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Me and @aadelsonESPN spent 4 months talking to more than 4 dozen people for an autopsy on FSU's fall from dominance. I hope you'll read the story. But wanted to share a little more insight here, too. A quick 
ā¦ https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30331494/deep-deep-hole-6-year-unraveling-florida-state-football
ā¦ https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30331494/deep-deep-hole-6-year-unraveling-florida-state-football
First, this story is unique to FSU because Tallahassee is a unique place & the Seminoles are a unique brand. But many of the lessons of FSU's downturn are evident in what's happening at Texas, Michigan, Nebraska and elsewhere. Making a CFB program work at an elite level is HARD.
The key to success is two-fold: You have to have the right people win the right roles, and all those people have to be pulling in the same direction. That sounds simple but it's not. Think of the motivations for each power player in FSU's story...
AD's goal is comprehensive excellence for all sports, managing a $150M budget.
Coach's goal is to win championships at any cost.
Boosters goal is to raise $ & placate donors.
President's goal is manage image for entire school.
Donorsā goals are to get return on investment.
Coach's goal is to win championships at any cost.
Boosters goal is to raise $ & placate donors.
President's goal is manage image for entire school.
Donorsā goals are to get return on investment.
Thatās a very fragile ecosystem. The Venn diagram of each person's vision will inherently have some overlap, but also a bunch of individual and often conflicting goals.
Add in the egos involved, and it should never be a shock that a combustible situation arises. Again, see Texas, Michigan, etc. We should prob be better at celebrating when it all works. Example: Jimbo & Dabo wanted same things - one was better at getting others to buy in.
Or just think of the different personalities and backgrounds for a school president with a PhD, an AD whoād been at Duke and ND, a coal minerās kid coaching a football team who worked for Nick Sabanā¦ Those guys donāt all end up at the same bar sharing beers in the real world.
So big question at the end of FSU story: Who's the bad guy? It's the wrong question. There are no bad guys. Jimbo, Willie, Andy Miller, Wilcox, Thrasher and dozens of others there all wanted to see FSU succeed. But the definition of success and the path to get there diverged.
Other big question: How long will it take for FSU to get back? Again, wrong question. FSU desperately needs to stop trying to placate the message boards. That's letting the tail wag the dog. The turning point will be getting the right people in place to sell a unified vision.
I think FSU made real progress in that direction. Nearly all we talked to praised Mike Norvell but said he can't succeed without patience. Perhaps more important though was the praise of Michael Alford, who is actively working on defining and selling that unified vision.
The guy I wish we couldāve written more about was Monk Bonasorte ā the one guy with zero ego and only cared about seeing FSU be great. He could take a tongue lashing from Jimbo and still smile, could hear Boostersā budget concerns and explain them to the son of a coal miner.
Monkās wife told me a great tidbit that, on their 1st date, Monk took her to an FSU booster meeting. Thatās what he did for fun. At their wedding, he slipped an FSU champ ring over his wedding band. People trusted him because they knew he had FSUās best interest at heart always.
Every program needs people like that to succeed, and perhaps thatās the piece FSU is still looking for. Monk died from brain cancer in 2016, and every source we talked to noted the timing.
So here's the real takeaway: There are great folks @ FSU. They're smart people who care about their school & program. To put all that talent & effort into a single vision for success will take the program a long, long way. Just got start pulling together & give it time to work.
And I say all this hoping I still have a few friends left there after this story and we can go grab a beer and a burger with me at Birdās next time Iām in Tallahassee. 
