A Confusing Farewell

If you know me you know that I love Florida State football. A little too much as my friends would tell you.

Today's news is something we were expecting for the past few week, but it still hurts.

Over the past 8 years, I have payed close attention to Jimbo and his teams. I read all the articles, attended open practices, watched every snap of every game, rewatched every snap of many games, and fell in love with the players and culture that he instilled at FSU.

Since he has been here he has done wonders for this program. He modernized our program's facilities, he dominated our rivals, he gave us one of the greatest seasons in the sports' history, and more than anything, he gave us countless, priceless memories as fans. There is no doubt in my mind that even after this season, Jimbo Fisher is a top 5 coach in the nation based on experience, philosophy and accolades.

But this season the can of worms was opened. A ridiculously talented roster was wasted. I beleive it was a mixture certain circumstances (Irma) and a poor coaching staff, but six losses with any FSU team much less this one is beyond disgust.

For the third straight year, Jimbo has dangled a job offer over our heads to squeeze more funding out of our administration. His intentions may have been good, but his antics are old, and on top of it, his timing could not have been worse. If this is the game Jimbo wants to play every year, it may have been smart to sit this year out. FSU is no doghouse in the facilities department. Six losses is unacceptable and isn't the result of us not having a football-only facility. Jimbo picked the wrong battle and it cost him.

I'm not sure Jimbo ever really wanted to take the A&M job. It certainly wouldn't make sense to want that job over Florida State, regardless of how stale his message has gotten with the players. He had the talent stockpiled, the record over his rivals, the job security, and the respect implemented and in place at a school that some other guy from West Virginia made history at for over 25 years. Why flirt with a program that hasn't won anything since before the Second World War? Especially after turning down other jobs like Texas and LSU.

Part of me feels bad for Jimbo because I don't completely think this is what he wanted. The theme with beat reporters is that he badly misplayed his hand and it backfired on him. But the other part of me hates him. I mean this really hurts.

Despite Jimbo asking fans to stay loyal after a 35-3 loss to BOSTON FREAKING COLLEGE he makes Florida State look like a stepping stool job. Reports of recruits not hearing from the coaching staff for weeks, players threatening to transfer if he is back, and a fan being shoved out of Jimbo's call-in show after questioning his loyalty. The hysteria this week has brought could all have been avoided if Jimbo had handled it better by simply addressing the job offer. Instead, he continuously declined to comment, and people started writing the narrative for him. On top of all of this, players are now flooding social media saying Jimbo never told them he was leaving.

It's been an ugly week for Jimbo Fisher, and if his offseason strategy is to entertain job offers from other schools, it is not something Florida State fans want to deal with annually.

So good riddance Jimbo. And good riddance to young talent being wasted, tunnel screens every 3rd down, overly complex plays, blaming terrible offensive performances on inches, calling out fans in the stands, and a 10-10 ACC record to finish your career.

There was plenty of good that Jimbo brought to Tallahassee, but the handling of his last week puts a huge black eye on that.

So now what? Many say Willie Taggart of Oregon, a Florida boy who has a history of turning programs around with far less talent than what consistently comes through Florida State. Taggart grew up an FSU fan, so if he accepted the job I don't believe we would have to deal with this drama every December.

That would be nice. We will see.

Regardless of who is given the keys to this Ferrari next year, Florida State will be Florida State. It will be 14 straight top 5 finishes in the 90s and 29 straight wins in 2013 and '14. It will be legends like Deion Sanders, Charlie Ward, Derrick Brooks, Jameis Winston and Dalvin Cook. It will be Cheif Osceola and Renegade, it will 80,000 fans yelling the tomahawk chop late in the 4th as the defense takes the field. It will be garnet and gold, and it will be football in Tallahassee.

#InThrasherWeTrust

Week 1 Reactions

Week one was something else. Between Texas, Wisconsin, and Houston pulling off landscape-shaking upsets and our beloved 'Noles' comeback win over Ole Miss, the weekend was packed with exciting action to bring in the new year.

Sean and I had many a discussions after the Week 1 slate as to what we thought about the chaos. Here are 6 observations and our cumulative top 10 after the Week 1 action:

1) Football is awesome.
Absolutely wonderful. We are so happy it has returned to us. There are few things better. This Week 1 schedule had all of the hype in the world and more than lived up to

2) Texas is... actually pretty good.
What a difference a quarterback makes, huh? Notre Dame is a very good team with two solid quarterbacks (Kizer > Zaire if you ask me) but young Buechele looked like a veteran dropping dimes all over the field. It's good, at least for me, to see Charlie Strong succeeding in Texas. I hope they have an excellent season but I don't see them making them playoffs, not with that defense.

3) Houston is looking at a playoff spot, however.
I'm not sure how I feel about Tom Herman but whatever the dude is doing IT IS WORKING. Houston is rolling with great play-makers, schemes, and most importantly, heart. They are a fun team to watch and I really hope they run the table and make the final four.

4) Large gap between Alabama and the rest of the SEC.
Boy there were some ugly performances from SEC teams this weekend. Tennessee, with all of their hype, was an absolute train wreck. So were Arkansas (1 point win over LA Tech), Kentucky (blew a huge lead and lost to Southern Miss), Missouri (scorched by West VA), Florida (didn't pull away until 4th quarter), OH, and LSU. LSU will apparently never have solid quarterback play ever again under Les Miles. Wisonsin came to play and, despite the score, outplayed the Tigers throughout the games. The SEC looked pretty awful in week 1, we'll see if that changes in the coming weeks. You do, however, have to give it to Texas A&M and Georgia for their big wins to bring in the season.

5) The ACC is looking pretty damn good.
Despite Clemson squeaking one out against the other Tigers, the ACC had a solid weekend. 10-2 vs non-conference competition to be exact. Louisville, Clemson, and Florida State will lead the ACC charge with North Carolina right behind them. If Florida State and Clemson win every game outside of their matchup on October 29th, as they're each expected to, they could both be in playoff contention despite having a loss.

6) ... and so are the 'Noles.
Speaking of our Seminoles WHAT A GAME. I was there and can tell you that the atmosphere was 100% electric and rightfully so. Deondre Francois surpassed many people's expectations after he found his confidence. The defense was nasty when it got lined up correctly. There is talent and depth across the board for the 'Noles, we knew that, but now they know that and what they are capable of. Shoot me for saying it, but that third quarter was 2013-esque. Look out.

OUR TOP 10:

10) Washington
9)   Texas
8)   Michigan
7)   Georgia
6)   Stanford
5)   Ohio State
4)   Houston
3)   Florida State
2)   Clemson
1)   Alabama

Pictures are not ours.
Twitter: @RenegadeSports_
Facebook: Renegade Sports

2017 Basketball Recruiting Update

Everyone is pumped about football so I thought that it would be a great time to talk about FSU basketball recruiting. The 2017 'Noles class will not be as star studded as the last two cycles, but I am okay with that. If Florida State wants to compete consistently in the best basketball conference in the nation (a.k.a. the ACC) they will have to do so through teams made up of high tier three star recruits and four star recruits. Do not get me wrong, we should go after one and done type talents but we should not put all of our eggs in a recruit's basket that is also hearing from Duke and Kentucky, because 9/10 times we lose that battle. This year's class could have as many as six spots and we currently have two commits. This article has three groups of recruits: the commits, the one-and-done recruits, and the program building recruits.

THE COMMITS

Bryan Trimble Jr. 6'3" 190 lbs, 3-star Shooting Guard

FOOTBALL. IS. HERE.

AW YEAH. Florida State football held their first installment of fall camp yesterday and the Seminole beat was lighting up with tweets,stories, pictures, and videos. Here we have a collection of the best snippets of coverage for you to view and there may or may not be a hype video at the end to send you over the edge so keep an eye out for that as well. (Click on the pictures they are links to external articles).

Full opening Jimbo Press Conference:

Here Come the Sixers #2017NBAFinals

It's over. It being the 2016-2017 NBA season. No that is not a typo. So you're confused? Dude, I know the 2015-2016 season ended Sunday night with the Cavs winning one for the "Land," but the 2016-2017 season ended today. Reports from Philadelphia are that we (yes, we) informed Ben Simmons that we will pick him with the #1 overall pick in Thursday's draft. Ben Simmons is one of the more unique talents as he is 6'10" 240 lbs with elite vision and the ability to finish with either hand around the basket and he is a Sixer. But wait the great news does not stop there, as the Sixers twitter legend Joel Embiid is cleared to scrimmage in 5 on 5 action. The Sixers should dominate the NBA next year with these two elite talents.

TRUST THE PROCESS FAM #WeWereTalkingAboutRihanna lol pic.twitter.com/xdswU4NjAF

— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) June 21, 2016

With today's news, the Rookie of the Year race has become the race for third place. It'll be intriguing to see if Simmons or Embiid will be Rookie of the Year in the 2016-2017 season. Don't worry Steph Curry, you will still be the only unanimous MVP in league history just because Simmons and Embiid will split MVP votes next year so rest easy Mr. Curry and prepare to get dominated in the Finals. Also Ayesha Curry do not start a twitter war with the Sixers as Joel Embiid will end you. Without a doubt. All I am trying to say NBA, is be prepared.

Hopefully you believed very little in the previous two paragraphs, except for the fact that Joel would own Ayesha in a twitter fight. I do not think the Sixers are winning the championship next year. What this news truly means is that Philadelphia finally has a star to build the team around in Ben Simmons and if Embiid reaches his potential this is a scary team for the future. The Sixers can now build around their superstar, or superstars with this draft, next year's draft and in upcoming free agency. The future is bright in Philadelphia no matter what people say. Also, thank you Hinkie and as always: #TrustTheProcess