2 Words for Mandel:

Ohio State

Chris Rix isn't just reviled in Tallahassee, he's the Anti-Christ.

my beloved canes will destroy any confidence those 'noles have, rix or no rix....

first to say chris rix is the anti christ is to take sports way to seriously get a life dude. Second not all blogs or mailbags have to be about ohio state im tired of hearing about them and there number 1 preseason crap already.Third if the ol is injured every team is in trouble it all starts up front just ask miami which couldn't protect the qb at all maybe that is one reason coker made changes that and he may be feeling the heat in miami.

Chris Rix was a problem, Jeff gets very predictable, but if you look back at the last 5 seasons FSU came a couple of plays from going undefeated. Last year Weatherford was a freshman and he looked it at times throwing 17 picks and in most of the games that were lost he through multiple (2-3), you do not win in a revamped ACC with those kind of mistakes. The D played off its feet, maybe not this year but next year FSU will defintely return to prominence. No doubt with the ballers on that team.

This is the year of the Seminoles. Florida State is poised to bring the 3rd championship this year to the state of Florida. Follow the successful path of the Miami Heat and the Florida Gator's basketball team.

The fact of the matter is, the FSU offense has been on the decline for the last 5 years, ever since Mark Richt left to go to UGA. There have been a lot of excuses why, whether it be the QB, the injuries, or whatever. The bottom line is that everything is in place this year, the line is generally healthy, with young but capable backups. The QB has been indoctrinated under fire and proven effective, with a very talented bac-up. The Recievers are a talented group, and I wouldn't trade our stable of RB's for any in America. The pressure is on for the offense to perform, because they are out of excuses.

Bobby is not going to make any change that frightens him.

After a zillion years coaching and more money than he can count, he's still afraid to hire a good coach from "outside" his circle of Buds.

Bowden is afraid of the "Brother Bill Oliver" syndrome!

bowden and joepa need to hang up the whistles, the game has changed.

bobby has never been hands on, even in the 90's when they were the team. he's always delegated to his assistants. therefore, the responsibility for the offense falls more squarely on his son. bobby still uses his charm to recruit some of the best, if jeff can't put the pieces together on the field he should be gone. if his last name wasn't bowden fsu's offensive decline wouldn't be tolerated, he wouldv'e been gone awhile ago.

I love it. Florida State from 87-01 goes on the longest streak of 10+ win seasons and top 5 finishes in the history of modern college football, and when it has a few 8 or 9 win seasons, just like 95% of all football teams out there, everyone quits on them. Give me a break. The team was at the top of everyones list for 14 years! Most teams would kill for five 8 or 9 win seasons in a row. What's considered a "slump" at FSU is a decent season for nearly every other football program out there. Imagine USC doing what it's been doing for the last 4 seasons for 10 more years. Then you can dog Bobby for "falling" to 8-5.

8-5 against their schedule is rediculous. They wouldn't play .500 in the SEC.

FSU’s Bowden and PSU’s Joe Pa are not on the same footing. PSU is not in the top 10 “Every” year in recruiting and FSU is within a hotbed of talent down here in Florida. When PSU did get the talent by accepting changes to their past coaching and recruiting strategy bam right back to the top. Bowden will ride that sinking son of his to the bottom because anyone who watches FSU knows he ain’t about to change. As a FSU fan it’s killing me!!

How did Jon Beason ever get in to "The U"? His team did NOT even win their Division and he's talking about "HIS CONFERENCE RING"?!

Hey Jon, Here's how it works: First - Your Team has to qualify for the Championship Game by winning the Division
Second - Then your team as to win the Conference Championship Game.

It's just that simple.

Maybe Jon should try attending Football 101 to help him understand how Championship Rings are won.

GO HOKIES!!

I think people are missing the point as to how good the Noles were last year. Yes they had some dissapointments but you dont beat VT and UM if you suck. Then you dont take the Big 10 champions to 3 OT in the bowl game, which we would have won if not for our idiot kickers, missed extra point. We have 3 Oline starters returning and some decent depth, not that I want to play with backups mind you. We have 2 Rbs that will be playing in the NFL. We have a great receiving corps. The Dline is the best in the nation from top to bottom. Our starting linebackers all played extensively last year. Our starting corners are coming back, and they can run with anyone. Both of my safeties Roger Williams and Myron Rolle are NFL bound. Did I mention Drew led his team to win the ACC as a Freshman? How many teams win their conference with a freshman then lose when that same guy gets older? If anyone can give me an example I would be very impressed.

It's hard to say how good FSU would have been last year with a healthy offensive line. Anyone who followed them last year saw their offense line was a MASH unit at best. This year the line is still a little thin but not anything like last year. This year they can't blame Rix. There are no more excuses like that. If Jeff Bowden comes through and FSU's o-line is healthy FSU can win it all.

The best player on the team went down in preseason (Cromartie, an absoulute shut down corner). Three offensive lineman lost their season due to injuries. Their offensive coordinator is as smart as Caillou. That will cripple any team...... Richt and Amato both leaving hurt them, Richt more than Amato apparently. Yet with a perfect place kicker, they would be the most dominant team in the last twenty years. I hope when Bobby leaves, Jeff goes with him and they hire someone like Meyer...

I'm as big a 'Canes fan as anyone, but some of my fellow 'Canes fans better get over their delusion--the problem wasn' the assistant coaches who were fired, it's the out-of-his-league guy who fired them.
–Anonymous

"Jeff Bowden does what I tell him to do. I feel like if he wasn't my son, you wouldn’t hear anything about him."

That's because if he wasn't you son, he wouldn't be there! Bobby changes... Do you remember Jimmy Heggins, the OL coach. He was replaced by McHale just 1 year ago.

I think we will win this year with or without JB. I don't think Miami is as good, and we play 8 home games, Clemson being one of them. Also, minus Florida, our non-conference schedule must be one of the weakest in the nation with W. Michigan, Rice, and Troy.

If we don't win with this schedule then, the Bowdens' have "No Excuses!"

You all have to realize this is all hype right now. True FSU did a great job recruiting, but who says all these true freshmen will pan out in their first year?
And as far as hanging up the whistles, Bowden hasn't called a play in years. Neither him or Paterno have been an key element in their teams for years. I go to Penn State and love Paterno, but we all know Galen Hall calls the plays.
I have had about enough of all the hype and just need the season to start.

"Jeff Bowden does what I tell him to do. I feel like if he wasn't my son, you wouldn’t hear anything about him."

This is so true. You know why we wouldn't hear anything about him; becuase he wouldn't be an offensive coordinator at FSU or anywhere for that matter. Jeff Bowden is simply not a good OC, and is the reason the Noles are not productive. Bobby Bowden uses loyalty as a copout. He just wants his son to have a high paying job.

The Seminoles won the ACC last year without their top offensive line and, therefore, no running game to speak of. Despite that, they found a way to win. That says a lot about this team's heart.

If they can control injuries this year, it's going to be one heck of a year in Tallahassee because, trust me, they're loaded!

"How many teams win their conference with a freshman then lose when that same guy gets older? If anyone can give me an example I would be very impressed."


FSU----Chris Rix
dont get me wrong I am a big FSU fan, and I think there will be great thing from this year, but it is the same thing every preseason--We will only know how good we are WHEN we leave Miami on Sept 5th with a win. Everyone looks good in Spring and preseason as they are fighting for a starting job...its how they do when the game is on the line that makes then Champions!!!

This is just a tune up year for '07. The 'Noles will go undefeated in '07 for their 3rd National Championship! They will have an awesome SOS with their normal ACC slate and Alabama and Florida out of conference.

Scalp 'em!!!!!!

What everyone fails to mention when they talk about the Jeff Bowden scenario is that Bobby CAN'T fire him. Think about what Mrs. Bobby Bowden would do if he fired their son... It would be like suicide for his marriage and he has to spend the rest of his life with that woman. Its 100 percent Jeff's place to quit. If you are hired by your father to help him with his legendary coaching job, and you screw it up, its time to go. He sucks, he knows it, he just doesn't have enough sense to take off. Bobby is between a rock and a hard place and that is why he gets pissed when the media asks him the same questions about Jeff. www.hirejeffbowden.com

Dear Jon Beason:

This is a personal invite from all FSU players, fans and alum. Come on down to the Moore Athletic Center and you can see your 2005 ACC Trophy too.

Typical Cryami. Can't get the job done in their own conference...so try and belittle someone else.

Don't choke against GT and maybe we could have seen another bad snap from the cap-poppin' homies at scUM.

Quote "bowden and joepa need to hang up the whistles, the game has changed"

...yeah...1 loss the whole season (in the last 2 seconds), the old man has definitely lost it

REVILED?!?! Are you kidding me?? Chris Rix was a great quaterback. Just ask his favorite receiver... Sean Taylor.

I hope that the FSU offense explodes this year ! Do not want the Bowden clan, the big money, and FSU coming after Rich Rod at WV, because he is considered an insider with the Bowdens.

Larry Coker was supposed to return sportsmanship, honor, and respectability to Miami. Jon Beason's comments prove that Larry's got a long way to go... or, maybe, it's Larry that's changing - losing his sportsmanship, honor, and respectability in the murky waters of Miami football. All will know that Larry's lost his soul if he follows helmut-hair's example and leads his team in a "victory lap" around the field.

FSU will do great this year. As a Nole , I believe this is so. In Bobby we trust

Hey Hokie Fan..27-7..in your house..so do not dissin Beason. Good luck with your QB search. Castrated Turkey.

Penn State comes off an 11-1 season and is barely ranked or not ranked in the preseason publications? No respect as usual for one of the premier, clean cut programs still left in college football. That's okay, they'll show everyone in the end

The Noles werent great last year but they were pretty good. They dominated against Miami and against the Hokies. Bobby always gets the recruits he wants and will continue to do so as long as he is the head coach. And he should be delegating some responsibility to his assistants. That is what they are there for. And as for the conference championship, Bobby and the Noles always have and always will show up for the big games, unlike the Hokies. In no way am I a Noles fan but you cannot deny the amount of success that Bobby has had and will continue to have in the coming years.

Go Wahoos!!!! (Who beat them in Cville in 1995 and 2005)

The noles should be better this year. But i gotta say Jeff Bowden is out of excuses. If they don't get it done on offense this year he'll have no one else to blame.

A couple of points.

1. Though I respect Mandel he's a USC guy through and through. His enthusiasm for Pete & Co. is so well known that it's joked about on campus among the players. Thus, his objectivity when it comes to other major college programs is questionable. Even sportswriters see the bias.

2. Chris Rix wasn't a very good quarterback but he didn't insert himself into the starting line-up. He was named the starter. So FSU fans need to get a grip on the real issue which was a slip in talent at that position during that time. That's recruiting.

3. Miami needs to focus on their own issues which are numerous. The obligatory legal problems and the recruiting of people who can't spell SAT aside, they have coaching issues.

4. Bobby Bowden should fire Jeff Bowden. That's not going to happen. Jeff should resign. This would take pressure off of his Dad and Jeff would find another job owing to the large network of coaches that Bobby is friendly with...

5. Despite our losses, don't count USC out of the picture. Ohio State will lose once, Texas twice and we may be in the thick of it come January.

If FSU (my alma mater) loses more than two games this season, I'll be shocked.

Go Noles!!

You got to be kidding me! Why does every clueless SEC fan think that teams from other conferences wouldn't "play .500" if they were in the glorious SEC? A stacked UGA team barely beat an injury plagued FSU in the Sugar Bowl when FSU didn't even have a QB. The best player on the field was a receiver forced to play QB...remember the name Anquan Bolden? I get so tired of SEC fans. Take the freakin' blinders off and see that there are other conferences just as good and in many years better than your beloved SEC. I bet you're a UGA fan. You sound like a UGA fan. I remember when UGA was a consistent 8-3 or 7-4 and UGA always had much better talent than those numbers. A couple of years of success and those times are forgotten, but God forbid you let other teams or conferences off the hook for past seasons. Herschel Walker is gone! Deal with it. According to UGA fans..."Greatest RB of all time...Herschel Walker! Greatest Punter of all time...Herschel Walker! Greatest Defensive Back of all time...Herschel Walker! Absolute best waterboy...Herschel Walker! Greatest basket weaver of all time...Herschel Walker!!" I’m sure that was all he did in class anyway…basket weave or crochet or make pottery or something along those lines.

Daddy Bowden should just give his underachieving son some of his royalties from all those hotdog and orange juice commercials that we have to suffer through all the time on the Sunshine Network. That alone would be enough for him to buy a nice piece of land somewhere in the Panhandle and then the Noles could get on with trying to adjust to life in a competitive conference.

when was the last time FSU was relevant to any discussion of college football?

"They wouldn't play .500 in the SEC."

Damned RIGHT!...well, unless Kentucky, Vandy, Ole Miss, and MSU are on the schedule...and if Tenn and Ark field teams like they did last year...and FL stays a bit inconsistant...and AL is put in a position in which it has to have some scoring...and USC was still playing with Holtz's guys that aren't quite right for the ole ball coach's system..so yeah...if FSU was in the SEC and only had Auburn and UGA on the schedule, it would be a tough year...(yawn)..you SEC'ers live in a very skewered world....

Bobby Bowden is running on fumes in terms of putting out a National Championship team. Their offense has been stagnant ever since they lost to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. What were the totals for that game? Oh yeah: 274 passing yards and 27 yds. rushing on 17 carries for the 'Noles offense. They only scored on a safety.

I wouldn't worry about FSU's offense any more, and if they can reload on "D", the ACC better watch out.

FSU has formulated their most favorable schedule in the past 6 years. 8 HOME games, all against D-I schools, all which will count towards the BCS standings...Get through Miami the first game, rise up against Clemson the third, FSU will be on their way to a third National Title.

This is the year my beloved Noles return to prominence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And honestly none of the games matter to me other than the division and ACC champ. I couldnt care less about the MNC.