ACC Summer Football Check-in with Florida State’s Chop Chat
By Joe Micik
Sep 28, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston (5) runs the ball against the Boston College Eagles during the first half at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
In our next ACC summer football check-in, both head honchos at Chop Chat, FanSided’s Florida State outfit, stopped by to discuss FSU and developments within the Boston College Eagles’ conference.
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Responses come from David Visser and Patrik Nohe, the co-editors. Amongst other things, we asked them how their team could possibly top what they accomplished last season, and how they feel about the new-look ACC.
2014 ACC Summer Football Check-in with Chop Chat
(1) STG: As if we didn’t already know, Florida State is coming off of a national championship. Any team is going to lose talent from year to year, but the Seminoles have no shortage of it, including Jameis Winston. FSU can’t possibly top their 2013 season, but is there optimism that they can match it?
Nohe: It depends on what you mean by match it. Can Florida State run the table and win a second straight national title? Sure. The ‘Noles are loaded. One coach at ACC kickoff admitted that there are schools in the conference that wouldn’t have a single player start at FSU. The ‘Noles have a Heisman winning QB, arguably the nation’s top secondary and they will have an all-senior offensive line blocking for the most physically gifted running back Florida State has had in over a decade.
But in terms of matching what fans experienced last year? Part of last year’s magic was its unexpectedness. With Florida State’s first two titles there was a certain level of expectation. In ‘93 the ‘Noles had already been knocking on the door for a few years, fans knew they were building towards something. In 1999 FSU went wire-to-wire as the nation’s number one team. Last year, nobody even expected FSU to win its own conference. Half of Jimbo Fisher’s coaching staff had been hired away by other schools following the 2012 season, the ‘Noles were replacing 11 players drafted by the NFL — including their starting QB and the entire D-line — so the outlook heading into last season was much more modest.
When Florida State won, part of what made it so special for fans was that it wasn’t expected. Now it is. So no, they really can’t match last year even if they win it all again.