James Wilder Jr Picks FSU

TAMPA, Fla. – At 6 o'clock Wednesday morning, Tampa Plant High School running back James Wilder's cell phone was blowing up. It was Georgia tight end Orson Charles, a Plant High alum, making one last pitch for the Bulldogs.

"Oh my God," Wilder said. "They (Charles and Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, also from Plant) was coming at me. But they were definitely telling me to go where my heart is, where I felt best."

And that was at Florida State.

Regarded as one of the nation's top recruits – or as Plant High coach Robert Weiner called him: "the most famous high school football player in the country" – Wilder announced during a news conference in the school's auditorium Wednesday evening that he was attending Florida State over Georgia and Florida.

Wilder said he felt most comfortable with the Seminoles, even if the perception nationally is that the SEC is a better conference.

"I wanted to get my decision over to focus on my team and this season," Wilder said. "I knew I wanted to stay close to my wonderful family and that left it down to Georgia, Florida and Florida State. They say the best schools are in the SEC and best competition is in the SEC, but, I mean, I felt more comfortable at an ACC school. It is what it is.

"They say the best athletes come out of the SEC, but just because I'm in the SEC it's not going to make me a better athlete. Even though it's the ACC, I'm going to 'ball out' regardless no matter where I'm at – even if I'm at the Ivy League. Wherever I'm at, I'm going to 'ball out.' "

Fanhouse

First off I want to congratulate James Wilder Jr and wish him a healthy and productive senior season.

From a purely football aspect however this one is a head scratcher to me. Florida State hasn't seemed committed to the run since Jimbo Fisher got there. And from what I understand one of Wilder Jr's main sticking point with some teams was that they wanted him to play linebacker and he wanted to play running back. Georgia who was also in the running at the end supposedly, has definitely done a better job of both running the ball and developing NFL running backs in recent history. You would think that would have given them a leg up just from the on the field aspect.

Now there are a lot of other factors in play when a kid picks a school and I understand that. And obviously if he is good enough, as he himself said, Wilder Jr will thrive where ever he goes. But it will be interesting to see how he is used in Florida State's offense whenever he is eventually given an opportunity.

No More #10

Florida State is retiring my former teammate Derrick Brooks' number and I can't think of anyone any more deserving of that honor in what they have done both on the field and off it.

Brook’s No. 10 jersey will be just the eighth retired by FSU. The others in that select fraternity belonged to cornerback Deion Sanders (2), quarterback Chris Weinke (16), quarterback Charlie Ward (17), receiver Fred Biletnikoff (25), tailback Warrick Dunn (28), receiver Ron Sellers (34) and nose guard Ron Simmons (50).

“I’m very happy for Derrick,’’ said Dunn, a former teammate both at FSU and with the Bucs. “Derrick embodied the linebacker position as it should be played. He had a great physicality and work ethic.’’

Brooks, who blended dazzling speed and uncommon timing to produce game-changing plays, was a two-time first-team all-America as a junior and senior (1993 and 1994). He helped the Seminoles win their first national title (1993) and won an NCAA post-graduate scholarship and a spot on the academic all-America team.

Following his FSU career, he was a first-round NFL draft pick of the Bucs where he became a pillar of one of the league’s perennially stingiest defenses, earning a trip to the Pro Bowl 11 times and, of course, leading the Bucs to a win in Super Bowl XXXVII with an interception return for a touchdown.

Brooks received several prestigious awards during his NFL days, including the 2000 Walter Payton/NFL Man of the Year award, the 2003 Bart Starr Award, and the 2004 Bryon "Whizzer" White Award. All go to a player based on his community involvement. In Tampa, he's worked with Boys & Girls Club kids, including taking youths on educational trips (twice to South Africa) and he helped found the Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School. He's also stayed involved with FSU, serving on the Board of Trustees since 2003.

Congratulations to Bo and his family.

A Quick Word On Bobby Bowden

I am not gung ho either way on Bobby Bowden and whether or not he should step down at the end of the season. I will say that some of the arguments from his supporters kind of baffle me though. One of the arguments I have heard repeatedly this week in the after math of the Seminoles losing to Boston College is that Bobby Bowden doesn't wear headphones during the game so it is not his fault what is going on.

Think about that for a moment.

People are seriously with a straight face arguing that because a head coach in a BCS conference does not wear headphones during the game and therefore does not coach much during a game he can't be held liable for his team's failures and thus should be allowed to keep his job.

Does that really make sense to anybody?

If anything doesn't that show that FSU doesn't really need Bowden because he isn't doing the coaching anyway? Again I am not saying he SHOULD step down, just that this particular argument is pretty damned stupid.

Another argument I have heard several times is that a few years back Penn State's Joe Paterno was also on the hot seat and people were calling for him to step down too. Yes, that is certainly true, but the second part of that story is that in the ensuing years Penn State changed their offense substantially, got some really good recruiting classes, and started winning a whole lot more on Saturdays.

Now what you don't hear from the people making this argument is that Florida State is a year away or "just wait till next year and Bowden will turn it around". No, you won't hear that argument because most people don't believe that. So basically they are holding Paterno up as a reason to let Bowden keep coaching, but they aren't willing to predict that Bobby will similarly turn around his program.

Its almost as if they are saying Bowden should be allowed to run the program into the ground if he wants to just on general principle.

Now I will say it again, I am not saying Bowden should or shouldn't step down as coach. But these two arguments for him to stay are nonesensical and really disrespectful to the players on FSU's roster. If these are the strongest arguments against Bowden leaving his supporters can muster, then maybe they need to really sit down and think this through some more.

I'm just sayin.

Sometimes You Eat The Bear....

...Sometimes the bear eats you!

On a day of upsets in college football, don't make the mistake of labeling this game one.

USF went into Doak and laid the SMACKDOWN on Florida State. They were the better team and they should be given their props for that!

Da Canes

The Miami Hurricanes put on a show last night in their game against Florida State. I would have to say that without a doubt that game goes down as an instant classic. Don't get me wrong, the Seminoles came to play too and the game could have very well gone the other way. But in the end it was the Canes who made the plays to win the game and the Noles that came up short.

Now here are some random observations from the game.

-Miami is going to have to start blitzing at some point. I had no doubt that FSU would be able to get the ball down the field on the Canes because about 99% of the time last night they just lined up in a 4-3 with a Cover 2 shell and never did anything to attack Florida State. Now I understand that its a risk when you blitz and the Noles have a lot of athletes on offense, but to win a big game like that sometimes you have to take chances. Close to the end of the game Miami finally blitz and they ended up forcing a quick throw from FSU's ponder on a deep ball that fell incomplete. Could that ball have been caught for 6? Absolutely! But the dirty little secret is that deep balls have a low completion percentage and you just have to give a quarterback as good as Christian Ponder some different looks or he will eat you alive. That is one thing I think Miami will have to fix going forward because it is too easy to block people when they line up just like they do in a playbook.

-Jacory Harris is the truth! Unfortunately the commentators were so busy slobbering over Ponder that they didn't seem to notice until right at the end of the game. Had FSU won the game Ponder would have been deified as a potential Heisman candidate. But not only does Miami win, Harris also has a better game than Ponder, 386 yards passing to be exact, and the commentators act like his play was just a footnote. Nothing about how courageous it was for him to come back after getting injured on a blitz and leading his team to victory. Nope, not one single word. I'll leave it up to you as to why the two quarterbacks were treated so differently. I certainly have my own opinion though.

-FSU freshman defensive back Greg Reid is a BALLER. That kid has "it" and barring injury or him losing his mind he is going to make a helluva lot of plays for the Noles and might be one of the best to play there. For a guy that is so small he is certainly fearless and his athletic ability is off the charts.

-Javarris James and Greg Cooper may well be the best running back tandem in College Football right now. However I don't think Cooper should be returning kickoffs. He tries to run them back like its a regular offensive play instead of just hitting it and going.

-Travis Benjamin looks to be a big time playmaker for the Canes. In pregame the announcers said he runs a 4.2 in the 40. Now I am not really sure if that's true but he can definitely pick em up and put em down. I would have to take shots with that guy several times a game. I would also run him on deeper crossing routes too to keep defenses from being able to double team the guy.

-The football gods struck again. When you make stupid calls as a coach the football gods tend to punish you. This happened twice last night towards the end of the game. Miami had just gone up on FSU and their defense had started making plays and forced a punt. There was about 12 minutes left and obviously with such a close game the clock is going to be a factor. Well Miami decided to throw on 1st AND second down and of course both times the pass fell incomplete. Which brought up the third down where Reed hit Harris and forced the fumble/interception that FSU took back for a TD.

But the football gods weren't done. Then FSU is up and all night they have been either rushing 4 or blitzing Harris to various levels of success. But they come up on a 3rd and long on the ensuing drive and what do you know, they decide to rush only 3. And of course Harris got a completion for a first down and went on to lead the Canes down for the winning touchdown.

So for aspiring coaches remember two things. When you have the lead in the 4th quarter of a very close game, you need to run the ball on 1st or 2nd down to get the clock moving. On the other hand if you have the lead in a very close game in the 4th quarter and you are on defense, if you have been agressive all day don't stop being aggressive. If you fail to heed these words of advice, the football gods will be coming for you too!

It was truly one hell of a game and I have to say, while I was all over the Alabama/Virginia Tech game, Miami/FSU won the first weekend last night.