What is wrong with Florida State football? That is the million dollar question and can be summed out with two words Joe Mauer. Yes, that Joe Mauer who is now one of the best catchers in Major League Baseball. It is really that simple.
In 2000 Mauer had a scholarship offer to attend Florida State to follow in the footsteps of FSU greats Charlie Ward and Chris Weinke. The former Gatorade National Player of the Year, Parade and USA Today Player of the Year, ESPN/Reebok High School All-American and National High School Quarterback of the Year, named by the Nationl Quarterback Club decided that playing football was not in the cards and he took the guaranteed money from the Minnesota Twins and crouched behind home plate. In retrospect it was a very smart decision. That my friends was the beginning of the downfall for FSU football as we know it.
That same year that Mauer shunned Florida State , Mark Richt was hired as the head football coach at the University of Georgia after a 14-year run as the Noles offensive coordinator. That same year Chuck "The Chest" Amato left his coaching position on Bobby Bowden's staff to become the head coach at North Carolina State also after 14 years. The cohesive unit was starting to unravel. Also, even if he was on the staff just one season, quarterbacks coach Darryl Dickey also left to move to Kentucky. Kentucky, what in the hell did Kentucky have to offer that FSU didn't, but anway. The core of the Seminole staff was leaving for greener pastures or Kentucky. Dickey returned to Florida State but then left again for head coaching duties at Presbyterian and the University of West Georgia. Amato has returned but things just are not the same and we all know that Mark Richt is doing a good job at Georgia as the longest tenured coach in the SEC.
In reality since Mauer decided to play baseball instead of heave the pigskin for FSU, the Noles have not been able to attract the talent that was a hallmark of Florida State football for almost two decades, never rebuild just reload. That has come and gone. Don't get me wrong talented football players still come to Florida State but the Noles are losing more of the blue chippers than ever before to Georgia, Florida, University of South Florida, University of Central Florida and many other schools that raid what once were fertile recruiting grounds for FSU.
What did Mauer, Amato, Richt and Dickey all see that made them go elsewhere about the same time . The obvious is that they all had chances to further their careers, but is it all just a coincidence?
Florida State will return the hierarchy of college football at some point and time as it does all run in cycles but for right now Seminole fans root against the Minnesota Twins because you can blame it on Joe Mauer.
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Do you think Bobby hangs it up at the end of this year? How do most FSU fans feel about Jimbo Fisher?
ReplyDeleteI don't know about Bobby. I think he has earned the right to quit on his terms when he wants to. He took over and FSU program that was terrible and built into a national power. FSU owned the 90's. Nole fans are spoiled bunch. Most of the fans are bandwagoners and came only when the program was at its pinnacle. Also remember when Bobby leaves so does Mickey Andrews I feel. As far as Jimbo is concerned I feel it is 50-50. Some want a change so they lean toward Jimbo...and some have seen no change since Jimbo came aboard. He is the head Coach in waiting and many don't feel when he takes over much will be altered. I'm with the latter.
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