Seminoles Chant

Quick Hits From Two-A-Days

Florida State held its first fully padded practice of the season this morning. After a brief weather delay the Seminoles took the field a little after 10 AM and worked until 12:30. The practice was the first of two scheduled workouts on Saturday as the team continues to prepare for their September 1st opener against Murray State.

It was an overcast day with intermittent showers throughout the late morning and afternoon, but the storms held off long enough to allow the Seminoles to get their work in. The media was booted after the first half hour, but we did still have enough of an opportunity to catch a few things around practice.

-Junior LB Telvin Smith continues to lead both by word and example. Early on during special teams drills Smith was flying around, getting after teammates and begging coach Fisher to let him pop a return-man or two. Each time as Smith would hustle to the back of the line you'd hear him as he passed Fisher, "let me hit him just one time, coach!"

-Ronald Darby was flashing his ability again in the limited time we were permitted to watch. Every day it seems like the talented true freshman is growing a little bit more and given some of the praise he's been receiving from his coaches and teammates, I would be really surprised if Darby doesn't have a significant role on the defense by the start of week one.

-It was the first day that FSU did any redzone work. Coach Fisher said much of the period was spent ironing out details.

"That was the first day down there on [redzone] so we had to iron out a lot on both sides," said Fisher. "The coverages you've got to do and how they change, the routes and the runs, and blocking. It's a little quicker, a little faster, but for the first day I liked the attitude."

-Fisher said he was very impressed early on with the level of play from his offensive linemen once the pads went on.

"Extremely impressed, they're moving people, blocking people, the line of scrimmage is not coming backwards. I mean very, very pleased the progress they're making."

-The level of competition all over the field has been extremely high and that's something that Fisher is thrilled about. It's what him and his staff have been building towards.

"[You see that] on good football teams," said Fisher emphatically. "[It's] for pride. Those guys, if you're a really successful player you don't know how to turn that off, that [competition] happens naturally."

-Anthony McCloud will be out a few weeks with a partially torn pectoral, meanwhile Jacobbi McDaniels is yet to participate in team drills of yet and continues to rehab doing individual work off to the side.

Not a ton else to report, FSU has one more workout tonight and then will have Media/Fan day tomorrow. Fan Day is open to the public at noon at the Leon County Civic Center and the event will be followed by an open practice at Doak Campbell Stadium. 

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Taking a Look Back at Week One of Seminole Camp

It's been a busy first week in Tallahassee as the 7th ranked Seminoles prepare for the start of their season on September 1st.

The Herald has been here covering it all, and putting it right here on the new Miami Herald Florida State blog. As of this posting (at 9:30) Florida State is going through the first of it's two Saturday workouts, so why not spend Saturday morning taking a look back over the first week of Florida State's camp and catching up on anything you might have missed.

Here are the highlights:

The week started with Jimbo Fisher addressing the Greg Reid dismissal.

We also found out more about former Penn State TE Kevin Haplea's decision to transfer to FSU.

Based on depth and his recovery from last year's ankle injury, senior Jacobbi McDaniel could redshirt.

Chris Thompson is back from a broken back and feeling better than ever.

Thompson is also using his experience being injured to mentor young players.

Bryan Stork and the O-Line are prepared to tackle expectations.

Jimbo Fisher sees the game slowing down for his senior class.

The Seminoles will not be using Twitter early on this season.

Lonnie Pryor may see more time at tailback thanks to depth issues.

And finally, freshmen Kelvin Benjamin and Ronald Darby have stood out so far...

Also, if you didn' check out this morning's edition of the Early Read, Lamarcus Joyner is ready to be a leader...

I'll have a practice update coming a little bit later this morning and couple of other updates for the evening. The Seminoles second practice is at 7:30 this evening. 

Florida State will be holding it's annual Fan Day event tomorrow, Sunday August 12th, at the Leon County Civic Center. Afterwards the team will hold an open practice at Doak Campbell stadium that fans may attend. It will be the only practice open to fans all season.

Check back in a bit...

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The Early Read: Lamarcus Joyner is Ready to Lead

It's 5:25 in the morning on Wednesday and I'm fumbling around with my cell phone and a cup of coffee trying to make it from the parking lot to the FSU practice field. You can see players trickling in from the lockerroom down the sidewalk by where the gate is, but from off in the distance on the field comes the sounds of someone hollering, trying to fire up any groggy teammates before things really get going.

How can anyone be awake this early?

It's not hard for Lamarcus Joyner, he's on a personal mission to help Florida State reclaim its place atop the national landscape, if that means waking up a little earlier, Joyner seems happy to oblige.

"We're trying to take this program in a different direction," says Joyner later that morning. "We're trying to win. Whatever the head man wants, that's we're going to do. If he wants us out there an hour earlier at 4:30, we'll do that."

Since speaking with Joyner for the first time last Fall, a constant theme with him has been his personal desire to see Florida State return to its old form.

Joyner grew up a die-hard Seminoles fan down in Hurricane country. Born in 1990, he spent the first dozen years of his life watching the Seminoles win two titles and finish top five every year while dominating the college landscape. In high school at St. Thomas Aquinas he became a star, receiving national attention, garnering a five star rating and earning offers from dozens of top programs. Florida State had slipped from college football's elite by then, but there was never any doubt, he was always going to be a Seminole. 

And as he told me last Fall, Joyner didn't just want to say he went to Florida State. He wants to be part of the group who brought it back. Now a junior and one of the most experienced players in the secondary, Joyner knows it's his time to lead.

And you can hear it out at practice, even at 5:30 AM

"To see a lot of guys feeding off the energy I bring out there is just a great feeling," Joyner says. "I have to be more of a leader and I expect to embrace that role this year."

While Joyner admits it was a step that he naturally had to make he's also keenly aware that with Greg Reid no longer a part of the team, the Seminoles also need leaders right now too.

"That's just a natural progression for me. But it's [also important] to replace the energy that Greg brought," says Joyner. "I feel like I have a bigger load on my shoulders so I have to embrace it."

Part of growing into a better leader has been learning to control himself and be a better student of the game.

"To be honest, last year I kind of went out there and played off athletic ability," admits Joyner.

"This year, you know it's kind of tough when you're trying to learn the game instead of actually playing it off of ability and Coach Stoops is really helping me with that, then you have Coach Fisher on the other side helping controlling me, keeping that discipline to stay consistent. That was something I needed to improve on, to stay consistent."

Joyner, for all his maturity off the field, can be extremely fiery on it. He's been responsible for the occasional late hit or unnecessary roughness foul in a game, he's been know to mix it up and at practice, his propensity for laying the big hit is occasionally an issue. Part of Joyner's evolution has been learning to reel that in.

"It can be tough sometimes, but after a year of being a starter, being coached the right way by Coach Fisher, being disciplined the right way I can calm down now and turn it off when I need to," says Joyner.

Another reporter follows up by asking if that goes against the hard-hitting safety's instincts.

He smiles wryly, "yeah..."

It's important that Joyner can turn it off now though and is fully ready to embrace his role as the leader of the Florida State secondary. Junior corner Xavier Rhodes is also immensely talented and the two of them should provide the Seminoles with stability, but uncertainty at the other two spots makes Joyner's leadership all the more vital.

The team is still holding auditions at field corner, but opposite Joyner, junior Terrance Brooks is making the transition from corner to safety. So far, according to Joyner, things are going well.

"It's going great because I'm always at peace with my teammates. We're trying to better each other and Terrance Brooks is a great kid," Joyner says. "He waited a long time and now he has this opportunity. I'm there with him, to support him."

There's plenty of expectations circling around the Seminoles this season, and many believe they are poised to return to the place of prominence they held in the 90's. While some back down in the face of expectation you get the sense this is right where Joyner wants to be. It's certainly part of what he came to FSU for.

But now the junior is trying to make sure Florida State delivers. That means stepping up in the secondary and making sure his energy rubs off on his teammates at practice – no matter how early.

"We've got to build that competition level [at practice] to get better," says Joyner. "We can't come out there head down, we've got bring the energy. That's what makes you better."

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