...I'm sure you can all check the Tallahassee Democrat to see who and who isn't making the trip. The defensive line and offensive line/tight end position took the biggest hits. There's absolutely no depth at either position.
Don't like to see Patrick Robinson not playing but I am excited to see Kendall Smith starting and I think he will impress fans and coaches alike.
Budd Thacker's biggest fan, I know you are disappointed and I wish you a Merry Christmas as you deal with the disappointment.
Now for the worse news.
JIMBO FISHER
No clue what has happened in the last two/three days but Jimbo Fisher is basically 50/50 on staying at FSU or leaving to go to West Virginia and for the first time I've got sources on either side that are confident he's staying or leaving.
Of course this speculation was all done thanks to a phone call, which will make some of you nauseous.
Here's the basic scenario that sounds to be the most logical:
-- West Virginia was dead set on hiring Doc Holliday (UF assistant) for the head coaching position.
-- Bobby Bowden calls the West Virginia governor on behalf of his son, Terry, and shakes the whole hiring process up as public support nods in Terry's favor.
-- West Virginia POI (people of importence) decide they might not be savvy on either coach and decide to check with Jimbo's people again.
Now here's where it gets a little strange. Fisher's agent, Jimmy Sexton, has been the one speaking on his client's behalf as Jimbo can't talk or he pays 2.5 million.
Some of you know, Sexton is the agent for Kevin Steele and previously he's tried to strong arm FSU into naming Steele as the heir apparent and was told to get lost.
Now, this time he's got the guarantee that Jimbo is the heir apparent or will be paid nicely if he isn't. But that isn't enough, he might want a definite retirement date and I have a bad feeling that he will be told to get lost again.
FSU's president TK Wetherell who has been so distraught by the academic scandals tainting the athletic program that he had to take a hunting vacation to Montana, says Jimbo needs to shit or get off the pot.
Hard to say what's going to happen here. My source that says he's leaving makes better points than the source that says he's staying. He points to the decision of top JuCo recruit LaGarrette Blount to choose Oregon over FSU despite being 50 miles from the Tallahassee campus and earlier declaring his love for the Seminoles.
If Jimbo goes he will surely take offensive line coach Rick Trickett with him and make Trickett the offensive coordinator
Some think Lawrence Dawsey would go too but I doubt it. He's the one with the ties to FSU and I don't think he'd leave the program he loves in shambles.
As for a replacement for Fisher, I wouldn't be surprised to see Bowden look to one of his previous quarterbacks. Both Brad Johnson and Chris Weinke will surely retire after this season but Casey Weldon is out there and lives in Tallahassee right now. He just finished a two-year stint as the head coach at North Florida Christian school.
We'll see what happens. It's definitely worth watching.