As many of you are aware, Jimbo Fisher talks a mile a minute, but I made the attempt of transcribing a good bit of his National Signing Day press conference anyway. These will be paraphrased quotes unless noted otherwise and I will share a few thoughts as well.
1. Staff did an excellent job and worked really hard and were thorough, but the players did an outstanding job at recruiting and selling the program. If recruits get around players and the players don’t sell the program, it makes a huge difference.
Pretty straight forward. This appears to be very true, as most recruits leave Florida State feeling like they've been in a "family atmosphere". This would not be possible if the current players on the team were not bought into the process and helping out.
2. Obviously you want everybody, but Eddie Goldman is a heckuva player. Dante, unfortunately was bothered by the depth chart and that happens with some guys.
This was Fisher's response when asked about Dante Fowler and whether or not grabbing Eddie Goldman made up for that loss. Again, Fowler is a talented player that the Noles did not want to miss on, but Fisher expounds on his thoughts that somewhat echo the popular opinion on Fowler's decision.
3. It’s a big world out there and the more the rest of the world learns the game, there are a lot of big athletes out there and they start out playing soccer which helps them a ton with their footwork and coordination that other big guys don’t have.
In response to being asked about Florida State being "The United Nations of Football". German born Bjoern Werner is already a fixture on the FSU roster, but the Seminoles also added three foreign born signees with the 2012 class. OL Menelik Watson (England), DB Colin Blake (England) and OL Daniel Glauser (Switzerland).
4. Bracy is the fastest guy he’s ever gotten a hold of. If the track team says they’ve had faster, they’re lying too. He’s the fastest high school kid ever. Ran the fastest 55 m time in the world for this season as a high school kid. Has only run track for a couple of years. He’s a football player, not a track guy they tried out in football.
In response to being asked if he has ever had a kid as fast as Marvin Bracy. No secrets here, he can flat out fly.
5. Now that we’ve gotten into the third recruiting cycle under this staff, we are building more of a program instead of a team.
The Noles have brought in three classes under Jimbo Fisher as head coach, which means the majority of these players are kids he has personally signed off on. Very little room for excuses this year. FSU fans are ready for results, as I am sure Fisher is well aware of.
6. Insist that Mario Edwards Jr. is a defensive end and not a DT, despite his size. Why does he have to play inside? We try so hard to stereotype kids, but if he's athletic enough, why does it matter how big he is?
The natural inclination for most is to take a player like Mario Edwards Jr. and assume that his size will somehow force him to play on the inside. Fisher disagrees and so do I. Edwards is 6'4, 290 lbs. as of today and it is pretty much all good weight. No doubt about it, he's a huge defensive end. People speculate and wonder what will happen when he gets to college and puts on weight and any number of other concerns. Keep in mind, a strength and conditioning program is far more complex than simply taking every kid you sign and packing as much weight on him as you can. It's about training each player to reach their maximum potential, which for some players means gaining, others it means losing and others still it means maintaining and reshaping current weight. Mario Edwards Jr. will be a defensive end in college.
7. Shanks is a huge guy. You talk about big? He's listed at 310 lbs. but we had him on campus a couple weeks ago, he weighed in at 334 lbs. and he is flat. Stomach flat as a pancake. All that weight is in his back, shoulders and lower body, where you want it. 6'2, 6'3 and you get those guys in there, you can't move 'em. I mean you may shield him, but you won't move him.
This may be a bit of Jimbo Fisher weight speak. He has a tendency to get pretty outrageous when it comes to player weights and it can actually reach comical proportions. Justin Shanks is a very big kid. He may weight 334 lbs. but the pictures I have seen would make the comparison of his stomach to a pancake seem laughable. That being said, Shanks weight is not a ton of bad weight. He holds it extremely well and plays with a good motor and a lot of strength. FSU got a good one out of Alabama.
8. We don't want them. If they’re scared of competition? I’ve never been around a great player that cares about the depth chart. The guys that are depth chart watchers, they don’t normally pan out. We want guys that are going to come in to find out how good they are, compete and try to win championships.
When asked once again about a kid expressing concerns about the depth chart and having that be the determing factor when in their decision making. Is this a shot at Dante Fowler and perhaps some sour grapes? Possibly so, but it is very difficult to disagree with the sentiment.
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