Brass Monkey
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Well there is a combination of reasons why FSU's dominance came to an end around 2001. One myth is that all of the ACC schools started to take football seriously, which is a half-truth. Clemson and GT have always taken football seriously, and Virginia when George Welsh was there took it seriously. So that is 3 out of the other 8 ACC teams that took football seriously. So you had 4 teams (FSU, GT, CU, UVA) that legitimately fielded competitive teams at most points in the 1990s as well as a few of the Mack Brown led UNC teams during this time. Then there were a few teams that didn't take football seriously until ~ 2000. Maryland hired Ralph Friedgen in 2001, who was able to coach pretty well in his first couple of seasons, but hasn't really recruited very well, hence the drop off after he got his own recruits in. North Carolina though hasn't taken football seriously since Mack Brown left and the hire of Butch Davis. Duke and Wake were both pathetic for a lot of this time, which who can really blame them. They are generally the Vanderbilt of the ACC. Although Wake has stepped it up since then with Grobe, who is a hell of a coach despite being hampered recruiting wise.
Now here's one of the biggest reasons why FSU's dominance ceased. NC State hired Chuck Amato and Georgia hired Mark Richt away from FSU. FSU's staff continuity was disrupted. Amato was a hell of a recruiter, and did much of the day to day operations that many head coaches do, which allowed Bowden to have more time game planning. Richt was their offensive coordinator and a hell of a one at that. Richt was one of the best OC's of the 90s and his playcalling success at FSU led to him being hired by UGA. Only the top assistants in college football are given the reigns of a program like Georgia without any head coaching experience. So FSU lost a little bit recruiting wise, and in player development, especially a lot in QB development. With Richt gone, the Jeff Bowden disaster came.
Last but not least is parity in college football. We've all seen it this year. Who would have ever thought that Kansas would be in a BCS bowl, or that Rutgers would post an 11-2 record last year? This can be attributed to a lot of top players not wanting to be patient redshirt and sit for 2 years before contributing in a major way anymore. Now players are seeing that they can go to non-traditional powerhouse schools, not have to sit as long, if any, and still be able to put up the numbers that can get them to the NFL after their 3rd year in college rather than their 4th or 5th year had they gone to a USC, a Florida, etc. Now some freshmen, usually ones in the Top 25 of their class like a Tebow are exceptions though. Even then he had to wait until his sophmore year to become the starter.  12/4/2007 10:23:51 PM
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slackerb
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Hey, say what you will about Amato, but if I had to put together a coaching staff, Chuck Amato would certainly be on my short list of Defensive Coordinators. The man can put out some nasty defenses....FSU in the 90's, State in the early 2000's... 12/5/2007 10:47:10 AM |
statered
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^^ Hs defenses in 2004 and 2005 were very good, but in the early 2000s they sucked. The defense was the reason why we never reached a BCS bowl even when Phil Rivers was still here. They couldn't stop anyone, and we could only win so many shoot-outs. 12/5/2007 12:46:47 PM |
statered
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haha, triple post, think that's a first
[Edited on December 5, 2007 at 12:47 PM. Reason : fucking slow internet] 12/5/2007 12:46:47 PM |
