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March is here, which means that madness isn’t far behind. For those of us who love this time of year for the greatest collegiate tournament in sports, the NCAA Men’s & Women’s Basketball Tournament. While our Noles Men’s team won’t be joining the field of 68 this postseason, we can cheer on the Women’s team and any other team we may secretly root for while we wait for the next baseball game from our undefeated (Read that again D1 Baseball) Men’s baseball team.
As great as the madness is for college basketball, it’s not the only sport that is getting ready to experience the madness of March. I would wager that this spring for the FSU Football team will be one that will be filled with a little madness of its own.
This week starts Mike Norvell and his coaching staff’s fifth spring football offseason. College football teams across the country get about 14 practices where coaches can work directly with players in almost a fall camp-like situation.
This is an opportunity for coaches to see where improvements have been made from the off-season conditioning program (in FSU’s case, Tour of Duty) and what is the current makeup of this team from a talent, scheme, and numbers standpoint. These spring practices will reveal what positions may not be solidified and where the coaches need to dive into the Transfer Portal to shore up. It also will reveal who on the current roster might be prime candidates to enter the transfer portal themselves.
Take all of that and include the fact that the FSU Athletic Administration is in the midst of a $265 million stadium renovation project of Doak Campbell Stadium that will be the cause of many frustrating moments for not only the spring game but also the 2024 home football season. The school is also in the midst of suing the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) to exit the conference without having to pay what has been estimated to be around $500 million for their media rights. Put all that together, and what you get is spring madness! With that in mind, I thought it would be a fun exercise to list the top sixteen questions – similar to the NCAA Tournament bracket – that we might have coming into these spring practices.
16. How frustrated will fans who attend the Spring Game in a severely reduced capacity Doak Campbell be?
15. Will the coaching staff utilize the same format for the Spring Game as before?
14. Will high school sensation TE Landen Thomas challenge for starting reps?
13. Is this a true QB competition between DJU & Brock Glenn?
12. How much faster is this team than last season’s team?
11. Will Darrell Jackson live up to the practice reports from last season?
10. What will the two-deep look like for the defensive line?
9. Who will slot in as the heir apparent to Jared Verse and Branden Fiske?
8. Will Julian Armella be a contributor or a transfer?
7. What five will emerge for the offensive line as fall camp starters (penciled in)?
6. What to make of Richie Leonard IV & TJ Ferguson and their addition to the line?
5. Will we see Hykeem Williams 2.0?
4. WR1 & W2: Who takes over for Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson?
3. Who will lock down the other Safety position?
2. Who will emerge as the clear #2 LB alongside DJ Lundy?
1. Will Mike Norvell and Tony Tokarz be able to unlock the accuracy issues with DJ Uiagalelei?
While questions 15-16 won’t necessarily affect the performance of the team (if you know anything about March Madness, you know 15th seeds and 16th seeds are a combined 13-291 vs 1st and 2nd seeds), those two questions really do affect the fans not only for the spring game but moving into the actual fall season. How FSU’s administration and coaching staff answer those questions will determine how much fans participate in this year’s spring game.
For questions 14 through 1, we here at Plant the Spear will lock in to see if we can gather and get to you, our beloved fans, those answers. Stay tuned for any and all Spring Football Coverage of Florida State Football right here at Plant the Spear.
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