Miami 24, FSU 20: Good isn’t good enough

Florida State played OK against Miami. It didn’t get blown out. It had some players play well, and some who flashed some encouraging potential.

When one player makes an error repeatedly, the blame falls on the player. When many players repeatedly make the same mistakes, and look confused, it falls on the coaching staff. The same mistakes that have been made for the last few seasons were again made Saturday night, as FSU blew another late lead, just like it did last year against Miami (but a blocked extra point saved the win for FSU in 2016), North Carolina, etc.

This is nothing new. We’ve covered this on Tomahawk Nation and on The Nolecast. So in this instant reaction episode, I tried to go more big picture. Listen in the player below, or at this direct link.

The Nolecast is available on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher, Google Play Music, Soundcloud, Overcast, and many other fine podcast providers.

Follow The Nolecast on Twitter @Nolecast.

As always, The Nolecast is brought to you by Louisiana Hot Sauce, and the fine restaurants of the Tallahassee For The Table Restaurant Group (Madison Social, Township, and Centrale).

Some changes need to be made. New voices are needed. The messages from a stale coaching staff are not getting through.

But you cannot expect Jimbo Fisher to say that. Not now.

Yes, FSU’s season is effectively over. No national title, no ACC title, no division championship, no state championship and, maybe, no bowl game.

When a coach throws out things like “pride” and “heart” as what a team can play for, he’s not wrong, but there’s also an element of being unable to articulate any actual goals.

But still, even assuming Fisher has come to the realization that changes need to be made, he cannot come out and say “this staff has gone stale, and we’ll be making coaching changes after the year.” He needs those coaches for the rest of the year.

There are still eight games left to play, however devoid of meaning they may be.