Florida State Seminoles

Head Coach

Bobby Bowden	33rd year
07-08	7-6
ACC	4-4
FCR	53

Previous Season Wins

Head Coach - Bobby Bowden enters his 33rd season and following consecutive 7-6 campaigns the heats on, well it’s not on Bowden but offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher who was hired as the heir replacement to Bowden and leading the Seminoles to a 90th ranking in scoring offense is simply not acceptable in Tallahassee.

Quarterback - Drew Weatherford is the incumbent at quarterback for Florida St but missed much of spring practice with a knee injury and that allowed sophomores Christian Ponder and D’Vontrey Richardson to get plenty of reps. Weatherford has the size and skills but this is his last chance to deliver, he threw for 2,049 but had just nine TD’s last season. Fisher will look elsewhere if the production isn’t there this fall and that might open the door for one of the sophomores.

Running Backs - Antone Smith is set as the Seminoles running back, the senior rushed for 819 yards and had 20 receptions for another 203 yards and scored three times. Although he big he’s proven to be capable to carry the load, at fullback junior Sedderick Holloway is a solid blocker who will contribute as well when called upon to carry the ball, he rushed for 129 yards last season.

Receivers - Good group provided junior wide receiver Preston Parker gets his issues in order and gets on the field, he led the Noles’ last season with 62 receptions for 791 yards and scored three TD’s. Senior Greg Carr also returns on the outside, he has outstanding speed, he caught 45 passes a year ago for 795 yards and four TD’s, his average per catch was an outstanding 18.6 yards. Senior Richard Goodman and a pair redshirt freshman, Bert Reed and Taiwan Easterling showed this spring they’ll be in the mix. At tight end is junior Caz Piurowski who helps mainly in the rushing attack.

Offensive Line - One of the youngest O-Lines in America, they return two starters and they’re both sophomores with Rodney Hudson at left tackle and at center Ryan McMahon. At left guard will be sophomore Evan Bellamy and on the right side look for two redshirt freshman in Antwane Greenlee at tackle and at guard Will Furlong. A pair of true freshman, Zebrie Sanders and Rhonne Sanderson will be immediately in the mix. This unit will need to come together quickly or the Seminoles will once again be a slightly better than .500 team.

Defensive Line - The defense will be fine once the suspensions from last years academic transgressions are served, but it will be an issue for the time being. Upfront the unit is led by defensive end Everette Brown, the junior led the team with 6 ½ sacks and explodes of the edge and will only get better. On the other end look for junior Kevin McNeil, who missed last season for personal reasons and senior Neefy Moffett to be in the rotation. Inside juniors Budd Thacker, Emmanuel Dunbar and Kendrick Stewart will battle for time.

Linebackers - The Seminoles are solid at linebacker senior Derek Nicholson will be in the middle and he’ll be flanked by juniors Dekoda Watson on the strongside and Toddrick Verdell on the weakside. Nicholson led the team with 99 tackles and is a force against the run while Watson added 50 tackles and displayed the ability to play sideline to sideline.

Defensive Backs - They had the 85th ranked pass defense unit last year but with the talent on board they could much better this year. The cornerbacks will be Tony Carter, a senior and junior Patrick Robinson; they combined for 73 tackles and 10 picks. At the free safety will be senior Darius McClure and junior Myron Rolle will be the Rover, Rolle had 67 tackles a year ago and the skill to play at the next level.

Special Teams - senior Graham Gano averaged an excellent 43.4 yards on his punts last season and will be asked to be the teams placekicker this fall. Preston Parker and Michael Ray Garvin will handle the returns, and like much of the Florida St team their performance a year ago did not match their ability so the potential is there for a leap forward.

Schedule - This is a schedule designed to win, eight home games and Clemson, Va Tech, Boston College and Florida must all travel to Tallahassee. They play at Miami on October 4th and a win there and the Seminoles could put themselves in position to make a run at the ACC. The Defense will shine but can the offense produce when the heats on, the W-L will be better but not return to the glory days for Florida St, they’ll end the year with 8+ wins.