Re: TNET: Goodwin says Tigers need to act like a shark, smell blood, and 'finish the job'

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From my perspective.

Oct 16, 2022, 5:55 PM

He's right. Good defenses tend to let up with a lead. Great defenses don't let up. Elite defenses start the game with a killer instinct and see how fast they can pound the offense into submission. Then when the offense quits, they keep pounding.

I got the above from a guy who played at FSU during the 90s when their defenses were always among the elite in the country. (Mickey Andrews was easily the most respected DC in the country.) I asked him how could the team, especially the D, stay focused when they were playing a game against a Duke or Wake and they knew the score would be 62-3 or something like that. He said, "We loved those games. We wanted to see how fast we could get off the field and let the second and third team play. And, Mickey would tolerate nothing less. We had great athletes at every position and we all knew that if we let off, even a little, someone else would move ahead of us. The defense was taught, "If they don't score, we win." That was the goal. If they don't get into FG range, they can't score. If they don't get across the 50, they can't get into FG range. If they don't get a first down, they can't cross the 50. And, after the ball was turned over by the offense Mickey taught us, "A 3 and out" takes away all their momentum."

It was a mindset as much as it was physical. And, it started with the coaches. The coaches had that mindset. And, somehow, they instilled it into the players. And, the older players instilled it into the younger players.

Starting in 1993, every time the football team held the opponent scoreless the assistant baseball coach at FSU would present a baseball with a spike driven through it to the defense at practice on Monday after the game.

Maybe Wes and company can begin instilling that mindset into the players.

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TNET: Goodwin says Tigers need to act like a shark, smell blood, and 'finish the job'