Seminoles Chant

Bryan Stork, Seminole Offensive Line Not Buckling Under Pressure

You're going to read it in every single college football preview, in every publication across the country. You're going to hear pundits say it on TV and sports talk radio hosts repeat it millions of time on the air. Anybody who knows what they're talking about understands the Seminoles are only going to be as good as their offensive line allows them to be this year.

Last year their line was porous, ranking 104th in the run and allowing far too many sacks. Granted it was largely due to injuries, but it was the team's achilles heel nonetheless. 

This season, with one of the nation's top defenses, a fifth-year senior quarterback and plenty of young, if unproven talent at the skill positions, it's just a matter of fact that the offense can only be as good as the offensive line. 

The pressure is on. They will be under a magnifying lense all season, the natural scapegoats for any Florida State missteps.

But redshirt junior offensive tackle Bryan Stork and the rest of the unit are tuning it out.

"We don't really listen to all the media stuff," said Stork. "We don't talk about it, but we know what we've got to do and it's just got to be one day at a time."

One Day at a Time

The Seminoles will look to overhaul a line that was decimated by injuries and inconsistency last season. The lone standout, tackle Zebrie Sanders, is now a Buffalo Bill leaving more than a few questions for a unit that saw ten different players start at points last season.

Right now converted defensive lineman Cameron Erving, a redshirt sophomore, is lining up opposite Stork as a starting tackle. At 6-6, 310, Erving has the size and athleticism to make the transition, he just needs time and reps to nail it down.

"[Cam's] doing good," said Stork. "I think defense helped him play offense, he's improving every day and he should do well."

The team also brought a pair of international players, guys who took the JuCo route, to compete at offensive tackle. Daniel Glauser is originally from Rheinfelden, Switzerland while Menelik Watson hails from Manchester, England.

They each have some junior college experience, but are transitioning to major college football.

"They're getting it, they're smart kids," Stork observed. "I think they'll be fine, you can tell it's probably a little bit different in JuCo as far as game speed, but they'll adjust quickly. They have no choice."

Watson in particular is intriguing, as I mentioned yesterday, he has very little experience but boasts staggering athletic measurables, a massive frame and loads of potential.

"I'm kind of jealous I've been playing football since I was like 11, it's just cool that someone can be that athletically gifted," admitted Stork. "He's got a good head on his shoulder and a good work ethic, I'm sure he'll be fine."

Former St. Thomas Aquinas standout Bobby Hart, a sophomore who saw considerable action last season, will also factor into the mix at tackle. At center sophomore Austin Barron, another Aquinas alumni who saw extensive action in 2011 is penciled in again as the starter.

And at guard, the Noles currently list Josue Matias and Tre Jackson as the starters in front of Jakob Fahrenkrug and Garrett Faircloth. While Fahrenkrug and Faircloth both saw starts last season Matias and Jackson have been impressive early on.

"I go against the guards, so I mean both of them have improved crazy levels. Before they were just freshmen they were okay but now they've gotten a lot better," said senior defensive tackle Everett Dawkins. "Both of them are athletic and big, you know they can pass block and run block."

One of the biggest bonuses for this offensive line is that they get to cut their teeth against one of the best lines in the country. Maybe the best, FSU is deep, returning the entire unit from last year (2nd overall vs. rush, 8th in sacks) in addition to adding four extremely high-profile blue-chip prospects to the mix this offseason. 

That means every day, every rep the offensive line is working against fresh, talented defensive players. And they're getting better one day at a time.

Things Far From Settled

Right now you get the sense that the Rick Trickett's line is far from finalized, players are still rounding into form, developing and learning to play alongside one another. But whatever the final arrangement is, those around the program expect the line to take a major step forward.

And look for them to be able to scrap a little.

"Yeah most definitely they're [going to be] scrappy, if there's one thing you can bet, [it's] Coach Trickett, his offensive line's always going to be scrappy," said Dawkins. "But they're also big man, the guys put a lot of weight on so it's not as easy as it used to be to get them up off of you."

Stork credits a lot of the improved strength along the line to a new conditiong regimine over the offseason that was, as he put it, "balls to the wall."

The new conditioning program along with the chance to battle one of the top defensive lines in the country on a daily basis in practice should pay huge dividends come September, but Stork and the O-Line don't want to get ahead of themselves.

"Everybody's pretty confident," said Stork. "We're feeling well about ourselves, we're on a mission to turn everything around and we just have to take a it a day at a time to get there."

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One Year After Launching Kidz 1st Jimbo Fisher Has Fresh Perspective

Just over a year ago the Fisher family was rocked by tragic news when their youngest son, Ethan, was diagnosed with Fancomi Anemia. 

After the family circled their wagons and processed everything, they decided to use their public status and Ethan's diagnosis as a platform to raise awareness in the hopes of not just helping their own child, but others affected by the disorder as well.

It was then that the Kidz 1st fund was born, and in the year since its launch it's had some pretty profound effects. According to Kidz 1st:

"FA is a genetic disease which causes possible birth defects, bone marrow failure, and eventually leads to cancer years earlier than the general population."

The odds you knew anything about this rare disease before Kidz 1st were slim-to-nil, unless of course you knew someone affected by it.

A year after launching the foundation though, Kidz 1st has made an impact by leading an awareness-raising legislative campaign in Washington DC in addition to raising over 500,000 dollars in contributions towards FA research at the University of Minnesota's Amplatz Childrens' Hospital. 

Perhaps one of the less noted impacts though has been on Florida State's head coach.

"[It's been] crazy, it really has been, it's put a lot of things into perspective for me in a different way," said Fisher of the past year of his life. "But also, the urgency, like they say you only get one go-round with these things. So make all the times you spend with people, all the time you coach [count]. We don't know when anything can happen in life, so enjoy every day."

Fisher, who is known for his fiery, no non-sense demeanor, admits the scare with his youngest son and the philanthropic work that scare has inspired has given him a fresh perspective on life.

"In the beginning it was a down thing, because you have to recover from it. But now what I think it's done is it's changed my outlook to a positive. Live life. They say it all the time, them kids, YOLO, you only live once," remarked Fisher, causing a ripple of laughter to burst through the back of the room.

"And you take it as a joke, but I'm going to tell you now, [when] things get put into perspective for you, you've got to remember something, you can't take things with you."

That new perspective has rubbed off on his team, it's inherent in the message he delivers to his team about quiet confidence. Not outward brashness but a calm, inward confidence in your preparation, program, coach's expectations and in your teammates. It may be sutble to some of the newcomers, but others like fifth-year senior QB EJ Manuel have noticed the slight shift in tone.

"Definitely, like [we've talked about] with a quiet confidence, Jimbo seems very relaxed and that always makes us relaxed," said Manuel.

Manuel was one of the first players Jimbo recruited when he arrived in Tallahassee as Bobby Bowden's offensive coordinator and the head-coach-in-waiting. Their relationship spans back to high school, Manuel is now heading into his fifth collegiate season under Fisher's tutelege.

After countless hours working in close proximity, if anyone on this team knows its head coach, its Manuel.

"You pretty much take the attitude that you get from your head coach, so when [Coach Fisher's] in good spirits we're in good spirits and when he's not, we're not," said Manuel. "He's our leader and he's who we look to in good and bad times. I think he's excited about the season, I think he sees a lot in us, he was talking about potential but we have to bring our potential into action."

That's a prospect Fisher seems confident in when you listen to him describe his seniors and the effect having three full recruiting classes in-house has had on the overall caliber of the athletes. And while a coach is always positive at the beginning of the season, Fisher's shift in tone seems to be a bit more genuine, a bit less steeped in false bravado.

"I've got a great job, I'm in a great atmosphere, I'm going to have fun with it, coach the heck out of them and 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," opined Fisher. 

"I think our world all the time worries about what you can lose or what can't happen and this and that, well what about what can happen? How about thinking positive and living every day and appreciating every day? This [past year] put it in a whole new perspective for me."

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The Early Read: Chris Thompson Leading Through Experience

As I touched on last night, Chris Thompson has had a long, harrowing recovery from two fractured vertebrae last October. If anyone understands what it's like to suffer through a bad injury, it's Thompson.

One of the upsides of that experience though, which Thompson genuinely believes made him a stronger person, is the new brand of leadership that he's able to provide for the underclassmen.

That was on display yesterday when Thompson spoke about keeping the spirits of recently injured RB Mario Pender up as he misses the season.

Pender, a freshman who enrolled early and went through spring practice was felled by a groin injury that will require season-ending surgery. It's especially difficult when you consider all that Pender sacraficed to get a jump on his freshman season. The first-year tailback will end up taking a redshirt year and will spend the rest of the season rehabbing from the sideline like Thompson was forced to do last season.

Just as he did when a back injury caused sophomore tailback Devonta Freeman to miss the spring, Thompson is stepping up to offer support to his injured teammate.

"It was in the spring, I was talking to him because I knew what had happened, he'd told me what the whole problem was," said Thompson about Pender's groin injury. "I'm glad the coaches and the trainers finally realized, just go in and do what needed to be done because you never know, maybe today or tomorrow it could get worse."

Now comes the hard part though. Coping.

"I'm just going to have to keep him up, the same way as when Devonta [Freeman] missed the spring," Thompson offered. "That's my job as a senior running back to keep freshmen up, to keep their spirits up, because I know that he's saying that's he's alright right now and I said the same when I was hurt, but when you really get alone and think about it, it's really going to hit him."

Or as Ernest Hemingway once put it: "It's awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night is another thing."

Thompson knows that because he's been through it. He's been through and now come out the other side. He learned how to be productive as an injured player taking mental reps and keeping his head in the practice even though his body was unable to hack it.

"I was able to stand back and just look at our defense, just trying to look at the linebacker's demeanor, what the safety's doing, all that kind of stuff," said Thompson. "In the run game it was just helping me with the pre-snap reads which that's something all the coaches are on us hard about, and I was able to see all of that real [well]. I think that's helping me out now, I'm seeing things a lot better than I was before."

Those are the kinds of lessons he can impart unto Pender, that he shared with Freeman this past Spring. That you can still improve even while you're injured.

You hear so much talk about NFL players learning to "become professionals," but that exists at every level. All that's referring to is an attention to detail, a regimented approach that is as mental as it is physical. 

Thompson is that kind of player.

"Chris is one of THE guys on the team, he's the glue," said Jimbo Fisher. "He's not only a great player talent-wise, but he's a glue guy from a work ethic and character [standpoint], what he represents when you think of a Florida State football player, that's what you want to represent. He's going to work, whatever he needs to do, Chris does."

Including offering guidance to underclassmen as they fight back from injury. Thompson can help young Seminoles rehab and return from injury the right way, he's already lead by example. 

Now it's Mario Pender's turn to listen.

"It all happened for a reason, that's how I like to think about things, it may turn out good for him," said Thompson. "I hate it happened, but it happened, so I'm going to just have to keep him up, talk to him. All of us, all of our teammates are going to have to just keep him going because he's a really good player and he will be in the future."

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