From Eli Drinkwitz to Jake Dickert, analyzing five Florida State coaching candidates - USA Today
Florida State is hiring: Good job, or great job?
Also, who'd want the job (other than Jimbo Fisher)?
With FSU firing Mike Norvell on the heels of a 36-24 loss to Clemson, the Seminoles moved to the top of the chart as the best job open on the market.
On this edition of “College Football Unfiltered,” a USA TODAY Sports podcast presented by Sports Seriously, host Blake Toppmeyer and his colleagues Matt Hayes and John Brice debate how good the Florida State job is in this moment. These aren't the Bobby Bowden glory days, but might the Seminoles still move the needle for a sitting Power Four coach?
Later in the episode, the crew debates Ohio State's playoff forecast after its loss at Southern Cal, and they preview the first College Football Playoff rankings.
But, on the subject of the FSU coaching search ...
Brice: Like it, if only for the content.
Hayes: I’m going to puke. How about that?
Toppmeyer: I like Drinkwitz or Dickert most from these options, and I’m joining Hayes in puking over the Fisher idea.
Brice: Good job. It’s no longer a great job — not with the modern dynamics of college football. Frankly, in-state talent just doesn’t mean as much as your ability to pay the talent, from wherever it comes. It’s still a good job. In the ACC, you have an easier path to the playoff than just about any other league, especially if the playoff goes to 24 teams.
Hayes: Is it a destination job? No, it’s probably not that anymore. But, FSU can win if you land the right guy who can recruit the state, which is full of good players, and you’re willing to commit to doing it organically and developing players and supplementing a little from the portal. Hire a guy who can do that, and you can thrive in the ACC. And if you win big in the ACC, you’re going to the playoff. Although, quite frankly, come next year, everybody’s going to the playoff, so I don’t know why we even talk about that, at this point.
Toppmeyer: In the ACC, there’s a window of opportunity for a program like Florida State to rise up. FSU is a losing program in this moment, but it shouldn’t need long to accelerate toward the top end of the conference.
Hayes: It’s easily the No. 2 job behind Miami. I mean, it’s Miami, it’s FSU, and what else, in the ACC? The big question is: If you’re SMU’s Rhett Lashlee, what do you do?
Brice: Without question, it is the No. 2 job in the ACC, although SMU has some positives of its own. Like Florida State, SMU is in a talent-rich state. SMU has tremendous resources, too. But, I’d go with FSU being the No. 2 job in the ACC, which probably puts it in the range of a top-15 job nationally.
Toppmeyer: Take away Miami, and what is the state of the ACC? It’s a hot mess. Credit Wake Forest for being the second-place team in that league, but that tells me something, too: If Wake Forest is the second-best team in the conference, then FSU can zoom up the charts if it gets this hire right.
∎ Hayes suggests a certain SEC coordinator who would be an interesting choice for Florida State.
∎ Brice says FSU could move the needle for Jake Dickert, but Hayes advises the Wake Forest coach use some caution.
∎ The hosts debate the playoff potential of Ohio State after a loss to Southern California. Time to panic at OSU, or not yet?
∎ The crew outlines what they'll be looking for in the first CFP rankings reveal on Tuesday. Will the committee get it right with Notre Dame? Also, should Miami be No. 1?
The first CFP rankings will be released at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 3. As soon as the rankings are released, Toppmeyer and Brice will go live with a special edition of College Football Unfiltered. You can watch that show on the USA TODAY Sports YouTube page.
Be sure to check out USA TODAY Sports' "College Football Unfiltered" podcast, hosted by columnist Blake Toppmeyer. You can stream episodes on YouTube or download via Apple podcasts, Spotify or iHeart. Cohosts Matt Hayes, Paul Myerberg and John Brice cover college football for USA TODAY Sports.
