The FSU 2013 season started under much uncertainty. Who would be the starting QB to replace 1st Rd draft choice EJ Manuel? How do you replace a school record 11 NFL draft picks? How would the team perform after losing SIX assistant coaches in the offseason.
- Defensive Coordinator Mark Stoops who completely overhauled & resurrected the Seminole defense, turning it into 1 of the nation’s best, left to be HC for Kentucky.
- Bringing with him DE coach DJ Eliot to be Kentucky’s new DC
- Offensive Coordinator James Coley left to become the Miami Hurricanes’ OC (Though to be honest Jimbo called all the plays at FSU)
- QB Coach Dameyune Craig left to become Auburn's offensive co-coordinator and wide receivers coach. (We’ll talk more about him later
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- Greg Hudson, LB coach left to become DC at Purdue
- RB coach Eddie Gran left to become OC at Cincinnati
That’s the Top D coach, 2 of his top lieutenants and The OC & 2 of his top lieutenants! Name me another place outside of Tuscaloosa where that doesn’t spell disaster? I’ll wait. To add insult to injury, that group included 4 of FSU’s BEST recruiters, in the middle of recruiting season!!! The sign of a robust program is its ability to adjust & carry on. That’s what FSU did. After losing those coaches, all of whom went on to some sort of promotion at some top flight schools, FSU did what they do when players leave. They reloaded.
First they brought in DC Jeremy Pruitt from Nick Saban’s Alabama team. Pruitt had a grand total of TWO YEARS of college position coaching experience (DBs) before becoming the DC at 1 of CFB’s top programs. That’s equivalent to a local account rep spending 2yrs repping at a pretty top flight unit then becoming the head of national accounts for 1 of the nation’s top corps. He’d better be good & the guy who hired him better have a keen eye for talent. Lucky the answer for both was a resounding yup!
Along with Pruitt came another from Saban’s fertile factory of assistants, Sal Sunseri. Sunseri was LBs coach for Saban from 2009-2011, and then Tenny’s DC for 2012. If the Noles were gonna run the Saban 3-4 multi look D, they needed a veteran Saban coach to get those guys right. Susneri would be in charge of the DEs. Most notably all world Mario Edwards Jr.
Charles Kelly came over from GT, to become the new LBs coach. Charles Kelly helped resuce GT’s defense from being bludgeoned under DC Al Groh (fired after 6 gms) In the 6gms Groh coached the GT defense, they gave up 50% of the total yards they would give up ALL season in 2 fewer games than Kelly would lead the unit (8gms). Again Jimbo was able to spot talent, a recurring theme.
On the Offensive side, Jimbo brought in Randy Sanders to be QB coach, who had been the OC at Kentucky. Sanders spent 22 seasons in Tenny program as player/coach (84-05). Meaning Sanders (who was 1 of Cutcliffe’s top assistants at UT) was a key offensive coach during the Manning yrs, the Nat Title yr, and the last years of Tennessee relevance. The last 7 as OC/QBs coach. His 1st game as Tenny OC was the 1999 Fiesta bowl vs FSU, where Tenny defeated FSU for the Natty! 1 of his biggest accomplishments to me was turning Andre Woodson into a draft pick from doodoo. Again great pedigree.
Tim Brewster, former Minnesota Golden Gopher HC came aboard to coach TEs, but more importantly to be the recruiting ace. Brewster recruits on a level very few do, the guy pulls in studs. The kids love him for his energy & enthusiasm plus his NFL experience. He was the TE coach that helped develop Antonio Gates, and is now making Nick O’Leary into a possible day 1 pick. But make no mistake Brewster earns his dough, bringing in the big fish & cultivating the future big fish to live/breathe FSU football.
And finally Jay Graham, another former Vol from the Tenny golden years. And again another great recuiter. Graham spent 3yrs coaching RBs for SoCar 2009-2011 (The Marcus Latimore years) & 1 yr at his alma mater Tenny coaching RBs before coming over to FSU. Again a super recruiter with great ties in SEC country.
FSU lost quite a bit in the coaching area prior to the 2013 season and at arguably the worst possible time. But they reloaded with a much more pedigreed staff, ace recruiters able to go into SEC country & WIN recruits, and men that understand how to turn boys to men. A VERY important part of any blue chip CFB program is having men teach boys to become men beyond football. Understanding that mistakes of being a young man, & teaching those young men how to become men. Its great for recruiting because parents in the end mainly want to know their son is taken care of and can become a productive man they can be proud of.
Bigger than that, inside, these young men all have the NFL dream & failure fear. The difference between them being 3rd page in the metro section of some bumfuck country town where they’re from for stealing car stereos & providing a living for their families, is learning how to become productive men in society. Some schools care very little about that, some care even less, at some point parents & kids alike want to know if they don’t make the NFL will they be ok. Having the right men spread that philosophy is important. You may not get all the 5*s you want but you build a reputation that sticks with coaches, parents, & families for years to come. Ask parents how they feel about Lane Kiffin…………
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