Welcome to July!  We have a lot of exciting things coming for you as there only 69 days till Florida State takes on Miami... and Hurricanes don't hit Tallahassee anymore.  We will probably have about 100 articles in the remaining offseason.  For now though, let's get caught up on some 'Nole News.

Important Dates

Jul. 18- Seminole Showtime- BE THERE FANS.
Aug. 6 - players report
Aug. 7 - first day of preseason practice
Aug. 9 - media day (which is also traditionally fan day)
Aug. 10 - first day of full contact practice

Orlando Sentinel - Easterling's recovery a positive for maligned FSU receivers
After one day of watching Easterling, Stroud isn’t doubting that he will play in the season-opener against Miami. "No question," Stroud said. "After what I saw today, there’s no question he’ll be back." His rehab is going better than anyone could have expected.  My enthusiasm is slightly tempered, but this is really encouraging.  You'll remember that our resident pediatrician and amazing writer TrueCubbie wrote:  Inside the Treatment Room:  Taiwan Easterling and his Achilles.  I suggest reading that.  

MORE INSIDE! 

Scouting the 2009 Football Opponents

If you didn't know, we have designated a specific page to post information about our opponents.  This helps us to write better previews and helps keep you abreast of our opponent's programs.  Currently, there are a lot of links in the comment section that will be added to the main page.  I've been slacking on that but it will happen soon.  Of note are some recent items:

• Nate Irving of NCST, the ACC's best linebacker after Marrk Herzlich was diagnosed with cancer, was in a big car wreck.  Broken leg and collapsed lung.  He might be back by midseason but it's very much up in the air.
• The Quad Countdown: No. 69 Wake Forest - The Quad Blog - NYTimes.com  Wake Forest must rebuild much of its defense after losing two first-day N.F.L. draft picks in Aaron Curry and Alphonso Smith- only three starters return. They will have to depend on an offense that has floundered over the past few years.
• FlexBoner!!!  Numerous sites break down Georgia Tech's flexbone offense.  OTHER PEOPLE’S RIVALRIES AND THE FUTILITY OF DEFENDING AGAINST THE WISHBONE " The Birddog Fundamentally, the mechanics of your basic triple option play are the same whether you’re running it out of the wishbone, I-formation, spread, or whatever. Each of these formations, however, imply different overall philosophies. The underlying theme of the wishbone– bringing blockers to the point of attack to support a power running game– is very different than that of the spread. In the spread, you want to stretch the defense, both vertically and from sideline to sideline, in order to create running lanes. You might think these are just platitudes, but they aren’t; this difference, coupled with the threat of the pass, is why wishbone defenses don’t work against the spread option. The spread allows an offensive coordinator to use a greater variety of formations in order to create the space he wants for his ballcarriers.  Smart Football: Why you can't just play "assignment football" against the flexbone/triple-option  That term gets thrown around by announcers a lot, with the implication being that all you have to do is "assign" one guy to the dive back, one to the quarterback, and one to the pitch back. The problem is that Johnson will figure out your assignments and change his blocking schemes accordingly. For example...  

   

• Luckily, one of our writers is a state championship Flexbone offensive coordinator who has studies Johnson extensively.  He will be breaking down PJ's offense as well.

I'm really glad I didn't write the previews for our opponents yet.  As offseason injuries mount, it makes more and more sense to hold off on the previews until the last minute.  

Florida State Football Summer Conditioning - FLORIDA STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
The guys were back on the field yesterday and a few of our guys went out to watch. 100+ photos of the new freshmen! And a video of Ponder mastering his coach speak.   Check out that link! Some notes from what I gathered:

• Jacobbi McDaniel looks huge.  I heard he weighed in at 295lbs.  He's a bit softer than the coches want right now (it's not all good weight), but if he can get down to a solid 286-287ish, he'll be the rare freshman defensive tackle to make an impact. 
• DeMonte McAllister (ladies man, lock city), has a huge frame and he is not filled out.  He can get a lot bigger.  He has big arms right now, but his legs have room to grow and grow.  
• Jarmon Fortson, Nigel Bradham, and Tavares Pressley are extremely well put together.
• Moses McCray, despite battling that hip injury continues to look good physically.  He has a great balanced frame.
• Gerald Demps, Lonnie Pryor, Dan Hicks, look like freshmen body-wise.
• Ryan McMahon looks tiny.  Glad he's healthy though... 
• Greg Reid is a great guy to talk to but he has a tiny tiny head.
• Chris Thompson looks extremely agile and should be an immediate weapon.  
• Everette Dawkins has added some good weight and is probably 265-270ish, but he still needs to be playing defensive end and not defensive tackle.
• JaJuan Harley is a full grown man and he is extremely fast.  
• John Prior (lineman from Ohio) ha a phenomenal frame.  He's also a lumberjack (seriously, his family has a logging business).  Huge forearms and in good shape.
• Willie Haulstead and Rodney Smith are both impressive structurally, but have a lot of room to add good muscle weight.  Haulstead has that Anquan Boldin look, where you can see him adding 25lbs in a year.  
• Henry Orelus does not look good.  He is quite obese and Trickett is going to have a field day shrinking him down to size.  The kid didn't quit though, and he will get to where Trick needs him.
• Justin Mincey really has an opportunity to make MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.  You hear that Justin?  Work your butt off every day this offseason, get to 295lbs or so, start, flash your potential, and get noticed.  This is your last chance and FSU really needs you.  Even one day of slacking is too many.
• Lonnie Pryor looked a bit average.  
• Aubrey Phillips looked huge.  
• A big thanks to those who went out to practice.  

FSU leads for both Brandon Willis and Corey Miller, per Tharinger.com (thanks NoleT&T).  That's a very good thing.  FSU is going to have an elite recruiting class.

NFL Forum :: - Zone blocking scheme  there's some more on zone blocking.  

I suspect that we haven't yet heard the last of Marcus Sims at Florida State.  Good thing, he'd be an idiot to leave for a DII school.