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As I reported Tuesday, Florida State will appear on Showtime’s A Season With ... television program. Similar to the NFL’s Hard Knocks, the network profiles a team’s season. And that means all of it. Every meeting, practice, etc. is filmed, then condensed into a show that runs each Tuesday. Notre Dame was the team profiled in 2015, but a source told Tomahawk Nation that FSU was actually considered, but declined to participate.
What changed?
A source tells Tomahawk Nation that Jimbo Fisher and his staff reviewed the Notre Dame series and were satisfied with the level of editorial control the team could exercise over the final product. With concerns over what happens to all the film that will be shot (30+ hours weekly) assuaged, FSU gave the green light.
We are told that Showtime is committed to telling the story of the season on a weekly basis, but that it is also committed to making the franchise an annual success, and that it knows if it shows content that coaches really wouldn’t want shown, future coaching staffs are likely to turn down the network’s attempt to feature their school.
The feeling is also that the 2016 version of the Seminoles is also more mature than the 2015 group.
Recruiting
The show is likely to help recruiting as well, not that FSU needs much help as it has signed an elite class each year under Jimbo Fisher.
Notre Dame has seen a recruiting benefit.
"You know where I saw the biggest impact on the road? Particularly in California," Notre Dame offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Mike Sanford said. "California is a place where each high school coach I went to in the course of (a recruiting trip), they mentioned stories that came from that particular show or ways that Coach Kelly handled certain situations and how they learned from that.
Logistics
Showtime will travel a crew of 15-20 people and the editing turnaround is extremely tight. With a Tuesday night showtime, crews will work day and night Sunday and Monday to get it produced.