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The 'Noles added an interesting wrinkle to their practice routine on Wednesday. They now enter and leave their practice grounds by treading along a lengthy mat painted up to resemble The Wizard of Oz's iconic yellow brick road. I asked head coach Jimbo Fisher why it was there; he smiled and responded, "We're going to see the wizard." Offensive tackle Roderick Johnson replied with the same mantra.
When asked just who the wizard was in this scenario, Fisher held back: "We can't tell you that." He tipped his hand a bit following up on the significance of the film, though: "We liked some characteristics. It's just a little thing to lock us in, just a little thing to remind us that when we hit this practice field, there's a purpose, and what our purpose is, and what we have to attain, to attain as a person and as a player, to be able to have success."
Of course, the yellow brick road is a means to end for the characters in the movie, as they too look to attain certain things as well. The scarecrow seeks a brain, the lion pursues courage, and the tin man wants a heart. If those are traits Fisher wants this team to attain, the yellow brick road may have already started paying dividends on Wednesday. After all, two of the first three specific characteristics that Fisher mentioned the Seminoles showed more of today were intelligence and toughness (i.e., courage?). What remains to be seen is the heart of this year's squad.
And then there's Dorothy's quest: she's trying to get home. So the question becomes, where is Florida State football's home? Is this a reference to a return to the College Football Playoff and the national elite? It seems more plausible than Kansas.