is
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: the only win in the next five weeks?
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, now that's definitely very possible. I mean, the reality is,
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: when you look at the way they played these first
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: two games, I mean, Central Arkansas is the only other
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: game that you'd say is a sure win. I mean, honestly,
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know. Clemson looks very beatable, but
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: They don't look any worse than Florida State does. And, again,
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: I just think that those two games were so poor
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: in a lot of ways. And not just being bad defensively,
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: but letting opposing receivers run wide open. And then FSU's
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: passing game is averaging about 150 yards a game, 160
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: yards a game. I mean, they just don't look competently
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: coached right now. So other than Central Arkansas, it's hard
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: to say that there's any sure win on the schedule.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Do you think they have any chance to beat Alabama?
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: I saw times when I looked at the SMU game
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: a second time, Ira, there are times I saw a
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: pretty good football team out there, and then inexplicably it
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: just dissolved.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, that's the thing. You know, you could say,
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: you know, Tony White said last week, you know, there's
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: nine plays that really doom them on defense. Well, on
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: the one hand, you could say, okay, well, so on
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: 60 plays, 60 plays defensively played really well. But the
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: problem is, you know, those other nine plays were huge
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: plays and huge busted. You just gave away free points,
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: free points and free yards. And that was the point that,
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: you know, one of the points Coach Henshaw was making
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: in his article over the weekend was, You know, defensively,
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: you can give up first downs. Like, people complain about
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: the third and sevens and the third and tens and
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: the third and fours that you give up. You can
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: live with those as long as you're getting the guy
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: on the ground and living to play a new series.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: The problem is they're giving up busted plays left and right. So, yeah,
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: could you fix those busted plays? and then be a
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: pretty good defense? Yeah, and I think if the defense
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: played better, it would help the offense immeasurably because you
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: wouldn't have to– there wouldn't be so much pressure on
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: the passing game. There wouldn't be as much pressure on
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: Mike Norvell's play caller. They could just kind of play
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: the way they wanted to play. But once you get
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: down a couple scores, it changes things.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, not as much pressure to go for it on
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: fourth down on your side of the field.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's for sure.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Ira, thanks as always for the time. We'll talk on
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: Monday and see what happens over the weekend. Thank you, sir.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: Sounds great. Thanks, Preston.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: Ira Sheffel, managing editor at Warchant.com, my guest here on
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: the morning show with Preston Scott.