Florida State Seminoles

[AugustWest]

Why do you think you can assure anybody anything about Wolfpack football? Are you a fan? Do you go to State football games?
Do you read The Wolfpacker or Packpride or Statefansnation?

[dave_rickart]

Hedge probably is a 'yes' to all of the above...

[Dr. Nostron]

shit the motherfucking bed

[Dr. Strangelove]

shit the motherfucking bed

Correct

[Jungle Rat]

Glad im not Docs neighbor. That's hazmat stuff right there if he shits the bed.

[billy bob bocephus]

I usully don't agree with Schoffel but...


Fisher faces greatest challenge yet

6:57 PM, Oct 7, 2012 |

Ira Schoffel Sports editor

RALEIGH, N.C. — In what felt more like a confessional than a postgame press conference, Jimbo Fisher took the blame for just about everything that went wrong Saturday night at North Carolina State.

Florida State’s coach admitted he got too conservative on offense in the second half.

He kicked himself for a number of poor decisions during a fourth quarter full of blunders.

And when a sports information assistant tried to signal the end of the press conference after 10 minutes, Fisher dismissed him, saying he would stay and answer any question the roomful of reporters had in mind.

Nice gesture, but there were no takers.

With good reason. There was nothing left to ask.

Not then. Not there.

While postgame interviews are designed to get quick answers to specific questions, this type of debacle requires a different level of perspective.

If this had been a one-time deal — if we hadn’t seen this same, agonizingly exact scenario play out during each of Fisher’s first two seasons as head coach — then the quickie postgame format would have worked perfectly.

But the real problem wasn’t this play call or that one. Those are just symptoms.

The problem is with the overall approach.

Jimbo Fisher isn’t coaching football. He’s trying to improve efficiency in a manufacturing plant.

He doesn’t rejoice in big plays. He doesn’t celebrate brilliant improvisations or individual efforts. He wants all 11 pieces of his machine to work in perfect unison.

I’m convinced it’s why, even when his team is struggling mightily in the red zone, he refuses to throw fade patterns near the goal line. He has twin towers at wide receiver in 6-foot-6 Rodney Smith and 6-5 Kelvin Benjamin, and he refuses to give them a chance to go up and make a play.

It’s why he has a quarterback in EJ Manuel, who has the talent to be one of the most dynamic players in college football, and tries to turn him into a game manager eight or nine times a year.

We can talk all we want about a play here or a decision there, but the reality is the offensive attack FSU used against Clemson was not the same approach it took against USF or N.C. State.

Against Clemson, Fisher knew his offense would have to put up points, and he called plays accordingly. Against USF and N.C. State, it was as if he wanted to do just enough to get by. Especially once he got a lead.

But that is exactly the wrong approach in games like that.

When FSU went into halftime with a 16-0 advantage Saturday night, Fisher’s No. 1 objective should have been figuring out how to deliver the death blow.

The Seminoles would be getting the ball to start the third quarter, and Fisher should have been determined to score one more touchdown — or at least a field goal — and put the Wolfpack out of their misery.

He should have pulled out all the stops.

Instead, he followed up a nine-yard pass on first down with two consecutive runs. Those plays got stuffed, and N.C. State had reason to keep believing.

The rest of the way, Fisher seemed to make every decision with one eye on the score and one on the clock — as if he had an insurmountable lead given the time remaining.

And N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien must have loved every minute of it.

It’s the inferior team’s job to shorten the game, but Fisher did it for them.

He didn’t try to exploit an N.C. State secondary that gave up an ACC-record 566 passing yards one week earlier. He was content to keep things close to the vest, to keep sending the defense back out on the field.

Frustrated FSU fans believe they recognized the approach. They call it “coaching scared.” It’s what they felt Bobby Bowden’s staff did in so many of those close losses to Miami.

But I don't believe Jimbo Fisher coaches scared. I think he has a tendency to coach overconfident.

There's a reason why FSU's most painful losses under Fisher have come against the conference's weakest teams. It's why he was willing to start his backup quarterback last year at Wake Forest. It's why the Seminoles were flat and listless at home against Virginia.

The guy has owned rivals Florida and Miami and recorded bowl wins against South Carolina and Notre Dame. You can't do that by coaching scared.

But when the Seminoles are playing a team with inferior talent, Fisher believes he can simply crank up the machine and watch his creation do the rest.

Unfortunately, this isn’t an assembly line. And Manuel isn’t a robot.

As comfortable and confident as Manuel looked against Clemson, that’s how stiff and disconnected he looked against USF and N.C. State. And the entire offense followed his lead.

There was no passion. No inspired performances.

Just parts of the machine.

During his brief time as FSU’s head coach, Fisher has shown the ability to adapt and adjust. He has made changes, searched for solutions.

But the challenge facing him now might be the toughest yet.

How does someone obsessed with control loosen the reins? How does a perfectionist come to grips with the fact that the greatest plays in sports are often unscripted? How does a coach who has assembled incredible talent, get out of the way and just let them play?

Those are the only questions that matter right now.

And Jimbo Fisher is the only one who can answer them.

Contact sports editor Ira Schoffel at 599-2316 or ischoffel@tallahassee.com. Follow @IraSchoffel on Twitter

Jimbo reportedly says he didn't call a bad game...just that the team needs to work on better execution ... what a load of rubbish - there has been no enthusiasm on the field since Clemson - its a game, let the kids play

[AlabamAlum]

To a large extent, that's exactly what Saban does.

[billy bob bocephus]

really, you think so? - at least he convinces the kids to have fun with it

[AlabamAlum]

I was talking more of the perfectionist/11 parts that make up a machine/goes conservative with a big lead thing.

[billy bob bocephus]

I think a lot of successful coaches probably have similar MO's - my bellyachin' is that our kids seem unemotional - damn, they're kids, they should be enjoying themselves...


I'll give it a rest from here on out...

[KeviNole]

When you have hosses on the OL, it's much easier to go into shutdown mode and run the clock out (ala Saban). When you have a hodge podge of good but inexperienced players on the OL like FSU, it's unwise. Fisher fucked up, almost definitely cost himself a shot at the MNC, and I think he's finally realizing that. We need to go balls-to-the-wall as much as we can the rest of the season.

[billy bob bocephus]

much more enthusiasm shown against BC...the goal line stand in the first series was great and when EJ caught that fumble mid-air for the first 1st down it seemed predestined from that point on

[Dr. Strangelove]

BC knows the proper way to take it in the ass FOR CONFERENCE PRIDE!!

[Dr. Nostron]

heh - I mean, stfu

[innocentbystander]

BC knows the proper way to take it in the ass FOR CONFERENCE PRIDE!!

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/1379604 ... th-sadface

[billy bob bocephus]

I have no clue as to how FSU managed to give 10 points and a whole 1st quarter of football to Miami and yet pull it together enough to shut them down for most of the rest of the game and win ...

[Jungle Rat]

It never came up to us to even wonder. FSU was out of it awhile ago.l

[billy bob bocephus]

FSU was out of it when USF showed they could give them a tussle ... I can only hope we return the favor against the gators

[billy bob bocephus]

in spite of trying to give the game away early the noles managed to beat the hokies ... just wondering, does this mean that the hokies STB more than any other ACC team this year?

[KeviNole]

I'll take the win. We suck on the road and Blacksburg is a tough place to play. Maryland had better not give us much of a game but I suspect it will be closer than it should be.

If we do manage to pull it off, we have to replay the shit that is the ACC Coastal. Miami? Duke? VT (unlikely)? Jesus, what an embarrassment. And the worst thing is it will probably be Miami and they will probably win. FML.