FSU Football: News Aplenty as Spring Practice Begins

The anticipation might not be what it will when Florida State takes on Alabama on Sept. 2, but there’s plenty of buzz in the air. Fresh off a fifth straight 10-win season, FSU began spring practice on Monday.

With that said, there was no shortage of new developments. Below are the big ones:

Craig Returns

After spending the last four seasons in the SEC, former Auburn quarterback Dameyune Craig will return to the sidelines in Tallahassee, according to reports. Craig was head coach Jimbo Fisher’s first quarterbacks coach at FSU, serving in that capacity from 2010-12, and will return as a quality control coach.

Craig is known for his recruiting prowess and was instrumental in FSU landing 2013 Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston. After spending three years at his alma mater from 2013-15, Craig spent the 2016 season as LSU’s wide receivers coach.

Quick Take: Craig is limited with how much he can do in terms of hitting the trail, but it’s hard to see this as anything except a positive. If FSU and Auburn somehow meet again for the national championship, we won’t have to worry about the Tigers stealing signals.

Missing Time

As noted in a report from the Tallahassee Democrat’s Wayne McGahee III, Fisher said that five players will miss the spring for the Seminoles. It was known Alec Eberle and Marcus Lewis each had hip surgery while Landon Dickerson is recovering from a knee injury that is expected to keep him out until at least May. Cornerback and the nation’s leader in interceptions last season, Tarvarus McFadden and reserve tight end Jeremy Kerr will each have shoulder surgery, according to Fisher.

Others, Magahee reports, who are injured but could return before the end of spring include offensive lineman David Robbins, linebacker Sh’Mar Kilby-Lane, safety Ermon Lane and defensive end Adam Torres. Others nursing injuries, but are expected to participate are offensive linemen Baveon Johnson and Andrew Boselli, wide receiver George Campbell and running back Amir Rasul.

Fisher also confirmed that guard Wilson Bell will transfer. It was first reported on Sunday by The Daily Nole.

Quick Take: It’ll be interesting to see how much some of the more nagging injuries affect players competing for playing time. Johnson and Boselli were both viewed as candidates to overtake the incumbent Eberle at center. A full, healthy spring at safety would have been good for Lane as well. Robbins, Torres and Kilby-Lane all seem to be guys who are running out of time to make an impact for the Seminoles.

Starting Spots for the Taking

According to a report from Noles247’s Brendan Sonnone, Ethan Frith will get the first crack at replacing Roderick Johnson at left tackle. Josh Sweat will move from “BUCK” to DeMarcus Walker’s defensive end spot.

Quick Take: Sweat has been the conventional wisdom pick to assume the defensive end role left behind by DeMarcus Walker, but Ethan Frith at left tackle is a bit of surprise. Jauan Williams and Abdul Bello were names thrown around as a potential candidate. Of course, there will likely be one fewer starting spot up front once Dickerson returns to the lineup.

Numbers for Early Enrollees

Sonnone also was the first to chime in on the numbers for FSU’s seven early enrollees.

Cam Akers will wear No. 3, which belonged to receiver Jesus Wilson on offense last season. Tight end Tre’ McKitty will wear No. 6. Cornerback Stanford Samuels III will wear No. 8. Bailey Hockman will take over fellow quarterback Sean Maguire’s No. 10. Defensive end Joshua Kaindoh will wear 13. Safety Cyrus Fagan will wear No. 14 and linebacker Adonis Thomas will wear No. 22.

Quick Take: With Akers wearing No. 3, the first name that pops into mind is Leon Washington, who wore the number from 2003-05. It’s interesting that Samuels is wearing No. 8. His father wore No. 10 at FSU, but that jersey is currently occupied by safety Calvin Brewton. The last great FSU linebacker to wear Thomas’ 22 was Telvin Smith.

Other Wrinkles

Fisher, according to a report from Jordan Culver of the Tallahassee Democrat has come up with a new system for rewarding effort this offseason — colored jerseys. Those who give “championship effort” get garnet jerseys, the report said. Those who give OK effort get white and those who don’t give much effort get orange.

According to the report, Fisher said between 85-90 percent of the players had garnet jerseys by the end of offseason conditioning drills. Fisher said of the color orange, “That’s not always a good color around here”. Fisher will continue to do the daily jersey practice this spring.

Quick Take: With a young team, sometimes it takes having a little fun to add some motivation. This is an interesting way to try to get as much effort from the players as possible. After a 3-2 start last season, Fisher had the players sign promise letters. By winning seven of the last eight last season with the only loss coming by three to the eventual national champion, it seemed to work.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson