The date was October 18, 2014.
Down by four, Everett Golson engineered a drive with under three minutes left that brought Notre Dame near the Florida State goal line. The fierce Doak Campbell Stadium crowd screamed at the top of its lungs for the Seminoles defense to step up. Golson took the snap and quickly tossed the game-winning touchdown to the right flat as Notre Dame shocked the undefeated Seminoles.
Or did it? The refs had thrown some laundry onto the field and made a controversial (but correct) call of an illegal pick, giving Florida State another chance. The call permanently changed the trajectory of Notre Dame’s season and Everett Golson’s career.
Notre Dame went into that game against FSU with a 6-0 record. The Irish never recovered from that heartbreaking loss to the Noles. They finished the regular season losing five of their last six to close with a record of 7-5.
Prior to, and including, the FSU game, Everett Golson threw 19 TD passes versus 6 INT. In the weeks following that game, he threw 10 TD passes versus 8 INT. Prior to, and including, the FSU game, Golson completed 61.8% of his passes. In subsequent weeks, he completed just 56% of his passes.
Everett Golson and the 2014 Notre Dame Fighting Irish will forever be linked to the Florida State Seminoles. That was where they faced the crescendo of their season and its most defining moment. Golson went from a Heisman candidate to a player who was in doubt of even being Notre Dame’s starting quarterback.
That game sent us on the trajectory which has brought us to the present day. Everett Golson is now leaving the University of Notre Dame.
Among the schools on Golson’s initial wish list are Florida State,Alabama, South Carolina and at least one Pac-12 school, a source said.
Golson visited Florida State Monday, according to ESPN’s Joe Schad and media reports.
We talked about six transfer spots for Golson before the weekend. We didn’t include Florida State because it looked as though Sean Maguire would be the man under center. After an underwhelming spring game, has Florida State soured on him, or is Golson just too good a player for the Noles to pass up?
In this media age where pageviews are king, there are conflicting reports on Golson. Some say that Florida State is where he will land, while others say that the Noles have no interest.
Sean Maguire has been in the Florida State system for four years. As a redshirt junior, he has been able to sit back and learn the offense in Jameis Winston’s shadow. It would be quite a risk to bring in someone now to take over for one year. Jimbo Fisher and staff would essentially be telling Maguire that he’s not good enough to play for Florida State. Would that be the right message to send to potential recruits? Moreover, is Golson the type of player for which you would be willing to risk that negative recruiting message?
Behind Maguire, the Noles have a bevy of young and talented arms that aren’t ready for prime-time. With one year of seasoning, Golson could be the perfect stop-gap to get the Noles through 2015 and on to Deondre Francis or De’Andre Johnson.
The Noles can sell Everett Golson on the idea of playing for a team that is immediately in a better position to compete for a national championship than the team he left. They can sell him on playing for Jimbo Fisher and getting coached by Randy Sanders.
Can Golson sell Florida State that he’s not the quarterback who ended the 2014 season in a slump, as a turnover waiting to happen?
At Notre Dame, Brian Kelly ran more of a classic spread with the constant threat of a running QB. Florida State runs a more complicated pro-style system. Golson has the talent to play QB for Florida State but there are definitely questions as to whether he would be a good fit.
Golson’s fit with Florida State is not a square peg into a square hole, that’s for sure. Golson’s fit would not be a pure one, and it would also take time for Golson to learn Florida State’s playbook and then translate it to what happens on the field.
The good news for Florida State is that the Seminoles will ease into their 2015 schedule..
Sept. 5: vs. Texas State
Sept. 12: vs. South Florida
Sept. 19: at Boston College
Oct. 3: at Wake Forest
Oct. 10: vs. Miami (FL)
Oct 17: vs. Louisville
Florida State has had its struggles against Boston College, but the fact is that the Noles won’t see a team that won more than seven games (in 2014) until game six. Florida State’s schedule is built so that, if they choose to, they can bring in a new QB and get him set into the offense. Golson is not a pure fit for the Noles, but if they are sniffing around him, it means they aren’t satisfied with what Maguire brings to the table.
Florida State is typically a team that can reload instead of having to rebuild, but the Noles lost a lot of offensive firepower to the NFL draft. Gone are their best receivers, Rashad Greene and Nick O’Leary. Karlos Williams, a great weapon out of the backfield, is also gone. With a tweak to their offensive system, maybe a quarterback such as Golson is the best stop-gap to get them through 2015 until one of the youngsters takes over next year. Golson’s feet would certainly add another dimension to FSU’s offense.
I see Golson as a boom or bust candidate for Florida State. Either he comes in and everything works out and he leads the team to an ACC championship and potentially a College Football Playoff berth, or it blows up in their face and forces FSU to look for another starter after the Georgia Tech or Clemson game.
Florida State would be a great choice for Everett Golson. Now, Jimbo Fisher must decide if Golson is a great choice for Florida State.
