A Proud Florida State Seminole: A Retrospective

My Dad moved to Tallahassee in April 1986 for a new position. He would lead the Florida Credit Union League. We helped him move into a small apartment on the city's northside during my senior year spring break. The family would join him a week after my graduation in June.

When I arrived in Tallahassee that year, I knew very little of Florida State University or Bobby Bowden or the fledgling dynasty. I just knew I lived in Florida!

The University sat near the heart of downtown on the city's westside and was bounded on one side by the Florida A&M University and not too far to the west, the school I would attend, Tallahassee Community College. This was very much a college and state government town, with a large transient population. Everyone in town seemed to be a fan of FSU Football and Coach Bowden. Little did I know, at that time, that I'd become one, too, or that I'd witness the building of a dynasty in little old Tallahassee.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

You see, when I got there, the small campus boasted a very high school-looking football stadium with a weird name, Doak Campbell. Literally, it looked like an erector set from the outside, long before it became a brick behemoth, "the House that Bobby Built." It was really quite laughable to me.

I don't remember attending any games that first year there. One striking feature of the metallic skeletal stadium was the scoreboard and "flaming spear" that seemed to light up with crowd noise. The louder the crowd, the higher the lights on the spear would rise until reaching the flame at the top. That was pretty cool, as was all the pregame fanfare, culminating in a student in full Seminole Tribe costume, riding his Appaloosa steed to midfield and planting an ACTUAL flaming spear in the center of the warrior head logo. THAT was impressive! (It still gives me goosebumps!)

I'd post a video, but everyone is familiar with the tradition, the best in college football, I'd argue. But that first year, 1986, I hardly paid attention to college football or the Noles. I honestly didn't understand what all the hype was about. Then, the Bowden-led Noles played my Indiana Hoosiers in the All-American Bowl and beat them. I thought that was a cool coincidence. Then, I met a third-string lineman at church and we became fast friends. Thus, my interest in Florida State Football started to grow.

I remember when Burt Reynolds, the famed alum, paid for new dorms for the football players. My buddy moved in the first year, 1987, and at the end of that season, traveled with his team to Tempe, Arizona, for the Fiesta Bowl v. Nebraska. I got to stay in his new dorm room while he was away. Now, I'm becoming more enmeshed in the culture and taking notice of the team. They beat Tom Osborne's Nebraska, by the way (a pre-cursor/foreshadowing of the 1993 National Championship Game).

Fast forward to 1991 and my buddy no longer plays for the Noles, but is living in a frat house on campus. I'd followed his career and his team, but I was still a holdout. If it was "cool" to love the Seminoles, I wasn't going to be cool. I still considered myself a casual college football fan, at that point, and a Notre Dame fan. HOWEVER, when Bowden took his team to Ann Arbor and silenced a crowd of 106,000+ I was SOLD! That was the day I became a Seminole fan 100%! Right there in my buddy's frat room, watching the exciting drama unfold on national TV. AND HISTORY, as no visiting team had ever scored 50+ points on the Michigan Wolverines!!

Click HERE for a Florida State-Michigan recap.
 

THE DYNASTY

Most people agree that Bowden's dynasty began in the decade of the 1990's, leading up to his first National Championship behind Heisman QB Charlie Ward in 1993, and continuing into the Coach Jimbo Fisher years, through the 2013 National Championship behind Heisman QB Jameis Winston.

I was there for it all!

After letting down my guard fully mid-season 1991, I eventually enrolled at Florida State as a junior, working my way through college to a degree in Communication (Class of 1997). I was a part-time student for a good portion of the 1990's. I attended as many football games, for free, as I could. I was front and center for the rise of Charlie Ward and the fast-paced, shotgun offense that suited his talents best. I vividly remember the victory celebration at Doak in January 1994.

During my tenure at FSU, I worked in the Cashier's office, starting in June 1990 at the iconic Westcott Building, the entrance to campus. The university would soon begin the largest brick construction project on the planet. "The House that Bobby Built" would soon become a reality and my new workspace. I can remember moving into the first floor, in the corner facing Pensacola and Varsity Drive. I thought I worked in the coolest place in the world! I'd take my lunches out into the stadium and sit in the bleachers eating, marveling, reminiscing...

I immersed myself in college football and FSU, attending the first visit of ESPN's College Gameday in 1993, making sure to get The Pony's (Craig James) autograph for my new wife. She was enamored. :)

I took on an online persona for the ESPN chat boards (a big thing at the time): NOLESROCK

And thus a self-administered nickname was borne and I use it for the title of this blog (in case you were wondering where that came from).

My then wife scored us tickets to the 1999 National Championship Game at the Superdome in New Orleans. We watched Bowden and the Pete Warrick-led Noles beat the Gators, such sweet revenge for a regular season loss! It was our SECOND national championship and tasted just as sweet as the first!

Thus, the Bowden Dynasty would take shape right before my adoring eyes. By the end of the decade, I was an alum of the best university in Florida.

Some of my best memories are attending football and basketball games with my roommates--the former player I mentioned earlier and a goofball named Shawn!

There was a player in the late 80's, who at the time I didn't care for. His nickname was PRIME TIME. In the next blog post, I'll talk more about him and where he is now. I'm a great admirer these days!

Jameis Winston Fallout

I wrote yesterday on my Colts-Noles blog re: the Jameis Winston controversy. My seemingly unpopular opinion--if you look at ESPN.com and a few Nole-related FB pages--has only intensified since last night's knuckleheaded decision by the FSU Administration to extend Jameis' punishment.

In case you weren't watching or listening this week, Jameis' antics in the FSU Oglesby Student Union on Tuesday were tweeted about by fellow students. The next morning, the Heisman quarterback was making national headlines for repeating a vulgar phrase from a viral Internet video. It was a laughable "offense" that got many folks up in arms. It was college high jinks, captured on social media. There was no crime to be punished. There were no cries from students to have him removed from campus, the team OR the game, and yet, in recent NFL fashion, the powers that be decided his suspension from the Clemson game should be complete, reversing course on their earlier decision to only hold him out of the first two quarters.

Let me reiterate that THERE WAS NO CRIME committed. No one was hurt. The students who tweeted the incident were probably laughing at him. No authorities were involved--not the FSU Police Department, not the Tallahassee Police, not FDLE, not even a local crossing guard! So where is the punishment coming from? Perceptions? Do-gooders who have nothing better to complain about? An FSU Admin desperate to make themselves relevant?

So many have chimed in about Jameis Winston's character, his immaturity, his poor judgment and his lack of humility and sense. But let's really look at Jameis' decision-making. First, he CHOSE to come here. He put in brutal two-a-days, grueling workouts for TWO SPORTS (not just football) and has excelled at BOTH! He's brought plenty of attention, good and bad, to the University. The good has come with plenty of purse strings attached. Has the bad caused irreparable damage? Have we lost trophies, sponsorships or dollars from his actions? No. And I'm not saying it's all about those things, but to the Administration, those things should weigh pretty heavy. So in their rush to judgment, rush to appeal to the masses, to the media, to social pressure, did they even consider the fallout of a loss tonight? A loss of a potential championship game? The loss of a portion of their fanbase?

For this tried-and-true Nole, the REAL embarrassment is in A) how this whole situation was handled by the University; and B) in their reversing course like we've seen for two weeks in the NFL. Let's face it, they caved to outside pressures instead of handling this in-house with some tact and grace.

That was my problem from the beginning of this whole mess on Tuesday. Call Jameis in, handle the situation privately, in-house, and get in front of the media circus with a concise, consistent message. Don't let it spin out of control. (Sorry, I worked in PR for a number of years).

Because this stupid incident is in NO WAY RELATED to alleged sexual abuse, shoplifting or BB gun shooting, and yet they've let the media dredge all of that up, tie it in a bundle and submit it as Jameis' resume. Forget the fact that he's been a stellar student in the classroom, a crazy highlight reel phenom on the baseball and football fields and a funny, charismatic, engaging leader on campus. He's not some thug with a long rap sheet, as ESPN has been touting all week. He did his community service "time" for the crab leg theft. No other charges were ever brought against him. So how does cursing on a college campus rise to this level of ridiculous backlash?

The kid has made some poor choices, no doubt. What kid hasn't? And has social media REALLY raised the bar THAT high? That you have to maintain a level of sainthood in college to appease the rich, white establishment? I say let Jameis be Jameis, and allow this whole situation to fade into obscurity. But IF we lose to Clemson? Guess what, FSU leadership? This discussion is NOT going away and the end result will NOT be good for you...for us, as Nole Nation.

My frustration has now risen to the level of disgust. Interim President Stokes has lost my trust and respect. And for the team's sake, I hope she's ready to suit up...because we need her as 3rd string QB!

Noles ready to knock-off #1

http://colts-noles.blogspot.com/2011/09/countdown-to-fsu-ou-has-begun.html

My COLTS-NOLES blog is all decked out in garnet and gold for this weekend's game.

GO NOLES!!!

First Game Rust?

Let me say right from the start that I'm VERY happy with a shut-out win to start the 2011 season. BUT, the Seminoles didn't quite play up to all the hype or the Top 5 ranking. Shannon J. Owens nails it in the Orlando Sentinel column, "The Seminoles played footsie with the Warhawks when they should have been cutting off their toes."

Courtesy Seminoles.com

The team with national championship aspirations wasn't playing like a contender today. Their first quarter performance was lackluster and uninspired. You'd never know they had a Heisman-caliber quarterback or lightning-fast receivers. As Owens points out quite graphically, they lacked the killer instinct of the Seminole teams of old.

While other top teams were steamrolling their first opponents of twenty-eleven, the Seminoles were settling for punts and field goals. And say what you will about ULM, but they were scheduled to be a cupcake of a home opener. The shutout was nice, but it should have been by 50 points with all the firepower in Jimbo's arsenal.

I don't know if it was the playcalling or the execution, but I was having flashbacks during the the first quarter of the "good ol'" Bowden days...and I'm talking about the infamous Bowden playcaller, Jeff, not Bobby. Some of the vanilla plays early in the game definitely had a hint of Jeffy. Very conservative (as if the Warhawks were just supposed to play dead and grant the Noles 10 yards on every play).

Granted, the Warhawks did put up a fight, but their offense couldn't muster 200 total yards. They laid a golden goose egg on the final scoreboard.

What do we take away from this so-so home opener? Well, a win for one. I am very happy the Seminoles go into Week 2 with a 1-0 record. I was glad to see some flashes of brilliance from EJ Manuel at quarterback. His long, touchdown pass before the half was beautifully thrown and right on the mark! But we're used to seeing those kinds of plays on the first first-and-ten of the game, especially against cupcakes like ULM. So, there's room for improvement. Better playcalling and better execution are a MUST if FSU wants to be taken seriously this season.

Let's go Seminoles!!!

Back to mediocrity

Well, that was fun while it lasted. After three weeks in the Top 20, the Seminoles are back to mediocrity, losing this week to North Carolina State. Not that the Wolfpack isn't a team to be reckoned with, especially at home, but Seminole Nation has come to expect a lot more since joining the basketball conference (aka ACC).

Let me couch my complaining in historical terms. Those of us who attended FSU in the glory days, and cheered the team onto two national championships, are not content to watch the team barely eek out a winning season, or lose at home to the Wake Forest's of the college football world (that 30-0 game was an all-time low for the team, the program and the legendary coach). After all, we're not a lowly Big Ten school (or Notre Dame).

I was there for the building of Bowden's Dynasty. I watched the erector-set stadium of the early Bowden Era morph like a Transformer into the castle it is today. I saw them dedicate the larger-than-life bronze statue of Bobby. I cheered the 'Noles to victory under the Superdome in 1999.

Then the end came.

The end of an era. The end of a dynasty. The downward spiral of the program from greatness to mediocrity. So you think I'd be used to the idea of underachievement by the Noles. After all, this has been the decade of lowered expectations. Still, every year, by some great miracle from on high, I believe that things will be different. With the passing of the torch from Bobby Bowden to Jimbo Fisher, my hopes were revived. Then, with the hype that preceeded the 2010 College Football Season, I actually allowed myself to dream once again. But those dreams were short lived. They came crashing down the second week of the season, when FSU got drubbed by Oklahoma, only to be revived once again by six straight wins, the fifth of which came against hated rival Miami.

It was mid-season. The Noles were 6-1. They had vanquished the Ibis, and sat atop all Florida schools as the lone Top 20 team, ranked #16 in the AP Poll. I was beginning to believe once again that FSU was on the mend, that the program had turned the corner (which it actually has, I'm just being dramatic). So going into this weeks game, in hostile territory, mind you, I had the Seminole flag waving in the wind on the front of the house. I turned on the big screen TV and settled in to watch the annual NC State-FSU shootout. Senior Quarterback for the Noles, Christian Ponder, seemed to overcome some early game jitters and miscues and had the offense poised to strike the death-blow with under a minute remaining. Then, he drops back to pass, fakes to the fullback....and FUMBLES the DADGUM ball!!!

Game over.

Not only does the Wolfpack win, they virtually eliminate FSU's chance at the first ACC title in five years. Goodbye BCS bid. Goodbye Top 20 ranking. It was nice while it lasted. I guess I'll wait to see what the Noles can put together next year, but I'm not too hopeful. They lose a veteran offensive line and their QB. It'll be a couple years before the highly touted 2010 recruiting class is able to make a big difference. So, again, I wait. Slowly acclimating to the new dynasty of mediocrity, I wait. :/

Noles Improving, Set Sites on Boston College

After dominating in-state rival Miami, the Seminoles are 5-1 and ranked #16 in the Associated Press Poll. Their next victim, Boston College, has to play in front of a sold-out Doak Campbell crowd in the midday, Florida sun. If the noise and the heat doesn't get 'em, the swarming Seminole defense will!

Yes, it is still early in the season, but this Seminole is already dreaming about the postseason possibilities. A loss to Oklahoma early in the season served as a wake-up call. And now that the defense is getting comfortable in new coordinator Mark Stoops' scheme, they are tearing up the opposition. As the bleacher report aptly noted,

The Seminole defense laid gruesome hits on the Canes all night. It seemed every time a receiver came across the middle or a running back tried to gain any yardage between the tackles, a Seminole or two were there to crush Miami’s skill position players. The physical beating took its toll. UM players needed extra breathers on the sideline throughout the contest, especially in the second half.

FSU Tops Florida in Poll
After the mighty Gators fell to LSU, at home no less, they dropped to #22 in the national poll. Miami fell out of the Top 25, thanks to the drubbing they took from the 'Noles. That leaves FSU as the highest ranked, and only Top 20, team from the Sunshine State. Of course, everyone in Seminole nation has the last game of the season circled every year as THE ONE to win. Fortunately, the Gators have to travel to Tallahassee this year to face the surging 'Noles.

But first things first, the Seminoles have to take care of the Eagles this Saturday, and continue building on the momentum. Since spotting Oklahoma 47 points earlier this season, the 'Nole defense has only given up a total of 47 points to their other 5 opponents, an average of just slightly more than a touchdown per game. Not too shabby. Maybe they can hold BC to a field goal...and then block it! :)

Well, this Seminole is happy to revel in the moment, and dream of a BCS bowl bid.

GO NOLES!!! >>>--------,,,->

Mickey Andrews Tribute

With all the fanfare surrounding Bobby Bowden’s bittersweet exit from the college football landscape, I’d be remiss not to recognize his long-time defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews. The 2010 Gator Bowl was also Andrews’ last game as a Florida State coach. And no defensive coordinator made a bigger impact on the game than Mickey.

His lightning-quick, ball-hawking, gang-tackling defenses are stuff of legend. Mickey didn’t care how big a player was, as long as he played fast, smart and explosive. Experts have attributed the dominating speed of Mickey Andrews-style defense to the rise in the spread offense in college football. Just ask Steve Spurrier, who in 1996 had to put Heisman-winner Danny Wuerrfel in the shotgun just to give him a fraction of a second to complete any passes. Sports Illustrated columnist Andy Staples says, “Spurrier, at the height of his offensive genius, had to radically renovate his offense because of Andrews.” And Mickey’s defenses were the main reason FSU held an 8-5-1 advantage over Spurrier’s mighty Gators.

Andrews was the master of halftime adjustments. You could spot just about any FSU opponent a sizeable lead or statistical advantage in the first half because you KNEW that Mickey’s defense would completely and totally shut them down after halftime. It happened more times than I can remember. Take the infamous "Choke at Doak" game vs. the Gators. The FSU defense shut the high-flying Gator offense down in the fourth quarter, allowing no points and just 40 yards of offense, and paving the way for one of the greatest comebacks in college football history. Or what of the classic goal line stands? Take the 1993 Kickoff Classic, for instance. In the 42-0 drubbing of overmatched Kansas, the Seminole defense held a goal line stance thwarting 11 Jayhawk attempts to score from inside the 10-yardline in one series.

Mickey's impact was felt beyond the college level. NFL talent scouts always knew that Andrews’ players were well-prepared to make the leap to that next level. The Associated Press reports, “Since 1985, NFL teams have picked 73 defensive players developed by Andrews at Florida State. That list includes Peter Boulware, Derrick Brooks, Terrell Buckley, LeRoy Butler, Sam Cowart and Marvin Jones, who like Sanders all went on to star in the NFL.” Eighteen of those players were first-rounders, and half went in the first ten picks.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Mickey Andrews, “the longest tenured and most successful assistant coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference,” coordinated defenses for 26 seasons at Florida State. He was named the nation's top assistant coach in 2000 by the All-American Football Foundation, the national defensive coordinator of the year in 1998 by the American Football Coach's Magazine and the national assistant coach of the year by Athlon's Magazine in 1991_[1]. And during the ‘Noles two National Championship campaigns in ’93 and ’99, Andrews deserves as much credit as anyone for architecting near perfect seasons. Some of his best recruits will one day reside in the NFL Hall of Fame.

FAVORITE ALL-TIME LINEBACKERS






Two of my all-time favorite linebackers, groomed under Mickey Andrews’ tutelage, are Derrick Brooks and his predecessor Marvin “Shade Tree” Jones. About Jones, Sports Illustrated says, “Few college linebackers were more dominant than 'Shade Tree,' a three-time All-America who won the Butkus and Lombardi awards in 1992.” He was followed by the legendary #10 who dominated and intimidated opponents beginning his freshman year. Early in the 1993 Season, Derrick Brooks had already scored three touchdowns from his middle linebacker position, to which Sports Illustrated commented on September 27th of that year, “Brooks has outscored his team's four opponents 18-14. By himself.” Without a doubt, these two brute forces will go down in history as some of Mickey’s best and toughest defenders.

FSU or DBU?
And who can forget the legendary defensive backs churned out by FSU? Mickey Andrews was their position coach for much of his 26-year tenure. He prepped stars like Deion Sanders, Terrell Buckley and Antonio Cromartie for the NFL, all of them first round picks. Let’s not forget Superbowl MVP Dexter Jackson, either. Some might go so far to say that FSU was Defensive Backs U for a number of years. With a portfolio of future NFL hall-of-famers like that, who can argue?

Of all the coaches who’ve come and gone at Florida State, I’ll miss Mickey’s sunflower seed-spittin’, butt-chewin’, sideline antics the most. His defenses’ were legendary, game changing. Mike Stoops has some incredibly large shoes to fill. I hope he’s worthy of the honor.

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LINKS:
Seminoles.com page
http://www.seminoles.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/andrews_mickey00.html

Orlando Sentinel Remembers Mickey Andrews
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college_fsu/2009/11/remembering-mickey-andrews.html

Salute to Bobby Bowden

I would have loved to see Florida State Seminoles Coach Bobby Bowden go out on top, say after the 1999 National Championship, but hindsight is 20/20. Bowden coaches his last game this Friday in the Gator Bowl. It will be his 33rd bowl appearance as a head coach, 31 of those as the coach of Florida State, including an unbroken string of 29 bowls dating back to 1982. WOW!


Is there anyone who doubts his place among the game's greatest coaches of all time? I won't go into all the Top 25 finishes or the gaudy stats, but the man is a coaching legend. And I was just lucky enough to jump on the bandwagon when I was 23 years old.


Eighteen years later and I can hardly believe I'm about to watch him lead the Seminoles onto the football field for the last time. I was there for many a game, including the "Choke at Doak" when the Noles mounted the best comeback in college football history and the 1999 Sugar Bowl with my mouth wired shut from jaw surgery. The latter was one of the best games I've ever attended with Bowden and Peter Warrick lifting the Waterford crystal football over their heads at the end.


For the moment I will forget the Jeff Bowden/Chris Rix years when the program nosedived, potentially soiling Bowden's dynasty. I prefer to focus on the positive, and there is plenty in Bowden's portfolio. Even through the lean years, Coach was developing talent and giving players a shot to compete at the next level, just ask NFL starters like Darnell Dockett or Chris Hope. He's always served as mentor and "father figure" to his players, some who came from rather bleak circumstances. Winning or losing, Bowden is always a standup guy.


His folksy speech and down-home mannerisms have endeared him to countless football fans and to mothers whose couches he graced on many a recruiting trip. Of all the things that will be missed most at FSU by his departure, certainly recruiting acumen will be top of the list. He would swoop in with his southern charm and steal top recruits right out from under the universities of Florida and Miami. Bowden's recruiting classes were perennially among the nation's best. There were many years that FSU dominated the top rounds of the NFL draft, sending future all-pros and hall-of-famers like Deion Sanders, Warrick Dunn, Anquan Boldin and Derrick Brooks to the pros. And every one of them have Bobby Bowden to thank for preparing them as men and as athletes. (See Top 10 Florida State recruits of the Bobby Bowden era for more.)


There is so much more I could say about the man, the legend, who was so much more to Tallahassee than just a football coach. His presence on the FSU sidelines will be missed, but it is time to move forward as we celebrate the past.


I am just thankful for his grit and longevity. I appreciate the class that he brought to the job of head coach. I am very proud to count myself among the myriad of Bobby Bowden fans. Thank you, Coach Bowden, for so many great years, for the excitement, the trick plays, the amazing athletes (Marvin Jones was one of my all-time faves), the National Championships and the mark you made, not only on FSU or college football, but on the game as a whole.


Now, as FSU transitions to the post-Bowden era, LET'S GO NOLES!!!!