Reasons for Seminole Resurgence: #7 Emphasizing Defense

In one of the more dramatic finishes of the BCS era, Kelvin Benjamin’s 2-yard touchdown grab against Auburn gave Florida State its first national championship in 14 years. After what some consider a lost decade, Florida State’s rise back to the top of college football was a long, arduous journey. The Seminoles endured three six-loss seasons, an academic cheating scandal and the forcing out of a legend that built the program.

In what will be a 10-part series, we take a look back on events that led to Florida State’s resurgence back to the top of the college football world. After finishing in the top 5 every year from 1987 until 2000, the Seminoles went 13 years without winning a major bowl game. The countdown’s order is mostly chronological rather than in terms of importance. In the fourth part of the series, we look at Florida State’s emphasis on putting a strong defense in place.

It was no secret that Jimbo Fisher had a strong offensive mind and a knack for developing quarterbacks. While at LSU, Fisher helped head coach Nick Saban win a national championship with a game manager in Matt Mauck. In his final season in Baton Rogue, Fisher transformed the strong-armed Jamarcus Russell into the top pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.

In many cases, strong offensive-minded head coaches fail to show much attention to the other side of the ball. It happened with Rich Rodriguez at Michigan and is currently happening with West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen. Fortunately for Florida State, Fisher did not make the same mistake.

For years under defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews, the Seminoles had one of the nation’s most vaunted defenses. In 2009 however — the final season before Fisher took over as head coach — FSU was downright dreadful on the defensive side of the football.

Of the 120 FBS schools in 2009, Florida State ranked near the bottom at 108th in total defense. In the legend Bobby Bowden’s first 33 seasons as Florida State head coach, the Seminoles lost only once when scoring 30 points or more although they did have one very memorable tie. In Bowden’s final season, FSU lost 38-34 to Miami and 49-44 against Georgia Tech. Florida State also had to eek out a 45-42 victory over N.C. State.

As one of Fisher’s first orders of business, the new man in Tallahassee hired former Arizona defensive coordinator Mark Stoops. In six years under his brother Mike in Tucson, Stoops helped transform the Wildcats into a top 25 defense in a PAC-10 conference loaded with offensive firepower.

Stoops also had ties to the Sunshine State as a former defensive backs coach at South Florida and Miami. In three seasons with the Hurricanes, Stoops coached one of the nation’s premier secondaries and helped Miami win three straight Big East titles and the 2001 national championship.

It wasn’t long before the addition of Stoops paid dividends. In his first season as Florida State’s defensive coordinator, the Seminoles reached the ACC title game for the first time in five years. FSU held 10 of its 14 opponents below 20 points and tied for the NCAA lead with 48 total sacks. Sophomore Brandon Jenkins finished third nationally with 13.5 sacks.

Despite a three-game skid early in the 2011 season, Florida State finished the year with a top 5 defense. The Seminoles once again finished in the top 10 nationally when it came to getting to the quarterback. After the losing streak early in the season, Florida State held each of its final eight opponents to 19 points or fewer.

2012 would be Stoops’ final season in Tallahassee, but it would bring about the most successful campaign in more than a decade. Despite losing Jenkins — a preseason All-American — in the season-opener against Murray State, FSU would finish second only to Alabama in terms of total defense while yielding the fewest yards-per-play.

Florida State would tie a school-record with 12 victories while capping the season with its first ACC crown in seven years and first BCS bowl victory since the 1999 season. Headlined by cornerback Xavier Rhodes and defensive end Bjoern Werner, seven of the school-record 11 Florida State players selected in the 2013 NFL Draft came from the defensive side of the ball.

Following a stellar campaign that resulted in the school’s first top 10 finish since 2003, Stoops left Tallahassee to become the new head coach at Kentucky. Fisher was left with a huge void, but eventually found the right guy as his replacement.

Alabama defensive backs coach Jeremy Pruitt was not expecting to get the job when interviewed by Fisher, but made the most of his opportunity. Pruitt had come from a winning environment at Alabama. In six years at the school, Pruitt helped the Crimson Tide win three national championships under Fisher’s former boss, Nick Saban.

Prior to coming to Tuscaloosa, Pruitt had built Hoover High School in Alabama into a national powerhouse. Though the Seminoles had traditionally been a 4-3 team propelled by speed and a strong pass rush, Pruitt didn’t quiver at the opportunity to implement a new system.

Pruitt put multiple looks in place that maximized the talent on the field. It wasn’t uncommon to see linebackers like Christian Jones and Ukeme Eligwe play at end positions or for safeties like Nate Andrews to line up at linebacker. After a shaky 48-34 victory at Boston College in late September, things quickly came together for the Florida State defense.

The Seminoles would hold their final nine regular season opponents to 17 points or fewer. Florida State finished first in fewest points allowed and led the nation in interceptions.

Led by All-Americans Lamarcus Joyner and Timmy Jernigan, FSU was able to overcome a sluggish start in the BCS National Championship against SEC champion Auburn to hold the potent Tiger attack to 10 points in the second half. The Seminoles rallied for a 34-31 victory to complete a 14-0 season and win their first national championship in 14 years.

While the defensive coordinators put in place by Fisher deserve a ton of credit for the Seminoles’ defensive prowess, the emphasis continued in how they recruited. Florida State signed 94 players in Fisher’s first four recruiting classes with 48 winding up on the defensive side of the ball.

Of the nine 5-star players* signed by Florida State over that stretch, seven were defensive players. Karlos Williams however, has since moved from safety to running back.

Though quarterback Jameis Winston has certainly become the face of the Florida State program, the Seminoles’ climb to the top would not have been possible without a significant turnaround on defense. Charles Kelly will become FSU’s third defensive coordinator in as many years, but Kelly will have plenty of talent to thrive as Pruitt did a season ago.

As most had hoped, Jimbo Fisher was able to transform the Florida State into a force to be reckoned with even before taking over as the school’s head football coach. With no previous head coaching experience, it was unclear as to what was to become of a FSU defense that finished near the bottom in 2009. With Fisher running the program, the Florida State defense has been every bit as good as its offense which set a FBS record for points in a season in 2013. As a result, Florida State is once again college football’s team-to-beat.

*According to Rivals.com

Reasons for Seminole Resurgence: #8 Maintaining a Championship Atmosphere
Reasons for Seminole Resurgence: #9 2009′s Strong Finish
Reasons for Seminole Resurgence: #10 Hiring Jimbo Fisher