December 22, 2025<\/a><\/p>\nWhen I was in college playing baseball, we did it all. We had strength and conditioning, regular practice, hitting and fielding drills, situational drills, film analysis from intersquad scrimmages, etc. \u00a0<\/p>\n
However, it was up to me to come to practice early to get work in, stay late to do it, and come in on our off days. It was up to me to watch the film in my dorm room. Our coaches tried to motivate us. However, our coach had a saying. \u201cThe best motivator is yourself.\u201d <\/p>\n
So I say that to say this. FSU fans want to blame the coaches for the lack of player development. That\u2019s fair; there\u2019s plenty of blame to go around. However, the majority of the blame should go to the player. Every player has their own circumstances that impact things. Injuries, some get homesick, some are immature and don\u2019t understand how things work yet. Some players don\u2019t understand they have to do more than the bare minimum because they\u2019ve always been the best wherever they grew up. All of those are factors that limit player development. It\u2019s up to the coaches to help guide that young man through that process.<\/p>\n
However, ultimately, if that player doesn\u2019t want to do all of the extra work required to be great? He won\u2019t be great. He\u2019ll fold under pressure when his number is called. Jameis Winston said it best a few weeks ago. He said, \u201cPressure is for the unprepared.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think FSU coaches have held these players to the fire, but as a dog, you gotta WANT to be held to the fire. FSU lost a ton of leadership from that 2023 team. That team was full of dogs who wanted to prove themselves. Jordan Travis, Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, Trey Benson, Johnny Wilson, and I could keep going. They all had obstacles to clear to become great. They all motivated one another to get better. They did it with a bunch of coaches who got fired, and we think they are terrible coaches. Those are all transfer players, but they developed because they came to FSU with little to no production and became NFL Draft selections. <\/p>\n
The same could be said for all of the high school players from the 2024 recruiting class. Kam Davis, Landen Thomas, Edwin Joseph, Cai Bates, Elijah Moore, Camdon Frier, DD Holmes, etc. All four stars who made little to no impact at FSU. <\/p>\n
Lawayne McCoy and Micahi Danzy have become contributors. They are from the same class and had the same coaching as Elijah Moore<\/a>. Why did they develop, and he didn\u2019t, when he\u2019s arguably the most physically talented of the three?<\/p>\nHowever, when we look at some players from the 2025 recruiting class. The Desir twins, Shamar Arnoux, Ousmane Kromah, and Chavez Thompson. Some others would have been contributors if not for injuries. Those guys came in with the attitude that they had something to prove, and they got playing time. \u00a0<\/p>\n
FSU coaches must do a better job of identifying players who can motivate themselves. True, it\u2019s more difficult than ever to do that when players get paid now. However, it must be done because everyone has to do it. However, it’s also why you see players leaving programs all across the country. It’s not just an FSU problem.<\/p>\n
The biggest thing missing from FSU is the best players influencing everyone else to meet the standard. If players are laughing after losing to Stanford, and the best players on the team aren\u2019t checking them? That\u2019s a problem.<\/p>\n
That means they aren\u2019t checking them at practice when they mess up. They aren\u2019t checking them if they are late to meetings, they aren\u2019t checking them if they are playing around in the weight room, etc. Recruiting self-motivated players with talent is the best way to get the team to police itself. That policing ensures that guys are prepared to practice the right way, and practicing the right way encourages competition and development. <\/p>\n
Once that happens, the habits formed at practice transfer over to actual games, and guys want to play for one another because they\u2019ve been in the fire together. FSU has had more than enough talent to go 7-17 over the past two years. The 2024 recruiting class had a 70 percent blue-chip ratio, yet over half of that class has already exited without contributing. If guys are just freelancing, doing the bare minimum or less, and it doesn\u2019t hurt to lose? You get what we\u2019ve gotten the past two years.<\/p>\n