Seminoles Chant

Florida State's First Practice Rained/Flooded Out

Hopefully for Seminole fans today wasn't an ominous sign, but Florida State cancelled their first practice of the season after heavy rains caused flooding on the practice fields.

Initially slated to begin just after 4:30, the 'Noles were just about to go through warm-ups when a lightning delay forced the team back inside and pushed the start of practice back to 5:30. After the heavy rains kicked in though, there wasn't much point. 

The practice fields had more than their fair share of standing water when the team returned around 6:30 and Fisher was not happy with the field conditions, opting to send his team back into the lockerroom once again. A lightning delay a little later ended all hope of getting any work in.

Unfortunately that means we didn't get to see a whole lot on day one. 

I was anxious to see Mario Edwards, Chris Casher and Justin Shanks up close but it looks like we'll have to wait until tomorrow to catch our first glimpse of this talented class of freshmen. I also wanted to see Bjoern Werner who is reportedly down below 260, looking leaner than ever but with more quickness and raw strength than last year. Considering how dominant the German defensive end was at times in 2011, a slimmed down, souped up version could be a scary prospect lined up opposite Brandon Jenkins this year.

If anything, this underscores Jimbo Fisher and Florida State's continued push for an indoor practice facility. Neither UF, nor FSU have one and in a state held hostage by summer thunderstorms, tropical weather and the remarkable ability to rain while it's sunny out, that can make getting a consistent practice routine challenging.

The Seminoles have made a concerted fundraising effort towards building an indoor practice facility, but as of yet have not announced any concrete plans to break ground on one.

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Kevin Haplea Recruited Himself to Florida State

Before anyone gets the wrong idea, Jimbo Fisher wanted to make it clear on Monday that Florida State didn't reach out to any Penn State players after the NCAA leveled harsh penalties against them from the Jerry Sandusky cover-up scandal. 

But one Nittany Lion did reach out to Fisher and the Seminoles.

"Kevin [Haplea] was a guy, he called us," said Fisher. "We did not go after any of the Penn State players and we're not going to, but Kevin called us, we had recruited him out of high school. He was a guy we really liked. He made contact that he was definitely going to leave Penn State and we would be one of the schools that he'd be very interested in if we were interested in him."

Fisher didn't immediately say yes. He evaluated the Seminoles roster with his coaching staff, the team happened to have an extra scholarship and they decided to use it on the 6-4, 250 lb junior tight end.

"We evaluated film on the young man, watched him, he started as a freshman and a sophomore at different times and played," said Fisher. "We watched him play, quality player, great guy. We loved him out of high school, great student, to me it was almost a no-brainer.

"We weren't trying to go pick players from Penn State but he was one that was very interested in us and we had a background on him and knew him and we though it would be another big athletic body that could help us win."

Fisher stressed that a team can never have enough big bodies, especially athletic ones. Then ended on a lighter note:

"It was like getting a free agent at the end and we had cap room."

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Jimbo Fisher Addresses Greg Reid's Dismissal

It was only a matter of time before someone broached the question about Greg Reid. Jimbo Fisher and Florida State decided last Wednesday to dismiss the talented senior corner after another in a long line of off-the-field incidents landed him in a Georgia jail last month. 

Thus far, FSU had issued only a brief statement announcing Reid's dismissal and had remained quiet on the topic. At today's opening press conference, coach Fisher finally addressed the incident directly.

"I love Greg to death, it was just a situation where rules are rules and it's what we have to go by and we wish Greg the best," said Fisher. "I don't think it's the end of his career, he can still play and reach all his goals and I wanted him in here as bad as anybody, but that's part of being a head coach [making tough decisions]."

Fisher admitted that it was a very difficult decision and that he personally thinks very highly of Reid, even now. But unfortunately, at some point, the axe has to fall. Reid was no stranger to trouble, having also been arrested in the past year for lying to police about an incident involving a motorized scooter.

Many around the program thought that Fall 2011 arrest would be his last, the talk around spring practice was that Reid had turned a corner and was growing into a mature team leader.

Unfortuantely that didn't seem to be the case, as last month he was arrested for driving on a suspended licencse and under suspicion of marijuana possession.

To his credit, it seems Reid has been extremely mature about the entire situation and that this was as amicable a parting of ways as could be had given the circumstances.

Reid certainly came off as thoughtful and contrite when he was interviewed last week by Jeff Cameron on the local ESPN radio affiliate, and Fisher confirmed that he has handled this most recent situation with plenty of maturity.

"Greg was very mature, he understood, I mean he was very saddened," said Fisher. "We had a great conversation, a very sad conversation, but I'll be happy to help in any way that I can."

Reid is currently on track to graduate, it's likely he'll transfer to another an FCS school and enter the 2013 draft as a mid-round prospect. Fisher pointed to Janoris Jenkins as a parallel.

In the meantime, FSU will hold auditions at field corner and punt returner to find Reid's replacement.

Sophomore Nick Waisome is currently penciled in on the depth chart at corner, but juniors Terrance Brooks and Lamarcus Joyner, as well as sophomore Tyler Hunter and freshman Ronald Darby could also fill the role.

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Highlights From Jimbo Fisher's Opening Press Conference

Jimbo Fisher just spoke for about 40 minutes here inside Doak Campbell in front of press. It was your run-of-the-mill introductory press conference, with Coach Fisher talking up his team, giving a few injury updates and answering a gamut of questions.

The presser wasn't without its highlights though, from Fisher dropping a Drake reference to thoughts on the team's use of Twitter and reflections on the one-year anniversary of the launch of his Kidz First charity organization.

Here are some highlights...

Chris Thompson Returns

Last season there was question as to whether or not running back Chris Thompson would ever even play again after breaking his back. Heading into 2012 though, Thompson (now a senior), is not only fully recovered but looks to factor into the mix at tailback, challenging sophomores Devonta Freeman and James Wilder for reps.

"Thompson is fully healthy," said Fisher. "He said he hasn't felt this good since he can't remember when. He changed how he trains, changed everything about him and got the healing in his back. We changed a lot of things in our routine that we do with him [too]."

Thompson, the team's most experienced tailback, will look to help improve a rushing attack that finished last season ranked 104th in the nation.

D-Line Looks Scary

Florida State's defensive line was already amongst the best in the nation. Last season the Seminoles defensive unit ranked 4th nationally as a whole, but finished 2nd (behind only national champion Alabama) in run defense and 8th overall in the nation in sacks. 

FSU returns their entire defensive line for 2012 in addition to adding highly touted recruits like Chris Casher and Mario Edwards Jr. this past off-season. As if the personnel wasn't enough to frighten opposing offenses already, coach Fisher sees the greatest improvement in the bodies of his young defensive linemen.

"I'll tell you what, a lot of those young defensive linemen you can see the baby fat come off," said Fisher. "They trained for a year, ate right, the nutrition, those younger guys you see the bodies really transform."

Fisher pointed to players like sophomore Tim Jernigan, junior Bjoern Werner and seniors Tank Carradine and Brandon Jenkins as some of his most improved in the weight room.

Blocking Distractions

Florida State has had no shortage of off-the-field issues to contend with this past summer, one way that coach Fisher and the 'Noles intend to try and prevent some of those issues are through better education in regards to social media.

"Everybody says we're banning Twitter," said Fisher. "We're not banning it, we're going to educate the use of it before its ever reinstated. I think it's a powerful thing, words. Words are maybe the most powerful thing you have out there and you have to appreciate how you say them and what you do with them before you go spurting them off."

Kidz 1st Anniversary

It's been a year since Jimbo and Candi Fisher launched the Kidz 1st fund, an iniative to help raise awareness and money to fight Fancomi Anemia, a serious condition that the Fisher's youngest son was diagnosed with last year. Fisher reflected on the work the organization has done in its first year, but more importantly the perspective it's given him.

"It's been crazy," said Fisher. "It's put a lot of things into perspective for me. You only get one go-round at these things, so make all the time you spend with people, every time you coach [count], you don't know when anything can happen in your life, all of us. So enjoy every day. In the beginning it was a down thing, you have to recover from it, but now it's changed my outlook to a positive. Live life.

"They say it all the time, those kids, YOLO, 'you only live once.' And you take it as a joke, but I'll tell you now, when things get put into perspective for you, you've got to remember something: you can't take things with you. I got a great job, I'm in a great atmosphere, I'm going to have fun with it, going to coach the heck out of [this team], we're going to win and do it in a positive way and not always worry sometimes about what you can lose, but worry about what you can have."

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Kicking Off 2012

It's Monday, August 6th, Jimbo Fisher has just finished his opening press conference and the Florida State football team is set to take the field for their first practice today at 4:55. Football is finally back!

This year, to expand our coverage of the Seminoles the Miami Herald has added a Florida State blog to the sports section. This will let us give you better access, more insight and all-around better coverage of the 'Noles. In addition to our regularly scheduled content, including team features, practice rails, game previews and of course our gameday coverage, now you can check in with us on the typepad a few times a day for even more updates and access. 

My goal is to make this one of the premiere places to come for Florida State news and analysis, no pay-walls or gimmicks, just great coverage. So keep checking back every now and then and follow me on Twitter.

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