FSU’s Stockstill to Seminoles Fans: ‘Stay Loyal’

Rick Stockstill has taken over for Mike Norvell at Florida State (3-5) as football coach, in an interim capacity. Norvell was fired Sunday after a 41-39 record in seven seasons.

The final straw was a 36-24 loss to Clemson Saturday night.

Stockstill is a Florida State man, a former Seminoles quarterback who played for Bobby Bowden.

Stockstill addressed the media Monday for the first time and asked fans to remain loyal to the university and to the football program.

“You became a fan of Florida State because you love Florida State,” said Stockstill. “Don't let a bad game or a bad year or two bad years, don't let that steal your love and joy and passion for Florida State. Don't give up. Stay loyal to Florida State.”

The past two and a half seasons under Norvell were the times that tried fans souls.

A 10-23 overall record and 4-17 mark in ACC play pushed the fans away from the turnstiles and onto social media. There, they voiced their opinions and feelings about Florida State football.

Words like growth and execution were common themes at press conferences after fall camp, practices, and each game week.

However, they were not common themes on the field for each game day.

Stockstill will not be calling plays. Those duties will fall to offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr.

“I talked to Tim yesterday,” said Stockstill. “And Tim (Harris) will be the play caller. I'm not a micromanager. I haven't been in those offensive meetings, so it would be unfair for those offensive coaches for me to jump in here and do this or do that. So, I've got a lot of faith and trust in Tim and the offensive guys on that staff.”

Hopefully, Harris will be calling plays from a different section of the playbook than what Norvell was calling.

Under Norvell, receivers Duce Robinson and Michai Danzy were grossly underutilized.

Robinson is a 6-foot-6 possession receiver who can use his height to his advantage on contested catches, and presents a mismatch against smaller defenders.

Danzy has elite track speed and will be one of the fastest players on any field every week.

It will be interesting to see if Harris draws up plays to take more advantage of Robinson’s and Danzy’s attributes.

The focus for Stockstill this week is to motivate the players and to focus on preparing for their road game at Boston College (4-4) Saturday.

The Eagles could only muster two points in a 47-2 loss to Duke Saturday. In each of their four losses, Boston College has failed to score more than 16 points.

Can interim defensive coordinator Ernie Sims fire up the Seminoles defense to keep the Eagles on the scoring trend? That remains to be seen.

Florida State owns a 15-6 record against Boston College. The Seminoles have won 12 of the last 14 meetings, including three straight victories in Chestnut Hill.

Stockstill himself has a loyalty to Florida State, with a desire to preserve the legacy of Florida State football; to preserve the dynasty that coach Bowden built with his own two hands.

That preservation project begins with a road victory at Boston College.