Florida State (2009 Statistics)
- 2010 marks the first time Bobby Bowden won’t be on the sideline as head coach of Florida State since 1975. The long-known successor Jimbo Fisher takes over and with him comes a new staff of assistants.
- New Defensive Coordinator for 2010 is Mark Stoops (brother of Oklahoma head coach Bob and Arizona head coach Mike). This is good for FSU because they were TERRIBLE on defense last year, finishing at the bottom of the ACC in scoring defense, rushing defense, passing defense, passing efficiency defense and total defense.
- For Florida State fans looking for the defense to completely turnaround, they need to be patient. Stoops is installing Zone Coverage that is a change from the Man-to-Man Scheme run by the previous coaching staff. And it will take time for the players to become familiar with reading the routes and knowing where to attack. While Man-to-Man is highly dependent on athletic ability, Zone defense relies primarily on the defender’s ability to anticipate what is going to happen. Furthermore, this defense can be rather complicated for the Linebacker who may see a Running Back, Wide Receiver AND Tight End enter his zone at some point in the play and must defend against all of them. While Florida State may improve this year, the major improvements are expected in the second year of the new scheme.
- Quarterback Christian Ponder returned this year rather than leaving for the NFL thanks in part due to an injury he suffered late last season. In recent years FSU has struggled with finding the right quarterback so this is a very important component to their success this year. Ponder put up a lot of yards and had a great completion percentage last year (68.8%) but his one area that needs improvement is the Touchdown to Interception ratio (just 14 touchdowns compared to 7 interceptions).
