Florida State Football

Florida State Mount Rushmore: Staff picks for top four FSU interior offensive linemen

Tomahawk Nation contributors give their versions of the Mount Rushmore of FSU greats, position by position.

By NoleThruandThru, FrankDNole, JonLoesche, Perry Kostidakis, and Matt Minnick Jul 18, 2023, 7:00am EDT

NCAA Football: BCS National Championship-Florida State vs Auburn

To help the off-season pass a bit faster, Tomahawk Nation is continuing our new Mount Rushmore series, where we’ll be determining the top four Seminoles at each position.

Yesterday, we posted a poll for the Tomahawk Nation community to choose their top four Seminoles at this week’s position group, and we’ll share the final poll results on Wednesday to reveal that position’s Mount Rushmore as chosen by you, Tomahawk Nation.

Today, we present to you the choices from some of our staff personalities below. These guys have delved into their considerable knowledge about Florida State Seminoles football, or quite possibly just threw darts at a board with Perry’s face on it* (we may never know).

Agree? Disagree? Let us know your thoughts on their picks in the comments and if you haven’t voted yet, hop into the poll below.

*Editor’s note: this board was not created for voodoo-related activities — rather, it was this year’s staff Christmas gift.

Who are the top four interior offensive linemen in FSU history?

Perry Kostidakis:

Rodney Hudson, Bryan Stork, Jamie Dukes, Clay Shiver

There are hard choices in life and then obvious ones — throwing Hudson up atop the mountain is one of the latter. He was an absolutely dominant force in his time in Tallahassee, starting from the moment he stepped on campus.

Stork was the glue behind a group that eventually brought another national championship to Tallahassee, establishing himself as a steady anchor at center after making the full-time switch from guard and becoming the only Rimington Trophy winner in Florida State football history.

Going back to national championship-winning centers, Shiver earns a spot in my book for effectively holding down the line in a then-unique fast-paced shotgun offense to the degree that he allowed just .5 sacks in 700 snaps and adding his name to the list of FSU’s unanimous All-Americans selections in 1995 also solidifies his case.

The last spot, for me, was between Dukes and Tre Jackson. Jackson played a part in a national title and 29-game win streak, but Dukes’ starting (and excelling in) every single game during his FSU career cannot be lauded enough, especially considering how important those years (1982-1985) were to building up Florida State as a national name.

Matt Minnick:

Rodney Hudson, Jamie Dukes, Clay Shiver, Jason Whitaker

No disrespect to some of the battles for glory at glamor positions like RB, QB, and WR, but this one was by far the toughest to date for me to pick. There’s basically one sure-fire lock, one “yeah, I gotta make room for him” kind of guy, and then a whole bunch of “but I can’t leave him off!”

Hudson is the lock. In terms of ability to excel at his position relative to his contemporaries, this dude might honestly be a top 10 player in FSU history. If he was on teams a few years later he probably would have won every award he was eligible for.

Dukes isn’t a lock, but I had to make room. Greg Allen was a freak of nature who would have excelled in any time period for FSU, but he’s a true legend in large part because of Dukes. Dukes was an athletic and powerful blocker who opened tractor sized holes behind his mammoth shoulders. He was Bobby’s bridge between the upstart years and the Dynasty.

Shiver was the best offensive lineman on FSU’s first national title team. That alone gets him consideration. What gets him onto the mountain is that he was the center for a brand new shotgun offense taking the college football world by storm. If Shiver hadn’t been skilled enough and smart enough to make all the lineman calls in a hurry-up spread offense while also shotgun snapping with pin point precision, Charlie Ward likely never becomes the man, myth, and legend that he is.

Like Shiver, Whitaker was the best offensive lineman on a national title team—and this team was the first wire-to-wire champ in college football history. Peter Warrick stole most of the shows, but Whitaker was quietly dominating the opposition play in and play out all season long.

Yes, this means I’m leaving out our only Rimington Award winner, plus a bevy of All-Americans. And perhaps most regretful of all, it meant leaving out Del Williams, a guy who not only embodied the Unconquered Seminole Spirit in life, but also in 1966 was the most decorated player at FSU despite playing with teammates Gary Pajcic and Ron Sellers. But these are the decisions we must make when debating the elite of the elite.

FrankDNole:

A) Jaime Dukes because he was an All-American for his entire career in Tallahassee.

2) Rodney Hudson because he still managed to get all that bling during the Lost Decade.

D) Jason Whitaker because he was a big part of FSU going wire-to-wire.

τέσσερα) Pat McNeil because he was a fixture on the offensive line during FSU’s first NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

NoleThruandThru:

Jamie Dukes, Rodney Hudson, Bryan Stork, Jason Whitaker

Hoooo boy, this was a tough one. Dukes and Hudson were easy choices. Stork barely- and I mean barely- got the nod over Clay Shiver. It hurt me to leave Tre Jackson off the list for the final spot but I’ve always felt that Whitaker never got enough credit at a position where any credit is tough to come by. His game didn’t translate well to the pros but it was damn-near perfect for FSU, and he served as a mentor to some young OL who went on to become total studs (Brett Williams, Montrae Holland, Todd Williams among them).

Jon Loesche:

Rodney Hudson: One of the few bright spots during Bowden's final years.

Jamie Dukes: 4x All-Americans will always get a vote from me

Bryan Stork: Glue behind the last competent OL under Jimbo

Clay Shiver: Best interior OL during the best decade in FSU history