College Football Classic: Who Are The Florida State Seminoles?
By Simon Carroll
College Football returns to Ireland on Saturday for the ninth time, as Georgia Tech takes on Florida State. The Aer Lingus College Football Classic brings two teams to the Aviva Stadium to kick off the season – and The Touchdown will be there relaying all the action as it happens. As we build up to the event, Simon Carroll takes a look at the two ACC programs going to battle in Dublin – this time focusing on the Florida State Seminoles:
Florida State University: A History
Born in 1851, just six years after congress passed the law admitting Florida as the 27th state, Florida State University began life when Tallahassee re-established an old boys school and moved them onto some land earmarked for a new seat of learning. This school would become ‘The Florida Military and Collegiate Institute’ in the early 1860’s, protecting staff from conscription to the civil war. It had just a modest 250 students to begin with – a far cry from the 35,000 it hosts today.
Over the next 80 or so years, Florida’s oldest educational institution would assume many other names, affected by official mandates from local government, financial aid, and even ‘The Buckman Act’, that separated the university into two schools (one for men, one for women). Eventually, it was returned to co-educational status after World War II – and officially, in 1947 – was finally christened Florida State University.
The football program was officially established as far back in 1902; their first coach a Latin professor called WW Hughes, who watched over a team that sported gold jumpers with a large purple ‘F’ on the front. But despite modest state success in the early days, the sport suffered as the world went to war. It was only once the school was rebranded as Florida State that football was a real focus, with the team adopting the ‘Seminole’ nickname.
In an era where professional and amateur sports teams are being pressured to reconsider mascots that may be considered derogatory, FSU’s moniker has endured – thanks to a friendly, collaborative relationship with the indigenous Seminole Tribe from the state. The school’s determination to treat the history of their mascot with dignity and respect has been well received, and are permitted by the tribe to use the name and certain imagery across all their sports teams.
Seminole Tradition
Beat tradition in College football! Chief Osceola and Renegade! #GoNoles 🍢🍢🍢 pic.twitter.com/WY6EU1bl55
— NoleSki31 (@Skowronski31) November 18, 2023
Florida State football is a team synonymous with tradition. Go to any home game and you will witness them in all their glory; Chief Osceola on the back of his valiant horse Renegade galloping onto the field and throwing his spear into the ground prior to kickoff is one of the most iconic pre-game rituals in college football. How about 80,000 rabid fans singing the legendary war chant and doing the intimidating ‘Tomahawk Chop’? Or the Marching Chiefs playing the famous FSU fight song from the stands or the field at halftime? And of course, there’s also ‘Sod Cemetery’ where pieces of turf from challenging away venues are buried when the team come home with a win. When it comes to history and pageantry, Florida State are not found wanting.
The Seminoles, since 1950, have showcased all these traditions, and their football prowess, at Doak Campbell Stadium. Situated on the university campus, this stadium was named after the first ever FSU President Doak Sheridan Campbell, and after many expansions now holds 79,560 spectators. Considering the eye-watering costs of construction nowadays, the $250,000 outlay 75 years ago seems astonishingly cheap for such a piece of architecture – that amount equates to just over $3m today.
FSU retained the gold colors of their early football years. But after the university was split by gender, the football team was forced to play at the University of Florida for a spell. During this short time they adopted Crimson jerseys, before finally combining the colour with their traditional purple to create garnet, which they still wear to this day. The famous FSU ‘garnet and gold’ uniforms debuted in 1947, and have remained the universities’ official colours ever since.
Sporting Excellence
Fans of Florida State take immense pride in the historical success of their football team. Upon re-establishment after the war, the Seminoles have 19 conference titles to their name. Most of the schools’ triumphs have come since they joined the ACC in 1992 – including 16 of those 19 conference titles, as well as the three national titles they have also won (1993, 1999, 2013). FSU have enjoyed three undefeated seasons in their history, and have had three Heisman Trophy winners, the last being Jameis Winston in 2013.
Florida State have had some high profile head coaches in their history. But undoubtedly the catalyst for their success in the last half a century was the hiring of Bobby Bowden, a man who presided over the football program for 34 years and built the foundations that have made this program one of college football’s true heavyweights. Bowden, originally from Birmingham, Alabama, came over to Tallahassee after six solid years at West Virginia. He retired in 2009 as the winningest coach in school history, with a final record of 304-97-4 – delivering two Nattys, 12 conference titles, and 21 bowl wins.
The only thing longer than Bowden’s tenure at FSU is the list of talent that has been developed through the program. Some of the most recognisable coaches, players and celebrities have worn the famous garnet and gold, including (but not limited to) Lee Corso, Burt Reynolds, Ron Simmons, Deion Sanders, Warrick Dunn, Fred Biletnikoff, Derrick Brooks and Anquan Boldin. No doubt I’ve neglected many others – in total, 304 Seminoles have gone on to star in the NFL alone. Simply put, Florida State is a blue blood football program.
Florida State: A 2024 Outlook
DJ Uiagalelei 🎯 Malik Benson
— Clay Fink (@clay_fink) August 10, 2024
(🎥: @FSUFootball) pic.twitter.com/Mrf0qjThVG
So we know FSU has history – and it had endured, lasting to the end of the Jimbo Fisher reign in 2017. But two seasons under Willie Taggart set this program back a while, something that current Head Coach Mike Norvell has fought hard to overcome. He did that clinically, struggling in the first two seasons before delivering ten wins in 2022, backed up by an undefeated regular season last year. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for 12 months, you’ll be acutely aware of how Florida State were shunned by the College Football Playoff committee in favour of a one-loss Alabama team. In college football, these things are never forgotten.
Last year’s hero was quarterback Jordan Travis, whose devastating season-ending fractured ankle was the excuse given to omit the Seminoles from the postseason. He’s gone, replaced by Oregon State transfer DJ Uiagalelei. ‘DJU’ has a point to prove in the ACC after failing to follow in the huge footsteps of Trevor Lawrence in Clemson. His reinvention is the story of FSU’s offseason – can he help Norvell keep this program relevant and fighting for playoff football?
The answer should be yes on all fronts, particularly with the postseason bracket expanded to 12. It’s undoubtedly a year too late as far as FSU will be concerned, but they should be able to be up there again, even if they somehow slip back in the conference. One or two losses doesn’t kill you like it once did – good news for the ‘Noles, who have tricky games against Memphis (‘the Norvell Derby’), SMU, Clemson, Miami and Notre Dame on their schedule.
Uiagalelei has a raft of talent on both sides of the ball to aid him this year – no less than 14 names on this roster have been added to preseason watchlists. But they need to be ready in Dublin, where a fired up Georgia Tech team look ready to give them a stern opening week test.
