To say that this has been a catastrophe of a gap stretch to the season for the Florida State Seminoles can be an understatement. The Seminoles have gone from a top-10 staff within the preseason polls to 0-3 towards the likes of Georgia Tech, Boston School and now Memphis, with two of these video games being at house. The seat for head coach Mike Norvell (who was given a large extension this offseason after rumors about him taking the Alabama job began swirling) is more and more getting hotter, and the schedule doesn’t get simpler.
The most important query right here is: how did all of it go incorrect for the Noles?
Let’s begin with the expertise acquisition portion of issues. The Seminoles beneath Mike Norvell have usually been fairly good with utilizing the switch portal. Shoot, most of their staff that went undefeated final 12 months was constructed by means of the portal. QB Jordan Travis was at Louisville, RB Trey Benson got here from Oregon, WR Keon Coleman got here from Michigan State, WR Johnny Wilson was at Arizona State. On the defensive facet, DE Jared Verse got here from Albany and DT Braden Fiske got here from Western Michigan. These affect gamers all got here by means of the portal looking for higher alternatives, which is the great thing about the switch portal. You discover gems by means of that alley that may elevate the ceiling of a staff when the ground is constructed by means of highschool recruiting.
Nonetheless, the switch portal is a fickle magnificence. For each gem you discover, you can even strike out on crucial gamers at crucial positions, which is the place the Seminoles discover themselves offensively. The most important switch was QB DJ Uiagalelei from Oregon State. That is Uiagalelei’s third cease, with a number of coordinators and offenses attempting to unravel the query of “how is a child this bodily gifted this dangerous?” Via three video games, the Seminoles’ offense hasn’t figured it out, both.
Uiagalelei is 117th in Passing Success Charge (per gameonpaper) and hasn’t been a risk on the bottom in the identical approach Travis was final 12 months. Whereas Travis was higher at creating when the pocket collapsed and being explosive on the bottom, Uiagalelei is extra of a lumbering runner who can’t create beneath stress. As a result of Uiagalelei is actually a statue who isn’t assured when throwing in commonplace dropback conditions, the offense is proscribed to rollouts and half area reads. When he’s requested to throw in these commonplace conditions, the offensive line falls aside and it seems like this:
Not fairly in any respect.
The offensive line is a a lot greater situation than the QB or any of the opposite portal additions. After being so good final 12 months, and three of the 5 starters coming again, this skilled offensive line shouldn’t be as porous as it’s. However once more, that comes right down to growth. A few of these guys are redshirt seniors who’ve performed loads of soccer, but when they aren’t good now, then the teaching has to take some blame. When Uiagalelei was at his finest at Oregon State, that they had a imply and bodily offensive line that might run the ball very well, and Uiagalelei didn’t should shoulder the load offensively. That’s not the case at FSU, and it’s as a result of the road play has been so poor. The receiver expertise after Coleman and Wilson left has additionally been hit and miss, with no one constantly creating separation. From the identification of the expertise to the event, it’s all gone dangerous at Florida State.
That is the place highschool recruiting and growth turns into so, so essential. It’s actually arduous to win constantly by means of completely getting transfers out and in of this system. Transfers are extra like one to two-year fixes, whilst you may get a highschool recruit for not less than three years. Florida State is in an odd interval the place the highschool recruiting is ok; the Seminoles haven’t completed outdoors the highest 25 of 247 Sports activities recruiting in Norvell’s total tenure. Nonetheless, if the recruits coming in are good, however the product continues to be dangerous, then growth isn’t occurring. It’s what separates groups like Florida State from groups like Texas or Ohio State. Each recruit at a really excessive stage and each use the switch portal very well, like FSU. The issue is that Ohio State and Texas are each a lot better at creating the highschool expertise they’ve, and never needing to depend on transfers in crucial spots just like the offensive and defensive position.
That’s the place the Seminoles want to enhance, and I’m unsure if Norvell will get the time to enhance them.
